LAST MINUTE ACT PREP

Alright, the ACT is just a few days away. You've done a little practice, or maybe none at all, and you're nervous. Understandable. Not to worry, though:

there's still time to put your best foot forward on Saturday. The first thing you need to do is get hold a of a practice test: the easiest option is to go to your college counselor's office and pick up a free copy of the official sample test. This is a real ACT with answers and scoring chart at the back.

Sit down and time yourself strictly. If you run out of time on a section, mark the spot, and keep going. Later, you'll be able to access how much faster you need to go (probably just a few seconds per question), while still getting the benefit of practice on the remaining questions.

Remember: the key to the ACT is to get to all the questions and put down your best answer. That means moving along and guessing when a question gives you trouble: not getting bogged down! In reality, all the questions are simple (the hard ones just LOOK hard), but under the time pressure, you're still going to have to guess on some of the questions. That's fine, as long as you get to every question, read it, and put down your best response. In the end, that's how you get your best score.

On English, read carefully and trust your ear: no need to second guess yourself. This is everyday grammar, and you're an expert at it, because you use it all the time with your family and friends.

On Math, find the common sense, intuitive way to do the problem. If you can estimate an answer, do it. If you can use the answer choices to guess and check, do it!

On Reading, read more quickly by reading less. Just get the main idea of the passage and spend more time on the questions themselves.

On Science, remember: this is not a test of science, just a test of reading charts and graphs. So go directly to the questions, then hunt back for the answers!

Let me know how you like these tips and how you did on the test. And visit my website, www.collegeprepcoach.net , for more prep.

Good luck!