This
post is sponsored by College Prep Science. Copyright 2020 by Greg
Landry.
I
started helping homeschooled students with ACT prep over 14 years ago
as I helped our children and then students from other families in
classes. Now, more than ever, it makes sense to laser focus on the
ACT.
Standardized
tests like the ACT and SAT are critically important for two reasons -
they are an important part of the college admission decision and
academic scholarships are often based directly on this score (higher
score = more scholarship money). This score may make the difference
in a college acceptance decision or in thousands, or tens of
thousands of dollars in scholarships.
First,
a little background. Most colleges and universities require that
students take either the ACT or SAT and that the score is reported to
them as part of a student's application process. All colleges and
universities will accept either test for the application process.
Some students take and report both. Since 2012, more students take
the ACT than the SAT and that gap widens every year. The SAT is
rapidly losing market share.
While
a majority of students used to prepare for and take both tests, more
and more students are now focusing all of their preparation on the
ACT and only taking the ACT. The conventional wisdom used to be that
you should prep for, and take, both tests. The rationale was that
because of the differences in the tests you may score significantly
better on one than on the other. Actually, that rarely happens
(although my anecdotal experience is that homeschooled students tend
to perform better on the ACT). The scores for the vast majority of
students who take both tests are very similar. Some would suggest
that students should take the PSAT because of the chance of becoming
a national merit scholar. But the chances of that happening are very,
very small and in my opinion not worth the potential downside except
in rare situations.
Several
reasons I believe students should laser focus (and become an expert)
on taking the ACT!
1.
Taking only the ACT eliminates the test-taking confusion that many
students experience because of the differences in strategy and
structure between the ACT and the SAT. A little confusion while
taking these tests can negatively affect college admissions and
scholarship money - sometimes significantly.
2.
Considering homeschooled students I've worked with who have taken
both tests, the majority preferred taking, and performed better on
the ACT.
3.
All math questions on the ACT are multiple-choice - a decided
advantage for students who know how to exploit this factor - as I
teach students to do in my boot camp. Also, unlike the SAT, the ACT
allows the use of a calculator for the entire math test.
4.
In early 2019, College Board (the publisher of the SAT) announced
that in 2020 it will begin including an "adversity index"
with the SAT scores it submits to colleges in 2020. This index score
will be an estimate of how much adversity a student has faced in
their life as estimated by the College Board. This step has been
roundly criticized in academic and test prep circles as unfair to
students who don't fit into the "adversity index" - for all
practical purposes it acts to effectively lower the SAT score of all
other students. Another reason to ditch the SAT.
5.
The "science reasoning" section of the ACT (about 25
percent of the test) can be very intimidating. This section has
little to do with science knowledge and is more about reading
comprehension, critical thinking, and reasoning. For students
planning to be science majors in college, doing well on the "science
reasoning" section of the ACT is especially important and can
give them a decided advantage. It's also the section that has the
largest potential for improvement with appropriate preparation. It is
typically composed of several science-related reading passages (often
with some type of graphical data) with several questions related to
each passage and data. It can be conquered and used toward a
student's advantage with appropriate preparation!
6.
If a student focuses solely on the ACT they can become an expert on
taking that test. This is much more difficult to do when preparing
for both ACT and SAT as you don't have as much time to focus on ACT.
Rather than spending time preparing for the SAT and the ACT, spend
all that time totally focused on the ACT, likely yielding a better
ACT score.
Ideally,
a student should begin preparing for and taking the ACT in the 9th
grade and take it two to three times per school year through 11th
grade or early 12th grade. A student can take the ACT up to 12 times.
The fee to take the ACT is $68 (writing test included) and the
experience gained in taking it multiple times may make the difference
in a college acceptance decision or in thousands or tens of thousands
of dollars in scholarships. The goal early on is to gain valuable
experience of taking the test and to continue to improve.
Then,
submit one (the best) of those 11th / 12th-grade scores to colleges
to which you're applying. 99+% of colleges only require that you
submit one of your scores. A few colleges require that you submit all
of your ACT or SAT scores but state that they use your best score for
admission consideration. Also, admissions personnel that I've had
contact with view taking the test multiple times as a sign of a
student's determination and perseverance - qualities they want to see
in a student.
The
experience of taking the ACT multiple times over several years is so
important! Imagine the difference between students who take the ACT
for the first time in 11th or 12th grade vs. students who are
thoroughly familiar with the test when taken in 11th or 12th grade
because they've prepared for it for years and have taken it several
times! It's huge!
If
your student is beyond 9th grade and hasn't started preparing for and
taking the ACT yet, no worries - they can get started now and still
make significant progress.
Homeschool
dad, scientist, and former college professor, Greg Landry, offers
live, online homeschool science classes, Homeschool
ACT Prep
Bootcamp
the Homeschool Mom’s Science Podcast, in-person two-day science lab
intensives nationwide, freebies
for homeschool moms,
and homeschool print publications that students can be a part of.
