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ACT Tutoring and Test Preparation
The ACT exam has increased in popularity among students in recent years. It serves as an assessment of overall high school academic competence, but it is accepted by all 4-year colleges and universities as admissions test. Are you interested in going to a highly ranked university? Then you should be greatly concerned with the ACT. The ACT is similar to the SAT in that they are both standardized assessments utilized in college admissions. While it is not usually necessary to take both, we recommend students take both at least once to compare their performance.
Understand that it is a standardized exam, meaning that your score is compared to that of every other student who took it at the same time. In terms of your competitiveness in admissions, this means that your score is only as good as it is better than those of other students’ (mostly). You also have to keep in mind the test score averages for incoming students at universities in which you are interested. Averages are available on the websites of each university, and will give you an idea of how high you need to score. With that in mind, where do you begin?
Test Prep–Consider your learning style
Nearly everyone prepares in some way for the ACT. And while more than 50% of students utilize a test prep book, research has shown that it is actually the least effective test prep. tool in terms of test scores. In fact, US News and World Report, a popular resource for admissions data, has stated, “Individual tutoring is the only way to garner […] attention to the unique […] skills” of students. Understanding individual factors is the key to bringing up your score. Think about it: If you’re a great writer, you should generally work on the math section a bit more, and vice versa. And beyond this, what will you do if your mock-exam scores do not increase? Test prep. books are good tools, but they certainly provide very little comprehensive feedback–they cannot assess you!
Private tutoring is optimal in most cases because students can be more engaged with the material and with the instructor. Even large group classes aren’t ideal because students can easily space-out or simply neglect the work. And interacting with the instructor is limited, both because he or she has to answer questions from many students, but also because students individually may be too insecure to ask questions. Textbooks and classroom environments have to make the material “fit everyone”. Well there’s no one-size-fits-all in education, and so the material actually “fits” essentially nobody. A huge advantage to private tutoring is that you know you’re learning the material in a way that is ideal for you.
Take It Easy
With challenging classes, extracurriculars, volunteer work, and (hopefully) a personal life, it is safe to say that you could do without worrying about managing your own ACT prep. And typical ACT prep courses make you work around their schedules. Stressing out over your score will only contribute to poor performance. At TutorNerds, we know what it’s like to be a student, and so we make absolutely sure that we provide all of our services in the most student-oriented manner. Our Test Prep. Experts come to you, at your convenience. You do not have to rearrange your life to do well on the ACT. But investing in a private tutor with TutorNerds is a great first step–and really, your score can only increase.