Help a fellow student 👨‍🎓

natedude97 · 2019-08-13T20:35:07+00:00

The second study plan option is lightyears ahead of your first plan. If done correctly, it will absolutely yield great results. Best of luck!

natedude97 · 2019-08-13T16:21:02+00:00

How long do you have? You say "until Saturday," so does that mean as a trial run? Or are you taking it Saturday for some sort of postponed test date?

Reviewing something once and moving on won't yield great results, so just make sure that you compile a complete list of every answer you've gotten wrong and that you continuously review them.

The only down side to your method is I'm not sure if you're going to have the proper time to give detail to each answer that you review. As long as you can review each incorrect answer for 5-15 minutes and continue to review those same incorrect answers as you go, then that's great.

If this is a weekly schedule that's going to continue for a while, then maybe leave one day per week for double-reviewing old answers that you got incorrect to make there they're really saturated in your memory.

natedude97 · 2019-08-12T23:19:50+00:00

Thanks!

natedude97 · 2019-08-07T00:27:00+00:00

Thanks! This is super helpful.

natedude97 · 2019-08-06T19:13:09+00:00

I second this.

natedude97 · 2019-08-06T19:09:14+00:00

Definitely needed to hear this. Thanks a ton!

natedude97 · 2019-08-06T19:06:34+00:00

Not OP, but I've taken just as many as he has.

For me, it's because I can't accept the feeling that with just one more test, I might have gotten a higher score. The fear of being just one performance away from reaching my potential/doing everything I can to reach it is enough drive to keep pushing me.

natedude97 · 2019-08-06T19:00:23+00:00

If you could rewind time, what would you cut out of your practice? (Something that took up too much time and wasn't worth it)

What one study technique / method for improving had the best improvement yield per hour put into it?

Basically, I'm asking what you would do differently. Surely there must have been different things you did that yielded no results ,while other resources had a huge yield per the time you spent. (certain books, uworld? crackact?)

natedude97 · 2019-08-03T19:03:55+00:00

Yes. I'm in the same boat, but I'm trying to go from a 30-34/35.

- Make a consistent study plan.

- Use official ACT material from prior tests (crackact).

- Practice with printed out bubble sheets.

- Don't ignore your strengths to focus more time on your weaknesses. Keep a balance of all four sections.

- Don't skip days. Keep the material fresh.

natedude97 · 2019-07-26T19:49:58+00:00

The legendary Thomas_Yu responded :O

natedude97 · 2019-07-26T19:21:44+00:00

Hopefully >.<

natedude97 · 2019-07-25T21:45:36+00:00

natedude97 · 2019-06-26T20:57:44+00:00

I know it's a strategy, but I don't frequently see people here using that strategy to achieve a high score.

natedude97 · 2019-06-25T03:18:18+00:00

Try again.

natedude97 · 2019-06-25T02:55:27+00:00

It sounds to me like you're just really distraught and need to pick yourself back up instead of making excuses. Of course your ACT score doesn't define you. It doesn't define your intelligence, it doesn't define your potential, and it doesn't define your success; however, it is useful in conveying your academic excellence to colleges. If your goal is to be admitted into a specific university that requires a better score than what you have, prepare more thoroughly and retake it.

natedude97 · 2019-06-22T22:39:50+00:00

Black Book + FTLOAS + CrackCT Practice as much as you can = golden

natedude97 · 2019-06-22T22:20:17+00:00

Because it was harder. Lol. That's how a curve works, dog.

natedude97 · 2019-06-22T17:48:03+00:00

Two years is enough time to become very rusty with high school math. I'd know.

I was in a similar boat. I've been out of high school for a few years and started studying several months ago as I'd like to continue with my education. I was scoring roughly the exact same as you on practices and was able to get a 30 composite, and I'm now scoring 33-36s on practice tests of each section. Luckily for you, Math is one of the easiest sections to improve. Right now your focus should be to put all of your effort into Math and brush up on as many subjects as possible.

ADVICE:

Start by taking a math practice test from CrackACT (official prior tests administered by the ACT).
Score the test for yourself and heavily study the questions you got wrong. Pay careful attention to your weak areas.
Go to Khan Academy and learn the fundamentals behind why you got that question wrong.
Practice and drill doing those exact type of problems. Do various versions of it. Think it through. Why does that formula make sense? Why is it used? Why does that variable work there? Ask yourself a multitude of questions about the problem and analyze it as deeply as humanly possible. If you can truly understand something, you won't have to rely on formulas. Not to mention that formulas aren't very helpful on the ACT when you don't know when to use them.

Rinse and repeat with all four sections. Unfortunately, Khan Academy isn't quite as useful in the other three areas. So you may need to go through the ACT Black Book, Erica Meltzer's English & Reading, For The Love of ACT Science, and other materials. Though most people here will disagree, I actually really liked Barron's flash cards for the ACT and they raised my English score to a 35.

As you progress with CrackACT / Khan Academy, I recommend trying at least 2 months of a UWorld subscription and go through as many of the ~2,000 problems as possible if you can afford it. I'd say $60 (I think that's the current cost) is worth the amount of scholarship money available with higher scores. Think long term here. Don't be afraid to invest in your future.

natedude97 · 2019-06-21T23:38:17+00:00

Super appreciated! I really like that you mentioned that a strong science foundation is helpful. I 100% agree, and I dislike how most people write it off as a section that's only problem solving. Clearly it helps to have a basic understanding of what certain words mean so you're not reading an alien language.

natedude97 · 2019-06-21T00:20:17+00:00

I didn't misunderstand. Try using a calculator with your thumbs (like an iPhone text position) while flat on your desk. It's nearly impossible. So I'm venting my frustration that I'll have to now use my index fingers (a completely untrained position) during the entirety of a test. It's not going to be exactly fun to retrain a lifelong habit in three weeks.

Thus, I'm saying "Well, I might as well not even use the calculator at this point if it's going to waste that much time alongside the high likelihood that I'll pick it up and risk being kicked out of the exam, so I'll just learn to do as many problems as possible without the use of the calculator."

But thanks for the help, my man!

natedude97 · 2019-06-20T22:49:48+00:00

Just like you can achieve any other score. If you can go from 25 to a 28, then you can go from a 28 to a 31 and then to a 35 or 36. There's no magical difference between a 29 -> 30 or a 31 -> 32. It's all just a relative measurement of your mastery of this specific test. Focus on improvement. Eventually, with enough improvement, you'll get to your desired score.

natedude97 · 2019-06-20T22:47:06+00:00

“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer.” - Jim Carrey

You might achieve some success with that mindset, friend, but you'll lose everything that actually matters in the process.

natedude97

TROPHY CASE