Best ACT prep?

Question

I am now a rising senior. Hard to believe. Anyways, I have taken the ACT 3 times now and have gotten a composite score of 20 each time. I'm am not too pleased with that because I am a very good student. I have a 4.0 and take honors classes every year and an AP class one time. I have only made 4 B's and all A's in my high school career. I even made an A in my APUSH class.

I'm am very dissapointed in my score because I know I can do better. College admissions are coming up and the last time I can take the ACT again is in October to apply to the college I want to go to. My question is what is the best prep for the ACT? I am thinking about taking a 30 hour course by Sylvan but I'm not sure yet because it's $900. I would be happy with a 23 or above. I know I'm not dumb, maybe I am not good at standardized testing. Thanks!

Answer 1

We have been pretty happy with SparkNotes materials available through Barnes & Nobles.

A really important thing that will help raise your score is to follow the test taking strategies.

If you don't do the Sylvan course, be sure to take a complete practice test with the same "rules" as you would a real one.   Take the time to analyze what type of questions throw you and concentrate on improving in those areas.

Do you answer the "easy" questions first and then come back to the harder questions?  Do you use a process of elimination and "educated guessing?"

***UPDATE: Unlike what the person below says, it IS important to answer all questions - even if on some you just guess!  You do NOT get penalized for a wrong answer - just points for correct answers.

Is there a particular section that is throwing you and lowering your score?

Answer 2

Make sure you get a lot of good sleep and a good breakfast before the test, first of all. I took the ACT twice and got a lower score the time that I had a coffee in the morning to help wake me up; I later learned that my body has a sensitivity to coffee which may have sapped my energy and made my mind less sharp. You may want to have some testing like that done on you to make sure you don't eat the wrong thing for breakfast.

Aside from that, I know that there are ACT prep books for sale. You could try to buy one (they're probably like $30) and take 5 or six practice tests and see how you do. It may be a matter of practice or it may be an issue of the time constraints; being able to time yourself and keeping track of what parts are difficult for you may help you figure out ways to get through it more effectively.

Lastly, remember that not all the questions have to be answered, and you certainly don't have to answer them in order. If you're having trouble with one question, just skip over it and do whatever else there is in that section that you can get through quickly and easily, and then come back for the ones that take more work. It's better to miss questions number 13 and 25 out of 40 questions than to get stuck on number 30 and run out of time when you could've easily answered the remaining 9 questions. Also, on the reading sections and science sections (the ones where there are big chunks of text and data to read in order to answer the questions), skim over the questions before reading the text, so that you know what to watch out for as you read. Also, some of the questions may say "On line 9, the author states..." and you could just read line 9 quickly and give an answer without having to read the whole text.

Lastly, go with your gut. The first answer you pick is usually the right one. Do not change second guess yourself and change it unless you're certain you made a mistake and another answer is obviously better. If you have no clue, guess anyway, because you only lose a quarter point for a wrong answer, but you gain 1 point for a right answer, so it's statistically in your favor to guess on questions you have no idea how to answer.

That's all my advice for you. Good luck.

Answer 3

I used Kaplan's ACT prep book, and it was extremely helpful.  It taught me helpful strategies to doing well on the test.  It even included a CD-ROM that contained diagnostic tests, practice for specific sections, etc.  The book also has 3 practice tests.

The book was really helpful - the first time I took the ACT, I got a 30.  The second time, I got a 31, and the third time, I got a 33.

Good luck!