ACT BOOT CAMP

act test scores

Plenty of students study for the act, they even pay hundreds and thousands of dollars for act prep.  When I was a junior in high school, I remember a teacher of mine was obsessed with drilling one point into our heads:  Those who don’t remember the past are destined to repeat it.  The old saying is as true today as it was then.  The past is the strongest indicator for what tomorrow will look like; likewise, it can be the strongest advocate for a different tomorrow.

We encourage all students, whether they participate in the Boot Camp or not, to take the ACT plenty of times, but at least three.  The first is just to get your feet wet; most students are simply overwhelmed by the experience.  The second builds off the first, but is not exclusively sufficient.  Between those two testing experiences, the student can then learn from their past.  Which quadrant of the ACT is their strongest suite?  Which is their weakest?   For  certain tests throughout the year, students can pay roughly $12 to receive their test scores back with the correct answers.  This is a gold mind.  At this point, the third testing experience is perfect!  ACT test prep can be implemented, and practice makes perfect.  After that, we say rinse and repeat.  For under $120, a student can take the ACT 4 times, and can easily return hundreds if not thousands of dollars.  You do the math.   Based off your historic decisions, are you destined to make a foolish or wise decision.  Choose wisely.

The difference between success and failure is often found in the details.  I heard a story once of a man who went for a day hike with friends in the deserts of Australia.  The hiker took the wrong fork in the path and got separated from the group.
For 3 days he wandered in the desert without food or drink.  Eventually he was found lifeless by rescue teams.  I head or another story of a man who got stranded on an alpine climb in the Patagonia mountain range.  In lieu of breaking his leg in an avalanche, the man was able to survive for almost 2 weeks, alone in subfreezing temperatures.
The difference between the two is preparation.  In a world of standardized test and college entrance exams, a lack of forethought is destined to dash your future decisions against the rocks.  ACT prep help is a key element  in a student’s maturation.

Being born and raised in the Cincinnati area, one can’t help but be a lover of the Bengals.  Guilty as Charged.  While watching the game this Sunday, I noticed a frightful trend from the Bengals that is unfortunately noteworthy.  Before halftime, the Bengals accrued an immense amount of penalties, costing them a disgustingly large amount of yards.  Now, at the end of the day, the Bengals did indeed pull off a win, and my weekend was all the better for it.

However, at one point, after back to back penalties, I could not help but think that this is team of players is as a whole poorly trained.  It was like as if one mistake was that catalyst of the slippery slope.  Yikes.  After the game, I started thinking about our Boot Camp, and how we strive to train students to keep level headed while under pressure.  The ACT Test can be a lot like a football game, as it has immense amounts of pressure, and the playoff and college both are just around the corner.  Keeping calm under pressure, practice tests, familiarity, all breed success.   For our participants, I can say this: I expect everyone of you to do the Lombardi Leap after you finish dominating the ACT!

ATTENTION:  THE DATES BELOW ARE VERY VERY IMPORTANT!

SIGN UP TO TAKE THE ACT!

AND THEN SIGN UP TO TAKE IT AGAIN!

SERIOUSLY.

• act test dates

• October 24, 2009
• December 12, 2009
• February 6, 2010**
• April 10, 2010
• June 12, 2010

• act sign up dates

• September 18, 2009
• November 6, 2009
• January 5, 2010
• March 5, 2010
• May 7, 2010

Signing up for the act is mission critical.  Don’t Delay.  Don’t Procrastinate.  Just make it happen.

3 Rules for act prep:

Reduce:

Reduce the amount of time you spend on tough answers.  This is one of the greatest mistakes made on the test.  In test taking, people often see the tree but miss the forest.  The test is the forest, and you have to cross it in it’s entirety.  Time reduction per question is one of the best ways to properly accomplish the test.  Focus on questions you know.  A lay up is always easier to make than a 3 pointer, and it’s a guaranteed point.

Reuse:

As noted in the previous post, history is a great tell to current and future dilemmas.  Your ACT test booklet should be covered in markings like an old train car!  Reuse questions to gain clues to current questions.  While former questions often do not directly indicate an answer, they can be brilliant resources for the process of reducing variables, thus increasing the chances of a good guess.  Reuse your questions.

Recycle:

This one is a bit stretched, but ACT Prep is important.  Recycle your old test results into a platform for your  next test experience.  If a student discards their experience, it really is like filling a landfill.  So don’t be that guy.  Learn from your past.  You know how you handed the test, what part made you freak out, what part you thought was a breeze.  Good ACT Prep comes from repetition.

ACT Test Strategy is an important element to success on the great exam.  After talking with countless schools, parents, and students, it has become evident that there are essentially “urban legends” that revolve around test strategy.  I can say with certainty that if it sounds to good to be true, it is.  Guessing is  a great resource to test takers, but a guess is not a shot in the dark.  Guessing is built on a systematic process; especially regarding the ACT Test.   So when I heard people say that for questions they don’t know, they just answer C, I want to scream.  But instead of my emotional volcano, I tell them this:  C, is irrelevant.  What does matter, is that you develop a powerful process.  For example, read the question fully.  Read each of the possible answers.  Usually, there is one answer that is blatantly out of place.  Out of 4 possible answers, you now have 3.  Clearly, C is not the best route.  Like shooting fish in a barrel, eliminate the easy wrong answers, so that your guess has a stronger chance of carrying the correct answer.   Testing is like life, a little logic can go a long way.

A couple of weeks ago we met with the Superintendent Tim Hanner and Assistance Superintendent Barb Martin of Kenton County School District.  Our conversation was rooted in two main topics, both of which I’ll briefly express:

1. Progressive within Kentucky Educational Systems

There is a change in the air regarding how the state of Kentucky is assessing its schools and their abilities to “educate” their students.  I put the quote around the word educate because in many ways this is a bogus concept.  Education, the process of developing a person in life, is an always morphing creature that varies per nation, per state, per city, per household, per individual.  Like life, education is a unique experience.  Nonetheless, Kentucky Schools need to be measured for the students’ sake.  The ACT, as we discussed, is rapidly becoming a standard metric to assess a school’s ability to equip it’s students with a certain set of competencies.  This trend, regardless of its benefit to the individual schools and students, is the inevitable (for now).

1. Resources for Students

State wide, all juniors in KY are required to take the ACT Test.  Kenton County, like any other school district, wants to do their best to equip their students to perform at the highest level possible.  But in many ways, a school’s hands are tied; although many schools opt to ignore this ethical, and legal restriction.  Mr.  Hanner was exceedingly clear in his intent to fortify his students in every possible way for the ACT without breaching the legal grounds of training his students in testing strategy, as well as creating “sketchy” in school trainings.  To me, this makes us at the ACT Boot Camp a huge ally to the district.  Our company exists only to raise scores; practice act tests, strategy, tips, etc. are our tools to accomplish the goal.  Other resources include optional after school ACT coaching, focus on core competency, as well as referencing other test prep companies.