Many study options available for ACT, SAT

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by Aaron Lillie

Over the course of three hours on one Saturday morning, many students improve their chances of admission into their favorite school, and win or lose out on scholarships. It doesn’t require the bribing of school administrators or winning a game show, only correctly answering questions on material they’ve been learning since seventh grade or prior.

So why do many students underachieve on standardized tests? Some students are better test-takers than others, but in reality a student with a 4.0 GPA is unlikely to score a 12 out of 36 on the ACT. Students who understand which test they have to take are far more likely to meet their goals and expectations.

The first step is deciding which test to take in the first place. At Timpanogos, the ACT is the test of choice, and is given almost every other month. For most schools in the West, including Brigham Young University and University of Utah, students will need to take the ACT if they plan to apply.

Unfortunately, you can’t always choose which test you would like to take, the SAT or the ACT. Some schools only accept the ACT, and vice-versa. Colleges and universities on the East Coast typically like their applicants to take the SAT, while local schools prefer the ACT. Either way, there are different strategies for each test.

Mr. Rick Sannar, a counselor at Timpanogos, highlighted some of the options for students. “There are different ways to study…really, it’s finding the time, just to put in some time and review what you’ve learned up through the end of your junior year, find maybe the weak areas, and brush up on those.”

Timpanogos offers an ACT prep course that students cand attend after school. Sannar outlined the course, which is a great resource for students taking the ACT for the first time.

“In the first one we talk about the general overview of the ACT. We talk about that, just because being a timed test, some students are shocked the first time they take it with how little time they have. So we try to get them familiar with that. Then we have teachers from English, math, and science talk about each of those sections of the ACT and what to expect, in more detail. And then the last session we talk about test-taking tips.”

Depending on the score students want, they may want to spend more or less time preparing for the ACT. Some students show up the day of the test without any previous preparation, while some students pay for private tutoring and study books.

Students with the highest ACT scores aren’t always the smartest students at the school. Students who take calculus will have a difficult time with the math portion if they can’t remember how to do trigonometry or geometry.

The same number of each type of question is asked every time you take the ACT. For example, while the questions change, there are always four trigonometry questions on every test. Considering that, students will want to spend more time reviewing for questions in the math test that are more likely to show up. Students who are familiar with what questions they will see are more likely to use their study time efficiently as well as knowing which questions to attempt first when taking the real test.

Austin Millett, a junior, recognizes the importance of focusing on test-taking strategies in addition to reviewing for each subject. “Learning to take the test is half of the battle, because if you can’t do it in the time limit it won’t matter (if you got them all right). So if you learn how to test well, then what you know should be accurately reflected.”

Test strategies for the ACT
- Answer every question. There’s no penalty for answering a question incorrectly.
- Eliminate the obviously wrong answers. Even if you don’t know the answer, there are usually a couple answers you know it isn’t.
- When you need to guess, try to pick the same letter every time. If you pick the same answer every time, you should get near 25% of them. If you choose a different letter every time, it’s hit-and-miss. You could answer 50% of those questions correctly, or miss every single one. Go with the more consistent option, and a pick of “Letter of the Day” to guess with.
- Manage your time carefully. Pick out the easiest questions and answer those first. Don’t spend time on the longer, more difficult problems until you’ve finished the ones you know you can get right.

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