how important is the English portion of the act test
^^kinda important.
The common application is taking a short break My son only has one week left to work on it before school starts. Kind of puts a wrench in our plans, but at least all the essay prompts are available. Any one else’s kids not care to work on essay’s? Can you send the same common act assay for all colleges that accept the common App or do you tailor it a little for each school?
@fun1234 E section is very important. While equally weighted with other 3 sections in the composite score, E and Math are sometimes considered more important by various schools.
@fun1234 I don’t know if it has changed, but GT used to concentrate on the English and math portions of the ACT.
@fun1234 not much essay work going on here. Son17 is wrapping up an app coding online class, reading his summer book, and catching up on AP homework. Essay work starts 8/8 when we get back from a trip.
QOTD: my son doesn’t care about terms/semesters. He loved one school that had classes Mon-Thurs. That intrigued him.
so it isn’t an average of the English and reading
like the sat
How can he get better at the English part
@fun1234 All sections are treated equally most of the time (with the exception of the optional essay which many schools are dropping for this class). Some schools like GT use their own formula, but E is always important.
It sounds like a grammar and punctuation studies would help.
Having DS14 in a semester school and some friends’ C’s in quarter schools, we prefer semester system from standpoint of scheduling. DS14’s school ends by end of April. He took a Maymaster study abroad class (credit class offered during the month of May). Upon returning home, his summer research internship starts the following day, first week of June and end first week of August. He gets a week break and then will head back to school for the fall semester.
QOTD: D doesn’t have a preference and I don’t have a preference for her. I do think semester is easier based on my own experience with both. The workload for a trimester system is intense as the courses cover the same amount of work as a semester course. Fall behind and you are doomed. A semester schedule can be more forgiving and also aligns better with study abroad options.
When they figure the composite act score does it include all 4 sections
I ta’ed chem at a UC on a quarter system and the material covered in first year chem was split in to Chem 1A, 1B and 1C. So the year covered the same material as a 2 semester program at another school. The midterm was at 5 weeks and the final at 10. It did feel fast and in a semester class there would typically be one more midterm 5/0 then finally at 15, so kids would have more warming in that first term that they might not be getting it.
On the other hand if you bombed first quarter we offered a winter/sping/summer a/b/c sequence so you could quickly make it up.
QOTD quarter/semester: I went to college on a quarter system (UC) and didn’t realize til later that its some rare thing. I could never figure out why people would correct me in conversation when I would talk about quarters.
I’ve never thought about preference, but I think @itsgettingreal17 and @4beardolls have a point about semesters aligning more easily with plans outside of your own school.
QOTD.
Not sure I have a strong preference, I went to college on a quarter system and liked that I wasn’t stuck with something I didn’t like class wise, for longer. It seemed to offer me a greater variety of options as it was faster. My real preference is that the actual school calendar lines up with SD’s although since they will only overlap for a year it doesn’t matter that much, not to mention the fact that she didn’t come home this summer and is likely do to the same next year.
QOTD- I prefer the semester system and I am sure DD really doesn’t care.
@fun1234 -yes it does!
QOTD (semesters vs Qtrs) - I prefer Semester which gives some breathing room. However I went thru quarter system for grad school (after transferring from another school which has semester) and that helped me to complete school quickly. But for 4 year college, I prefer semester system esp with lot of kids engaging in work, research, volunteer work etc… One minor illness can have bigger impact in quarter system.
** QQTD for Monday ** Well about half of S17’s schools are on quarters. I’m not sure he personally has an opinion. But I personally think he’d be better in a quarter system. He is the type of kid that has a hard time balancing too many activities at once. I personally find it hard to switch head spaces a lot and I think he’s very much like me in that way. And a quarter system lets you take fewer classes at once 3-4 vs. 4-6. Plus it’s a schedule I’m used to.
I’ve been eyeing Colorado College which is a one class at a time system. I’m not sure the school is a good fit in other ways, but I think he would do really well with it.
@VickiSoCal Many classes on a quarter system have two “midterms” and one final. Depends entirely on the class && professor. I agree for some kids I think it’s a bit too fast and not enough feedback. I still think it would suit DS.