I am a Jr. in HIgh School and I am preparing to take the ACT since where I live that's all it requires but I think I want to move to go to college else where so I am doing the practice ACT two times (once last year and once again before the real thing) And possibly a practice SAT as well any AG users got tips for me?
Well actually there's ways around not taking either test, but it makes life a little harder. I didn't take either, and I'm still transferring to a university next fall. All that you have to do is take your first two years at a community or junior college and transfer with an Associate in Arts degree. Which makes much more sense because you're not wasting money on those first two years, and you already know how to handle the work load when you make it into a university. But, if you want the big scholarships, you have to take those exams.
Also, on the oral part, be really offtopic and jokey.
Oral? Which test has oral? Or are you referring to the foreign language subject tests?
Here's my advice for the SAT essay(s):
Be real bland and drop a lot of quotes from quality literature. Humour will only work if
A) You are actually funny. B) The person (well, two people) grading your essay have a sense of humour. They probably don't, which is why they are spending their time grading a SAT paper instead of having a life.
Staying on topic is important, and will earn you points even if you are a bad writer. The SAT essays aren't graded on creativity or even talent, but rather on the ability to clearly express ideas. The way in which you format your ideas is much more important than the ideas themselves.
But you are better off just focusing on math and vocabulary. The essay isn't too important. You can bomb the essay and still get over a 700 on writing.
Aim for above a 700 on all three (writing, reading, math) portions of the test. This isn't as hard as it might seem.
Don't worry too much about studying. In fact, you aren't supposed to study for it (though most people do). The test is designed to reflect your knowledge, not what you are capable of learning a week before test day.
Where I live writing isn't require nor is oral I doidnt know some places had oral and I want to apply for scholarships so I aam not avoiding da ACT at l want to do better then when I took the practice test last years I did ok for a underclasamen without all the knowledge I really needed and i don't understand why they need to test your knowledge if you go to college to learn anyway
i don't understand why they need to test your knowledge if you go to college to learn anyway
College is the next level up, they need to make sure you understand the basic stuff before moving on.
I have no experience with the SAT, but I did take the ACT twice for real and once for practice. For the ACT(well it helps with all tests) you really just need to stay calm and focus on the question you are working on. If you are a nervous test taker I would recommend the practice ones(which I think you said you were doing) and try to find something that calms you and focus on that before the test. If you aren't a nervous test taker that will make it easier to stay calm.
If you do take the writing part one of the best things I can say is to mention in one paragraph what the opposition might be and how you could counter it.
i don't understand why they need to test your knowledge if you go to college to learn anyway
SAT/ACT scores determine placement in certain classes. Score high enough, you can read/write/do math at the college level. If you score lousy, you will have to take 0## classes, which are refresher courses before taking the real deal. It does not matter if you took Calculus in highschool; if you don't know it, you get bumped down to a 0 class, which can be basic Algebra, if you don't do well enough in it.
The best way I can help you is to try to get help from your teachers. My high school had an SAT practice course that spanned 4 weeks doing nothing but SAT problems and going to lunch early. It took time out of our schedule, but it was well worth it in the end.
By doing repeated SAT problems and knowing what is wrong and how to solve them, your score will increase dramatically.
If you can eliminate half the answers, you can get a pretty good shot at it. 50/50 deserves a try.
If you do not know the answer, don't guess, just skip it. Accumulated wrong answers will divide your scores pretty severely.
im with you man im a junior this year also. u live on the west coast im presuming.
think of it this way, on the reading section try and skim as much as you can and read some of the shorter paragraphs so you dont time out. if you dont finish dont leave your answers blank, fill them in with all the same letter cause everytime you pick a different letter, your chances of getting a good score on that section drop exponentially. thats all i got for ya bud from what ive taken pre ACT and SAT wise
i don't understand why they need to test your knowledge if you go to college to learn anyway
You need to be smart enough to comprehend the material you would be learning at said college =)
I took the SAT in 7th grade, and i studied my *** off for months and i got a pissy score But make sure you study accourding to yourself try this Link
I sure hope it was just a practice test because most of the time you take it as a senior in highschool...
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My only advice is to control your thoughts and heart rate and just don't freak out. You are more likely to accidentally scribble the wrong answer purely because your mind was racing xD
