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Preparing for the ACT

Submitted by SHNS on Thu, 09/25/2008 - 13:42

DEAR DR. FOURNIER: My daughter will be taking her ACT for the first time in October. She is a 10th-grader and has taken geometry but not Algebra II. She is anxious to see how she does to determine where she should improve. She is aiming for a scholarship. She has already been practicing on her own and has asked to take a course right before the test. Should she?ASSESSMENT: Absolutely! More and more students are applying to college than ever before. Yet colleges have not added that many new seats to their freshman classes. Just the shear numbers have allowed colleges to be more selective and demand much more from applicants. If your child aspires to enter a highly selective college with a scholarship, she has a lot of competition. It is not farfetched to start preparing/practicing now.WHAT TO DO: Months in advance of taking the ACT, a child should work both on strategies and content. But the child should work more on strategies and less on content as she gets closer to taking the test.Use these strategies for handling the three types of questions on the test:1. I know the answer. (Answer these right away.)2. I think I know the answer, but it may take a lot of time. (Put a "plus" by these and move on.)3. I have no idea. (Put a "negative" by these and move on.)When reaching the end of the test, go back and do the pluses first. Once those are done, only then start on the minuses. If you do not get all those done, then guess at the remaining, because on the ACT you do not get penalized for wrong answers. Leave nothing blank.Other advice:-- Memorize how many minutes you have per test and per question on each test. This will help you control time better and be a guide to let you know you if you have plenty of time or if you need to put a "plus" or "minus" on something and move on. Remember, the test is going to have time traps. It is one way that the test measures if you know how to be strategic or if you are going to drown on one question and become paralyzed.-- Take an analog watch and use it. Whenever you are planning how long you have to complete a task, ask yourself where the large hand must be based on the time you have. Then do not think time. Think, "This is the space I have." And you will see how slowly the hand moves. It will help you be calmer.-- Scribble as much as you want in the book. It is your test and you can write all over it.-- Mental math can be dangerous when under pressure. Leave pride at home and use your calculator.-- Do not take a group course. Your needs are unique. Take a private practice test. Analyze where you are strategically weak and have a specialist in strategies work only on those strategies. Group courses are moneymakers and those people wait to offer these generic courses when you are most emotionally vulnerable.-- Pay to have your official ACT test results and original booklet sent to you. You will know exactly what you missed and why as you prepare to take the ACT again.This initial test will offer you nothing more than data to analyze to identify what you need to learn (content and strategies) to raise your score. The test is as much about content as strategy. They are equally important. Do not ignore this.And Mom, congratulate your daughter on taking control of her future.(Write Dr. Yvonne Fournier, Fournier Learning Strategies Inc., 5900 Poplar, Memphis, Tenn. 38119. E-mail her at drfournier(at)hfhw.net.)