<p>Okay so I graduated HS 17 years ago. I’ve decided to go back to school and get a bachelors degree. Unfortunately I live in a very small rural town with no community college or junior college. The nearest colleges are an hour away. I’m a single mom with a full time job 8-5. I have not taken any college classes what so ever. I came across the University of Texas Distance Learning program. This would allow me to take all classes from Home and work. Because of the type of degree I am pursuing, I would be taking classes from The University of Texas El Paso. Since this will be my primary campus I had fill out an online application to UTEP. I was informed that I would have to take the SAT or ACT before I’m accepted. So I am scheduled to take it this Saturday. What I’m worried about is the Math portion of the Test. I have never taken Trig or Calculus. Algebra and Informal Geometry are the only HS math classes that I’ve taken. After 17 years Algebra is a bit rusty. I’m really worried about this. Can anyone offer any advice?</p>
<p>There isn’t any calculus on ACT math, but you will need to know trig. With less than a week to go before the test, your best bet would probably be to take some practice quizzes and try to identify what topics you are struggling with. Once you’ve identified those, you can get a review book and look over those topics until you feel comfortable with them</p>
<p>Try to take some online practice tests. I think Sparknotes has one.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the info. I did look online at some review questions and I must say it’s very overwhelming. Thank you again for your reply!</p>
<p>Thank you Kajon! I’m looking now :)</p>
<p>The test itself is not difficult, just the timing is for the Reading and the Science. Just make sure to read the Sparknotes tips that they give you in order to complete the test within the given time. Good luck (:</p>
<p>I think its great that you are going back to school, good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>When you have the free time (which may be hard to come by) you definitely should look into doing some preparing. There are 3 sub-math sections on the ACT math test (the test isn’t divided into these sections but each of the questions will fall under one of these):</p>
<ul>
<li>Pre-algebra/elementary Algebra</li>
<li>Intermediate Algebra/Coordinate Geometry</li>
<li>Plane Geometry/Trigonometry</li>
</ul>
<p>If you can manage it I would definitely recommend going to this website and doing the complete practice test offered there*: [ACT</a> Test Prep : Sample Tests](<a href=“ACT Test Preparation | Test Prep Resources | ACT”>ACT Test Preparation | Test Prep Resources | ACT) It may not seem necessary but it is very, very helpful to look through 1 actual real test before diving into the ACT on Saturday. I would definitley reccomend taking a real test over the ones offered on other test prep areas such as sparknotes, princeton review, etc. The only time you should refer to those is when you have no access to any other real tests (and there are about 5 real tests available out there for free or purchase) but it doesn’t seem like with such a limited time you’ll be able to go through all the real tests available.</p>
<p>The most important thing is to familiarize yourself with the types of questions that will be asked. With the math this will probably entail needing to review some mathematics concepts. The reading/science are a matter of being able to refer to the material given and answer questions about it. The only difficulty you should really find here is the type of questions themselves/directions. If you can get comfortable with how they ask the question then you should be fine. English is similar in this regard. If you don’t need to review any grammatical rules the only issue you should have is learning how they pose the questions. They don’t “ask” anything, they just have an underlined portion of a passage and options, so if you can be comfortable with how to replacing phrases works you should be fine (I got caught off guard when i took the ACT because I hadn’t seen this before so it took me a while to orient myself).</p>
<p>But to address your concerns with mathematics, you should probably try to learn the trigonometry that will be presented on the test. The thing about the ACT is that it isn’t a “reasoning” test as the SAT claims to be, it doesn’t try to measure innate intelligence. It tests you on high school curriculum material. Whether thats a good thing or not depends on the person and situation. But luckily, the website I mentioned (the official ACT website) does a great job with the practice test. They clearly explain the answer to each question, how to get to that answer, and so on, as well as why each other response is incorrect. This should DEFINITELY help if you go through the entire test.</p>
<p>*Just use the tabs near the top of the page below the black bar that say “English, Math, Reading, Science, Writing” in order to go to each section of the test, and then go through all the sets of problems.</p>
<p>Good luck :D.</p>
<p>Floramia, are you 100% sure you were given the correct information? I work at a major University and adult students over the age of 21 are not required to submit standardized tests. I just find it odd that they would require someone who has been out of h.s. for over 17 years to take a high school standardized test. You want to ask about their “Adult Admission” requirements.</p>
<p>Congratulations on going back to school, and good luck! Try searching “Non-Traditional” student if “Adult Admissions” doesn’t work. </p>
<p>Being even longer out of school than you are, I have found that sometimes if I’m stumped on a math problem, I can sometimes take a mental step back and just look at it with common sense. Sometimes I can estimate the answer going on some kind of instinct.</p>