ACT tomorrow!

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I took it! It wasn't too bad in my opinion, though the science section seemed a bit harder this time around. How did it go for you?
 
English was a joke, wouldn't be surprised if I didn't miss anything.

Reading was really easy, maybe 2-3 missed at the most.

Science wasn't too bad, until the last two sections. Did you have the one about the students rolling balls up a spherical track? The last one of mine was weird, I can't even remember what it was about, something about acetaminophen and carbonic acid.

My math section was ridiculous, I'm in calculus and never even heard of a matrix equation until that test.
 
Gamma Knife said:
English was a joke, wouldn't be surprised if I didn't miss anything.

Reading was really easy, maybe 2-3 missed at the most.

Science wasn't too bad, until the last two sections. Did you have the one about the students rolling balls up a spherical track? The last one of mine was weird, I can't even remember what it was about, something about acetaminophen and carbonic acid.

My math section was ridiculous, I'm in calculus and never even heard of a matrix equation until that test.
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Isn't a matrix question just something like [1 2] x [4]?
 
I guess, but I never even heard of one until that test, so I was like :wow:.
 
Gamma Knife said:
English was a joke, wouldn't be surprised if I didn't miss anything.

Reading was really easy, maybe 2-3 missed at the most.

Science wasn't too bad, until the last two sections. Did you have the one about the students rolling balls up a spherical track?
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GAHHH YES. I really wish I had more time to think through that, I had to skip it and come back to it as it was. And yes, I agree about English and reading. The only passage where I wasn't totally certain about some of my answers was one of the more social studies-ish ones about a jazz musician. I didn't have much of an issue with math. It was easier for me than the Feb math section, though I did not have time to get to the last two trig questions before time was called. :/ It bothered me because I knew if I had more time I could have figured them out, but, oh well I guess.
 
I remember the Jazz one! I think I did pretty well on that part. Last time I got a 31, but I got a 26 on the math so I was like :/, ill take it again. Hopefully I did better this time, but I really struggle with time management on the math part. I usually have an extra 5 minutes on English though, I wish I could allot it into math...😛.

We also had a girl faint, a girl who needed a special chair because of recent leg surgery, and my friend had to opt out because he broke his neck a few days prior.
 
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I got a 26 on the math last time too 😳 Fingers crossed for improvement this time! :xf: What is your target score? I'm aiming for a 33 or 34.
 
Ditto. I may or may not have logged on multiple times in the last few days just to see if by some unlikely chance scores were posted early. 😛
 
Uhm yeah I'm hoping for a 25 for my first time. Trying not to set the bar too high like I did with the SAT as I went in with no preparation (practice tests or anything). My second time I'm hoping for a high score in both. It's not that the test was difficult by any means but I've always been slow at most things I do, and standardized tests like the SAT and ACT are geared strictly towards fast workers. Out of what I finished I think I did really well. The reading and writing sections were both really easy but 75 questions in 45 minutes for me isn't all that easy as I'm the type to read, read all the answers, think about it for a second, then answer. I guess that's why the only way to get better at the SAT/ACT is to do practice tests and get used tot he timed format.
 
Connell MD said:
I guess that's why the only way to get better at the SAT/ACT is to do practice tests and get used tot he timed format.
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Very, very true. Practice is key. Having taken them once before will help you out for the next time as well. I was much less nervous for this round of ACT than I was for the first time, and expect my performance to be better because of it.
 
Now do any of you have suggestions for books to study and practice? I already saw one suggestion for Barrons, but I was thinking about getting "PR: Cracking The ACT" and "Dissecting the ACT 2.0".
 
I wasn't a huge fan of Barrons, but I know some people who swear by it. Princeton Review's prep book works better for me. I think it really depends on personal preference. Look around a bit, raid your local library/Barnes and Noble/whatever floats your boat and see what works best for you. 👍

Also: T-minus 3 days until scores are posted! Ahh!!!
 
Well I ordered those 2 books I mentioned as I've read lots of good things about them. I'll let you and everyone else know when I go through them how they are and ultimately if they help or not. Appreciate the insight. 🙂
 
This was my first ACT. I know i didn't do too well, went too slow and sort of didn't care about the test lol. I hate the ACT and don't know why I took it. My first SAT was in the low 2100s and I know my ACT is not going to be anywhere near that.
Also about matrices, if you are using a TI-83 or 84 you can just hit 2nd, the negative 1 exponent button and plug in the matrices and do whatever operation you need.
 
airjordan23 said:
This was my first ACT. I know i didn't do too well, went too slow and sort of didn't care about the test lol. I hate the ACT and don't know why I took it. My first SAT was in the low 2100s and I know my ACT is not going to be anywhere near that.
Also about matrices, if you are using a TI-83 or 84 you can just hit 2nd, the negative 1 exponent button and plug in the matrices and do whatever operation you need.
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Grr... I've been talking to people; It seems that matrix equations are rather common in our H. Algebra II class. Didn't even mention it in reg Algebra II (that's what I get for being lazy as a freshman🙁) Oh well. Looking back now, I feel like a *****. :d
 
Our class actually came across matricies in the 8th grade but our teacher said, "don't worry about it, you won't need to know how to do them."
 
airjordan23 said:
Also about matrices, if you are using a TI-83 or 84 you can just hit 2nd, the negative 1 exponent button and plug in the matrices and do whatever operation you need.
Click to expand...

😱! That is awesome. I did not know that. Once again I am in awed by the awesome powers of my trusty TI-84. Thanks for sharing!!!
 
Connell MD said:
Our class actually came across matricies in the 8th grade but our teacher said, "don't worry about it, you won't need to know how to do them."
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That's cuz we be from the Midwest! We dun have no fancy-shmancy edumacation like yall' does upin ther North Eastern States! Now I gots ta go out in der' fields and grow me sum corn! 🙂
 
lol.

Us upperclass folk arn't allowed to speak to your kind.
 
Gamma Knife said:
That's cuz we be from the Midwest! We dun have no fancy-shmancy edumacation like yall' does upin ther North Eastern States! Now I gots ta go out in der' fields and grow me sum corn! 🙂
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:laugh::laugh: 👍

My high school was a cornfield six or seven years ago. It is still surrounded by cornfields. Midwest ftw. 😀
 
Less than 24 HOURS. :scared: If I didn't have a college visit in the morning I'd totally be staying up. ...Bah, who am I kidding, I'll probably still stay up anyway. 😛 Late night countdown to ACT scores party anyone? 😀
 
Cephal0pod said:
Less than 24 HOURS. :scared: If I didn't have a college visit in the morning I'd totally be staying up. ...Bah, who am I kidding, I'll probably still stay up anyway. 😛 Late night countdown to ACT scores party anyone? 😀
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Oh hell yeah!
 
Bahaha 😛 Well, it's officially June 27th!! I just logged on though and no scores for me yet 🙁 Anyone else??
 
Lame. Maybe they wait until it's the 27th in all US time zones? :/

On a totally unrelated but awesome note, Yale has full length videos of actual lectures from actual classes on their website. I'm watching one right now, pretty spiffy 🙂
 
Apparently the scores are posted at 1am EST, and midnight here in the Midwest, but I looked at like 12:30am CST for the April test and they weren't up yet. I may or may not have gotten up at 3am to check, at which time they were posted.
 
huh...

30 in math (YAY!) 24 in science (WTF?? 31 last time) Oh well, some schools combine the best scores from each test, so the 30 will help.
 
Scores are up! I got a 31. Not the 33 I was hoping for, but I'm still happy to have improved from last time 🙂

ETA: Congrats on your math! I got a 26 again x) Oh well. I got 35 in English (woot!), 34 in reading, and 30 in science.
 
Gamma Knife said:
huh...

30 in math (YAY!) 24 in science (WTF?? 31 last time) Oh well, some schools combine the best scores from each test, so the 30 will help.
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The science is annoying...I got a 32 on it in April and a 28 in June. It's SO sporadic!
 
I think I'll stick with my 31. Did worse this time 🙁. Damn that science pisses me off though. How the hell do you get a 7 point drop in a subject?
 
didn't come close to finishing any of the sections and got a 30 =O. i semi-gave up after the english section when i left a good amount of questions blank. still sticking with my SAT score and giving that another go.
 
Haha, congrats Airjordan! What did you get on the SAT if you don't mind me asking?
 
I didn't get my scores today. 🙁

Everything was filled out correctly on the front of the answer booklets and what not. And according to the sites, they post new scores weekly. I hope I don't have to wait a whole 7 days. 🙁
 
I saw something about Wednesdays and Fridays too, maybe check back on Wednesday and see if it's posted then?
 
Congrats on all of your scores everyone -- you all seem to be on track to getting accepted to great schools and programs. Not sure if anyone cares (I know I didn't when I was testing), but during an ACT/SAT/College App seminar at my school a few guidance counselors swore by this 'three test rule' which stated that after three exams a student's score will plateau and only move +/- 10-20 points (SAT) and +/- 1 point (ACT). Obviously, this is considering you have already studied and taken the required coursework for the exams.

I didn't want to believe this when I was studying for my exams, but I learned two things...

1) Studying content for exams like the SAT and ACT is pointless -- you already know all the information. Just buy the official guides and take the practice tests.

2) The 'three exam rule' is totally accurate! They're all guidance counselors and deal with 50-70 graduating seniors every year for the past 7-35 years... Take some practice exams, take the SAT and ACT once. Figure out which you are more comfortable taking (not always the highest score!), take a few more practice tests of said exam, and go one more time.


On essay writing... Getting a 12 on the SAT and ACT essays is a breeze. One of the only things I learned from my overpriced Kaplan class was this:

-You don't need a crazy vocabulary (trust me, I don't have one), just know basic grammar rules and how to spell. Establish a writer's voice and just go!
-Use THREE examples: A personal anecdote, a media example (book, TV, film) and a historical/contemporary issues example (stay away from controversial issues in religion and politics, though)
-NOTE: If you don't have any of the above, LIE! They do not grade you on truthiness. You can write about Woodrow Wilson being abducted by aliens and him inventing the wheel while on Mars as long as it RELATES TO THE ESSAY PROMPT!
-Do not write more than 4-5 sentences per example. You only have two pages for an intro + 3 short examples + short conclusion.
-Make sure you CLEARLY STATE, if not OVER state your stance. If one word can define the essay for these exams it's stance!
-No matter what, conclude your thoughts. If you have a minute left and are only on two examples, write a conclusion anyway. This shows your skill as a persuasive writer (remember, STANCE)!
-The SAT isn't looking for beautiful writing and language adroitness, just a writer who is able to persuade the reader and have a strong stance.... Okay no more of that word, sorry.
-During the last minute or so, go back and fix any sloppily written words or typos. Don't worry about content or major structure, just make it somewhat legible and in some sort of English

I followed all of these and got a 12 on two SAT exams and 2 ACT exams. Personally, just to be different and hopefully catch the grader's eye, I would usually disagree with the essay question... I only recommend this if, in a split second, you can come up with three solid examples to do so. The average grader gets paid 10 bucks an hour and looks at your essay for about a minute. Make those damn two pages count!

I'm starting to ramble, but it always gets me mad when kids study the most useless **** and get 8s on their essays after they b*tch and moan on how they use their vocab from all these expensive books they bought. Obviously this doesn't really pertain to you 2012ers, but hopefully someone from 2013 and on will see and learn.

...STANCE!
 
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That is probably true. I think it's even the two test rule. By the 2nd sitting you should already know what to practice and what to expect.
 
Congratulations to those of you posting your scores here. I feel proud of the hSDN users 🙂
 
Gamma Knife said:
I think I'll stick with my 31. Did worse this time 🙁. Damn that science pisses me off though. How the hell do you get a 7 point drop in a subject?
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back in hs i went from a 26 to a 26 to a 32 LMAO, studied less for the 3rd time, had a 9 point increase in the science section. the "science" section lol
 
Finally got my ACT score. I got a composite score of 25 which I'm happy with for it being my first time seeing the ACT format and test. I got my PR and Dissecting the ACT books to study and go over for the test come fall. Hopefully I can get a 30 or so. 🙂

English: 23
Math: 26
Reading: 28
Science: 24

Just waiting on Writing.
 
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