When it comes to ACT test preps, there is no shortage of resources out there to help set you up for success. However, not all of them are effective or useful. You may be spending too much time on material that is not moving the needle towards your goals.
With any test prep, you’ll need to know how to teach yourself from your mistakes, and that requires supplemental methods, which we detail below. Keep in mind that this advice also works if you’re not aiming for a perfect score. If your goal is to improve your ACT test score or you want to know where to start, these principles can help enhance your learning.
ACT tutoring
The most effective practice materials are official ACT practice tests. While you can find many books written by individuals who have achieved a perfect score on the ACT, they often offer advice that has worked for their success.
The ACT features questions in a particular pattern. To learn these patterns, you’ll need to train exactly how the questions are presented. Once you’ve taken an official ACT practise test, the question becomes - how do you correct your mistakes and improve?
The most important thing to understand about ACT test preps is that they are designed for the purpose of becoming comfortable with the test structure. They don’t necessarily teach you about subject-matter knowledge and how to study for them.
You must already possess certain skills, including essay writing, math, and reading comprehension, to name a few. For this reason, many students turn to ACT tutoring.
Hiring a tutor is equivalent to an athlete being mentored and trained by a coach before a big game. While you can certainly train on your own, the right tutor can help you identify what you need to work on and give you tools to sharpen those skills.
Understanding your weaknesses and knowing how to dissect the questions that you get wrong is key to learning. When you're studying, this skill is above and beyond simply memorizing the answers. If you don’t understand why you got the question wrong, chances are you will continue to make that mistake.
ACT tutoring can help you acknowledge what skill you need to answer the question, analyze the problem, and guide you on how to train the specific skill.
Prepping to take the ACT is not an easy feat, and it’s one that requires hard work, commitment, and focus. The good news is, you don’t have to do it on your own. A tutor can ease the overwhelm that comes with ACT test preps and help you focus on the right materials for success.
