Just Kate Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 DS (16) is taking the ACT next month in order to be eligible for dual credit classes this fall. I’d like him to do a bit of studying prior to the test. Where could he go for test taking tips and practice questions? Thanks! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Kate Posted May 20, 2020 Author Share Posted May 20, 2020 I’m replying to myself. 😂 I just found Magoosh. It looks like it inexpensive but good for self-study. Anyone with experience? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 EMy son took ACT last October and did very well. He used the library books and some online practice tests we found. Sorry I did not save the online sites. You can find a lot on your own. At first he and I thought he would probably have to take it two or three times to get a satisfactory score because he generally does not test well for the Iowa standardized tests and also he only got a 26 for both PreACT he took in 9th grade and also in April last year, 6 months before he did the full ACT. We were literally shocked how well he did. So he is not going to take it again. Oh, I forgot that I did buy two books for him. One is English and the other is for science. Let me see if I can find the Amazon link. https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-ACT-English-3rd/dp/0997517883/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=ACT+English&qid=1589945236&sr=8-4 https://www.amazon.com/Love-ACT-Science-innovative-standardized/dp/0996832203/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=ACT+science&qid=1589945367&sr=8-3 we used this book from the library: https://www.amazon.com/Official-2019-2020-Practice-Online-Content/dp/1119580501/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=ACT+prep&qid=1589945524&sr=8-3 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 12 hours ago, Just Kate said: DS (16) is taking the ACT next month in order to be eligible for dual credit classes this fall. I’d like him to do a bit of studying prior to the test. Where could he go for test taking tips and practice questions? Thanks! Is there a reason you wouldn't use The College Board's online prep if you wanted self study? If you buy their "Official" prep guide, it comes with online resource code.https://www.amazon.com/Official-ACT-Prep-Guide-2020/dp/1119685761/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=act+prep+guide&qid=1587132499&sr=8-4 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 If he's only a month out from taking the ACT, I probably would not suggest PrepScholar or Kaplan or something that costs $, although that's one possibility. I suggest that he looks on the ACT web site to see if they have anything Free available, and also I suggest that he use https://www.khanacademy.org/ which is Free. IMO Khan Academy is especially good for the SAT (if he is also going to take the SAT) because they have an official tie-in with the CollegeBoard. He should link his CollegeBoard account to his Khan Academy account, so he gets the best results from Khan Academy. Good luck to him with the ACT! If I were going to spend $, based on another very recent thread, PrepScholar had 2 or 3 people who seemed to have very good results from the money they spent on it. What I don't know is whether or not you can get one of their programs for only one month. Check it out. My DD had access (I think for 90 days) for a Kaplan program that was tied to ACT. I think it was $100 USD. They had a lot of videos the students could watch and occasional sessions where the students could ask questions of the Instructors. My DD found being able to ask those questions very helpful. That was in 2018. She found the Kaplan course somewhat better than Khan Academy (which she used for the SAT) because of the ability to ask questions of Instructors in live sessions. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Kate Posted May 20, 2020 Author Share Posted May 20, 2020 5 hours ago, BlsdMama said: Is there a reason you wouldn't use The College Board's online prep if you wanted self study? If you buy their "Official" prep guide, it comes with online resource code.https://www.amazon.com/Official-ACT-Prep-Guide-2020/dp/1119685761/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=act+prep+guide&qid=1587132499&sr=8-4 Nope! No reason at all. I just wasn’t sure what folks who’ve BTDT would recommend. Thanks for the suggestion! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 2 hours ago, Just Kate said: Nope! No reason at all. I just wasn’t sure what folks who’ve BTDT would recommend. Thanks for the suggestion! OP the thing is that the CollegeBoard / Khan Academy combination, which is Free, is best for the SAT. If your DC is preparing for the ACT those are very different examinations. He should prepare for the ACT if he is going to take the ACT. Some students like my DD do about the same on the SAT and on the ACT. Other students do much better on one of the tests than on the other one. The test taking strategies are different also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 PrepScholar has lots of studying and test taking strategy on their site for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 If nothing else, he should take a few official practice tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 Yes, have him try a few official practice tests and go over every. single. problem, right or wrong, to be sure he understands why the answer is what it is. Do this even with subjects in which he scored well. It's much easier to raise the score in an area that's already a strength, and every additional point helps his composite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 Print this and let your son color the bubbles on the last page while he do the practice test under timed condition http://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/Preparing-for-the-ACT.pdf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 More practice tests https://blog.prepscholar.com/printable-act-practice-tests-5-free “Below are all seven currently available PDFs for official ACT tests. Even though some practice tests are old (dating as far back as 2005), the format of the ACT hasn't changed much since then (except for the introduction of a redesigned Writing section in 2015), so you're basically still taking the same test from more than a decade ago. ACT Printable Practice Test 2019-2020 (Form 1874FPRE) Test: p11-55. Answer key: p.57-60) ACT Printable Practice Test 2018-2019 (Form 74FPRE) Test: p11-55. Answer key: p57-60. ACT Printable Practice Test 2015-16 (Form 72CPRE) Test: p11-55. Answer key: p57-62. ACT Printable Practice Test 2014-15 (Form 67C) Test: p11-51 (ignore the essay). Answer key: p56-62. ACT Printable Practice Test 2011-12 (Form 64E) Test: p13-56 (ignore the essay). Answer key: p60-65. ACT Printable Practice Test 2008-09 (Form 61C) Test: p13-55 (ignore the essay). Answer key: p60-64. ACT Printable Practice Test 2005-06 (Form 59F) Test: p13-55 (ignore the essay). Answer key: p60-65. Each test includes a full answer key so you can grade your test.“ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 Following Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 13 hours ago, klmama said: Yes, have him try a few official practice tests and go over every. single. problem, right or wrong, to be sure he understands why the answer is what it is. Do this even with subjects in which he scored well. It's much easier to raise the score in an area that's already a strength, and every additional point helps his composite! Just to clarify, an answer key alone doesn't give explanations. If the online practice doesn't include explanation about the answers, try to find one of the official ACT red practice books. Your library probably has at least one, even if it's older. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 The best explanation and test prep ideas are in the ACT black book. You need the exams from online or from the separate red book. Much more focused and helpful than you average prep book. My daughter gained 4 points in English on the ACT from the explanations in their book with just about an hour of work! (Some strange rules grammar rules they have, especially what they call comma sandwiches.) We had used other prep books with minimal impact, this one was the most helpful. She had already done the practice tests and was just studying form their explanations on questions missed. https://www.amazon.com/ACT-Prep-Black-Book-Strategies/dp/0692027912 Longer term, I like the PrepScholar for studying, but with only a month, practice tests and the black book. There is a SAT black book as well that is also well worth the $. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 Edition matters, so be sure to match them appropriately. Check dates. Here's a more recent edition of the black book, if you are using the 2018 red book: https://www.amazon.com/ACT-Prep-Black-Book-Strategies/dp/0692078398/ref=dp_ob_image_bk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
showelott Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 I'm a long time SAT/ACT tutor. Here are my favorite ACT books that I recommend to folks. And here are my top 8 ACT tips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkelement Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Books by Erika Metzer are also great for language prep, though not sure if doable in one month. But I thought no ACT or SAT will be held in June? Am I missing something? We are in the North East and everything here is still very much in the lockdown. ACT board had a message that they will issue an update on May 26th. I wonder if some parts of the country will be able to take it and some not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 ACT online taken at home? I heard this today. How is cheating prevented then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 My daughter did practice tests in one book and she watched these videos for the science section. She discovered there isn't time to read everything, so in that section, she read the questions first and looked for the answers. It was her highest section score. ' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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