“last minute” strategies ACT test prep “last minute” strategies

Review past practice tests Students all too often operate under the mistaken notion that only by doing new questions will they improve. But there is much to learn about your test taking skills by looking at questions you’ve already answered. And there is no better source than previous practice tests you’ve taken. Here, you will see patterns to the errors you’ve made—conceptual, careless, or otherwise. Additionally, you’ll be able to see the types of concepts you struggle with and you’ll be able to work on these areas (assuming they are at least somewhat likely to show up on the actual test) in the few days you have.

Make an inventory of your common mistakes The more specific you are about your mistakes, the better you’ll be able to fix them. Students who say something to the effect of “I’m bad at math” won’t know what to focus on. With only a few days remaining, you’ll want to make the most of your time by figuring out the areas you can improve in. If you learn that your problem in math is those questions in which you have to manipulate algebraic equations, you know exactly what to focus on for the last few days.

ACT skills….remember

English

Math

Reading

Science

Don’t bite off more than you can chew One common response to having little time to do a lot is to freeze, deer-in-headlights style, and not do anything. Just as common is the exact reverse: to work in a frenzy, jumping around from topic to topic, without letting anything really sink in. So, relax, take a deep breath, and follow step #2. Once you’ve figured out those three or four areas in which you need to improve, make sure you focus on those for the next few days.

Carlisle Assignment # 1 Tuesday 10.24 Review past assignments and prep questions Make a list of the specific skills you need to improve upon (using the slides above) From this list, what are 5-6 specific skills you can practice and improve before next Saturday?

Don’t do any prep the night before the test that will stress you out You are already on edge. The last thing you need to do is stress yourself out even more by doing tough practice questions the night before. But that doesn’t mean you should avoid prep altogether. But instead of doing panic-inducing problem sets, you might just want to go over some fundamentals. For instance, review high-frequency grammar concepts or memorize formulas likely to show up on the math section.

Get to sleep early TWO nights before the test I know, we’ve all heard about the importance of sleeping early the night before. But that’s a lot easier said than done. After all, you can’t just tell your body to go to sleep at a certain hour—an earlier hour—when it is not used to doing so. Throw in the fact that the next day you happen to be taking either the SAT or ACT and this advice becomes downright impractical. At the same time, I’m not going to sit here and tell you to get to bed early for an entire week. I might as well tell the continental landmasses to stop moving. However, getting to bed two nights before the test isn’t wildly idealistic. Two nights before the test, there won’t be so much pressure to fall asleep. You can wait for the actual test to feel some pressure—a little bit will help you stay in the zone.

Carlisle assignment #2 Thursday 10.26 Make a test week plan