ACT

So today was apparently a very important day. But if you can take this test many times more times than just once, why is one occasion out of possibly like nine so important? I understand; people are often times trying to "ace" the ACT (do you see what I did there?), or at least get as close as possible to doing so. As for me? Well, I try not to set an expectation for the ACT, mostly because by doing so I overwhelm myself with unnecessary hope and distress. My mindset was more along the lines of: Do your best. And that's how I think it should be.

The English and mathematics tests were my strong point; the English test especially was pretty smooth sailing for the most part. The mathematics portion had a few mind games, but overall I'd say I was confident through a good amount of it. The reading comprehension test would be much easier if the time limit was stretched? 35 minutes to read 4 (lengthy) passages with 10 questions each? That's about enough time to read each of these passages once and reflect a short summary. I found myself going back to the various passages multiple times to better understand specific points; the time limit seems to expect students to comprehend every piece of information upon the first reading. This is an interesting way to go about setting time limits, and maybe they do so to help us improve our cognitive speed, but this test was just horrible. The first three passages weren't so bad for me. The last passage, however, I did not have time to read. So, I picked out the questions that related to specific portions of the passage and answered those to the best of my knowledge. In the end I probably guessed on some of those.

The science test shouldn't even be called a science test. It's more of a read-and-analyze-these-graphs-and-compare/contrast-information test. IIRC, there was one question that actually depended on scientific knowledge. It was something to do with lipids and ATP or something. This test was not too stressful either, but the time limit of 35 minutes did catch me at the end. When the supervisor announces "You have 5 minutes left", I find myself in a mess of guesswork and unnecessary anxiety. If they could just not announce that there are 5 minutes left, that'd be great.

Scores come in 3-8 weeks. The room was generally humid, quiet, and full of people. I hope I don't have to do this again anytime soon, but my scores will help to determine that. Besides, what's the harm in going through all of this again?

Now... the SAT . Unless you have taken it already. Or you don't need it.

The key to doing well on the ACT is taking a lot of practice tests beforehand so you get used to the real thing. The first time I took the practice test, I got a disappointing 26 because I didn't manage my time well. I took a few more practice tests and got better, so when the real thing came around, I got a 31. So practice tests help a lot, and also just brush up in areas tgat need a little work. (I could've gotten a higher score if I had remembered my trigonometry.)