langfam Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 DS completed the Real ACT prep over the summer and has been doing the Kaplan ACT Prep. He did better on the real tests. Question: should he stop the Kaplan Prep? If we do, what would he do for prep from now until his test Sep 13? Should he go over the real tests? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris in Wis Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Sometimes too much prep can be overkill. We did the real ACTs, and that was enough to achieve a higher-than-average score for both my children. Of course, we were not aiming at an ultra-selective college, but found going through several actual practice tests was enough. I would suggest reviewing any areas in which he was weak on the real tests and work on those. Just my 2 cents! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avdelp Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Hi! My dd took the ACT last spring. She did the Real ACT book, Kaplan and Princton Review ACT test prep books. It was so strange because she was doing great on the real ACT and Princton practice tests, but she was bombing the Kaplan practice tests. I was a little nervous about how she would perform on the actual test. Well, she did beautifully! Her actual scores were in line with the ones she was getting on the real ACT and Princeton practice tests. I did some asking around, and it seems that many other people have had the same negative experience with Kaplan. Perhaps they want the real ACT to seem easy come test day, but all their test prep did was make us worry unnecessarily. No more Kaplan test prep in our house. Good luck to your daughter! Sincerely, Alicia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetbaby Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 We are going to be diving into our Real ACT soon so this was great to read. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langfam Posted August 25, 2008 Author Share Posted August 25, 2008 Thanks for your replies. I haven't checked till today. Interesting about the Kaplan ACT tests. He was really bombing the reading section and science section of the Kaplan tests, when he had done quite well on them on the real tests. He's come to the conclusion that the strategies they taught for those sections were not working for him. Something like....skimming the questions, skimming the selection, then reading carefully and answering the questions. Too time consuming. Interestingly though the Kaplan strategies for the English section have really worked. He got a 34 and 35! Which is an amazing feat for this child! I've told him to keep the strategies for English, but ditch the ones for Reading and Science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmomto5 Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 We are also using the online subscription on the ACT website. It is cheap and you get your tests graded for you. Lora in NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in MO Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 The Real ACT Prep. Guide, but we spread it out over a few weeks before my dd's ACT in June. We did just one section of the test per day, and upon my dd's insistance, I allowed her to do the math portion over two days, with the strict understanding that the real test wouldn't be like that. This year, for both the PSAT and ACT, I'm going to have her listen to Chalkdust's SAT Math Review. Since all three girls are getting used to a regular (private) school schedule again, I haven't yet figured out how we're going to do that, but I'm thinking perhaps just on Saturdays. At any rate, I'm hoping these will boost her math scores on both tests. She thought that the ACT math was more difficult than the PSAT math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langfam Posted August 26, 2008 Author Share Posted August 26, 2008 I second Chalkdust SAT Math review, dc have scored well after using it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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