Omniac Attack!

Hey Students!

The October 23rd ACT is just a day away and at least some of you are starting to panic.  And there's some good reason for that.  It's one of the first really important things most high school students will have to do, which makes it stressful; and the October exam is the last chance that seniors will probably have to take it before their applications are due, which only adds to the stress.  But we have three simple, last minute ideas that are sure to make the test easier and reduce your stress.

By the time that students become seniors, they have been introduced to every single concept that they find on the ACT.  That said, students still miss far more questions than they probably should.  

There are two main reasons for so many missed questions:  the ACT deliberately writes questions to be confusing to students and most students get so focused on answering every question that they rush through the test and make simple mental mistakes that can and should be easily prevented.  

Simply put, you should slow down while taking the ACT.  Unless you are aiming for a score of 30 or higher, there's absolutely no need to answer every single question.  By taking your time, and spending as much time as needed to answer questions correctly, you can increase the percentage of questions you get even though you're doing fewer questions.  As long as you keep up a medium pace, you'll get more points and improve your score.  You'll also be under a lot less stress on test day...

Far too many students get so hung up on finding the right answer that they miss opportunities to find the wrong answer.  As we said earlier, the ACT asks questions in such as way that finding the right answer is difficult.  However, finding wrong answers is often significantly easier.  

Focus on using the Process of Elimination to find wrong answers and get rid of them (we actually recommend that you physically cross them out in your test booklet).  Best case scenario is that you find three wrong answers and are left with one right answer.  Worst case scenario is that you have to guess from two or three possible choices instead of four.  Either way, you're a little better off and a whole lot less stressed.

Even if you're a senior and you have applications due soon, you can always take the test again.  Many universities will allow you to submit test scores even after you've sent in your application.  If you're unhappy with the results you get from tomorrow's test, send those in with your application anyway, take the test in December and then update your application with your December scores.  

And, of course, if you're a junior, you have plenty of time to retake the test.  There is one bad thing about this though.  Unless you're just a point or so away from the score you want, just taking the test again probably won't get you all the way there.  You actually have to prepare for this test and change the way you take it if you want to significantly increase your score.  Fortunately, there are a myriad of options available for doing just that, ranging from study guides to full test prep course.  Whichever method you think will be best for you, you have plenty of time to get ready!

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