I am a high-school student going into my senior year.
I have been strategizing my preparation for upcoming ACT tests and I am very worried because I feel as though I may have hit a wall as far as my scores go. I took the old SAT in march and scored a 1920, and I took the ACT in the spring and received a 29. The ultimate irony of those two scores is that they are equal according to many score equivalence calculators. This worries me a lot.
I like to think of myself as a very good student. I have been an all A’s student for the last two years, I have taken 6 AP courses and passed 8 AP exams so far (5 fives so far). I also love school, program in my free time, and just love learning in general. Yet compared to other students in my cohort I am not doing so well on standardized tests. I have studied a lot for them, and have taken quite a few practice tests but I just cant figure out a way to get my score from a great 29 to an exceptional 23+ score. I am worried that this might be the place where hard working students are sifted out from the truly talented ones.
Part of my difficulty the fact that I have not read a book (that wasn’t about computer programming) since at least 7th grade, and although my teachers tell me I am an excellent writer I do not like English classes. Yet on the ACT my English score was only 1 point behind my stem score, and on the SAT it was only by 50 points.
Some things to note is that time is not really an issue, except on the ACT reading section. I usually only have time to halfway understand one section, and time to make guesses on the final one.
What are some strategies that can push me into being exceptional at these tests? If you were ever in this situation do you have any tips or encouragement?
What are your subscores on both tests and, assuming you are planning to retake, when would that be - October?
Act:
Math: 32
English: 30
Reading: 28
Writing: 29
Science: 27 (this subscore baffles me. I thought the ACT test had an easier science section compared to the practice tests I took)
Old SAT:
Reading: 620
Writing: 620 (MC 59/80, Writing 9/12)
Math: 690
I scored similarly even on the 2015 PSAT
English: 650
Math: 700
I have decided I am going to retake the ACT every chance I get till about December. I am signed up for the September ACT.
I think the science section requires a lot of reading skills. Why did you decide to focus on the ACT vs SAT? I’m not seeing a clear advantage to ACT in your scores?
In terms of test prep, to get better at reading you must start reading. Start by committing to reading several meaty articles per week from Articles of Note http://www.aldaily.com/articles-of-note/ or longform.org. Then pick up a challenging book. The Emperor of All Maladies comes to mind for a science-oriented person.
For whichever test you decide to take, get the appropriate test prep books by Erica Meltzer. She’s the best on reading skills.
@Program4Life1001 -
If you retake the ACT focus on improving your science score. That might push you north of 30. Science is tricky on the ACT and the real-deal is ALWAYS harder than the practice tests - could have more choices, etc. which will throw off your pacing. ACT will do what it can to trick you and most of its little changes are flying under the radar as the press is focused mostly on the changes with SAT and ACT essay at this time.
Speaking of ACT essay - don’t bother prepping to improve that. Colleges really don’t care - especially in comparison to the Science subscore.
If you choose the SAT for Oct. or later, use Kahn Academy’s free prep. It’s pretty good and right now it’s the only comprehensive prep course out there that is 100% knowledgable about the new test. SAT has 4 free practice tests and one PSAT (which is remarkably like the SAT now). Use all of them. The new SAT isn’t as time pressured as the ACT but it resembles the ACT more than it used to. So you might find that you do very well on that test. Keep in mind that your score on the SAT needs to be concorded to the old test - in other words, a 1500 on the new SAT is NOT a 750 on the old one (more like a 1460). College Board has concordance tables.
Take one practice test per weekend for the ACT from now till Test Day. Put yourself in real testing conditions (bring calculator, pencils, snack and drink, watch for timing yourself). Do the same if you start preparing for the new SAT and begin that once you are done with ACT.
Good luck to you!