ACT study advice (re-applicant)

C

CAP2020

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Feb 2, 2021
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Hello all,

I am a contracted AROTC cadet now entering my sophomore year. I was twice nominated for West Point last year, but my application was suspended due to my low ACT scores (Superscore- 27) according to my RC. Over the summer, I could not for the life of me be able to raise my scores even a smidge. So, I wanted to ask a question about the study habits for those of you who were appointed.

How did you study for these exams? Did you study daily, weekly, etc. and for how long? Did you or your parents hire a tutor? How many times did you take the ACT/SAT?

I'm slated to take the test again this September, and I need to change my habits quickly because what I am doing now is not working. Whether it be friendly advice or tough love, I will appreciate your comment. Thank you.
 
Have you tried the SAT? DS like you struggled to improve his ACT scores. He took the ACT 4 or 5 times and had a similar superscore. He then tried the SAT and scored significantly better. He took the SAT 3 times and his superscore put him just above the average SAT for appointed cadets, and he is now at West Point. He used Magoosh to study, but I think Khan Academy would work just as well. West Point advises taking both tests, because some people just do better on one test over the other. Good luck.
 
I took the ACT 3 times and the SAT twice. I quickly realized that I preferred the ACT more so I pivoted to solely focus on studying for that for my last two tests. The thing that I found most useful was just doing practice tests. I believe I did 14 practice tests for the ACT and 7 for the SAT. I found a majority of the practice tests (I always made sure they were official tests from years past) on the r/ACT and r/SAT subreddits. During the school year, I would do a full practice test on the weekend and then do timed sections of areas that I needed to improve (usually math) on 1 or 2 weeknights. One of the main things to note is that you should try and do the full practice tests in as accurate conditions as possible. Make sure that you are strict with your timing and wait until the end of the test to check your answers. I actually found it beneficial to take the tests with my bedroom door open which let outside sounds/distractions in so when I was in the actual testing room, I was able to focus much better. It is vital that after you take a practice test, you check each answer and make sure that you understood why you got it wrong. If you don't do this, the time you spent taking the test will be almost completely wasted because you will continue making the same mistakes. Feel free to pm me with any further questions!
 
Use the "ACT Prep Black Book" by Mike Barrett. This book is more about test taking strategy. Using this book and Khan Academy helped my daughter a great deal. Take as many practice tests as you can fit into your schedule. Good luck to you.
 
CAP2020 said:
Hello all,

I am a contracted AROTC cadet now entering my sophomore year. I was twice nominated for West Point last year, but my application was suspended due to my low ACT scores (Superscore- 27) according to my RC. Over the summer, I could not for the life of me be able to raise my scores even a smidge. So, I wanted to ask a question about the study habits for those of you who were appointed.

How did you study for these exams? Did you study daily, weekly, etc. and for how long? Did you or your parents hire a tutor? How many times did you take the ACT/SAT?

I'm slated to take the test again this September, and I need to change my habits quickly because what I am doing now is not working. Whether it be friendly advice or tough love, I will appreciate your comment. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Under the circumstances you described, I would think a private tutor that can provide an intense and proven program in a short period of time is your best bet. It will cost a large amount of money, but it is likely the best path to success to meet your score goals.
 
2 of my sons have taken the ACT. There are three elements to improvement. 1 - understand how the test works. There are tons of spots online where you can learn this: which sections get progressively harder and which do not (this is key to getting as many questions correct as possible before you are forced to answer by guessing), how points are allocated etc. 2 - Get really clear ASAP where you are struggling with the actual content ( e.g. core math skills or rules of grammar) This will help you focus your learning against the specific deficits. 3 - Practice with real tests. My DS did 2 sections a night under real test conditions for a few months. This helps you understand time management and more importantly the patterns of questions. There are really only a handful of question types per section. Once you practice enough you will recognize these immediately
 
I was a reapplicant for USMMA ultimately ended up at NMMI due to not meeting minimum test score, but I just graduated this past June from USMMA.
The biggest thing that worked for me was taking practice tests but in less repetition. I then would throughout analyze the ones I got wrong and learn why I got it wrong. Then go online and look for questions of the same topic whether it’s math or science or review the grammar rules for English and master it. In your off time read news articles and try to get in the mindset of asking yourself questions about the article like the ACT does for reading comprehension. I went from an 18 composite to 28 composite in 2 years with this mindset, the ball is all in your court
 
Hire a proven tutor and take it as seriously as possible. Yes, it's expensive but much cheaper than college tuition. I hired this type of tutor for my DS, and he improved his ACT score by 6 points over 3 months. The tutor focused on teaching him the strategy and the discipline, and my DS added in the study time. Good luck to you!!
 
Though my DD used her SAT in her application, she used https://act.magoosh.com to add 5 points to her ACT (26 to 31). She hated the ACT BTW, but they had great interactive modules and tons of practice lessons. She used the SAT program they have as well.
 
The website https://www.crackact.com/ contains official ACT tests. Download the tests, take them, and score them to see how you are doing. The website is free and extremely helpful for practicing the ACT. The website provides answer keys but not step-by-step solutions to work through the problems.
 
Another option is to use Khan Academy (Free on line) to study for the SAT.
 
H
CAP2020 said:
Hello all,

I am a contracted AROTC cadet now entering my sophomore year. I was twice nominated for West Point last year, but my application was suspended due to my low ACT scores (Superscore- 27) according to my RC. Over the summer, I could not for the life of me be able to raise my scores even a smidge. So, I wanted to ask a question about the study habits for those of you who were appointed.

How did you study for these exams? Did you study daily, weekly, etc. and for how long? Did you or your parents hire a tutor? How many times did you take the ACT/SAT?

I'm slated to take the test again this September, and I need to change my habits quickly because what I am doing now is not working. Whether it be friendly advice or tough love, I will appreciate your comment. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Have you gone into your sub scores of your previous tests, on the web site. Your sub scores show which types of questions you did well on, and which you did poorly. I would recommend looking at those subs and then studieng/working on the types of problems where you missed the most, and can have the greatest impact. DD did this and raised 2-3 points on every subject over 3 tests.
 
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