PLAN Tutoring & Test Preparation
The PLAN exam is a standardized test created by the ACT program as a functional pre-ACT. It’s purpose is estimate your preparedness for the ACT, as the questions are very similar, assessing your ability to draw logical conclusions. There are 4 categories of questions: Writing, Math, Reading and Science. Writing questions center on grammar conventions and sentence structure. Math tests you on key concepts from pre-algebra, algebra I, and geometry. The reading section has you draw conclusions given a piece of text. And the science section asks, again, for you to come to logical conclusions from a basic understanding of science. Unlike the ACT, there is no essay portion, and it is a shorter exam overall.
Given these categories, the PLAN serves very well as an overall gauge of your comprehension of topics from your first two years, or so, of high school. Your score report will actually contain some very useful information regarding your high school classes–which areas are strong, and which need more work–and what college majors and career options appear to be a good fit. TutorNerds recommends that students take both the PLAN and the PSAT starting in sophomore year in order to predict which corresponding exam (the ACT or SAT, respectively) will be ideal for their strengths.
In order to bring about the most accurate representation of your skills, consider working with a private PLAN tutor with TutorNerds. Not only will PLAN test preparation have significant carry over into the ACT, but a TutorNerds expert will be able to personalize your tutoring in order to utilize your strengths and improve any problem areas. Some students struggle with the format and style of the test, but mistakenly believe their problem is knowledge-related. Such issues cannot be properly assessed by a simple test prep. book. However, working with an expert, who can readily assess your strengths and weaknesses based on your practice performance, will provide you with the tools to increase your abilities and your scores.