Emma’s family had been through the ACT once before. Her older sister, Camden, also worked with us and is now at the University of Alabama. When their mom, Sommer, first wrote to us about Emma, she put it plainly: “Hate that we started so late with Camden and don’t want to make that mistake again.”
So Emma started in March of her junior year. In her first meeting with her coach, Taleen, she explained what the score was for: “I just want to get a lot of scholarships and stuff like that to make it easier for my parents.”
Where she started
Emma’s starting point was the 24 from the one official ACT she’d taken. Every student also takes a full-length practice ACT when they start with us, which we call the diagnostic, and Emma’s came back lower, at a 20. She’d taken it at home with her family coming and going around her, and she said it felt harder than the real test.
Her goal was a 32, for out-of-state scholarships at schools like Auburn, Arkansas and Texas A&M.
One section at a time
A superscore combines a student’s best score in each section from different test dates, so Emma didn’t need to raise everything at once. Taleen planned her prep one section at a time.
They started with Reading. It’s the section where students usually improve the most in the least time, and her first test was only about five weeks away. Emma’s routine alternated days: a timed practice section one day, and the next day a log of every question she missed, what it tested and why she missed it. On the April ACT she scored a 33 in Reading.
English came next. Most of her mistakes were grammar, especially punctuation, and the English section keeps testing the same set of about 20 to 30 rules. Once those rules were solid, the work moved to Math in late August, ahead of the September test.
September
In September Emma scored a 31 in English, a 26 in Math and a 32 in Reading, which makes a 30 for that test on its own. With her 33 in Reading from April, her superscore is also a 30.
Her goal is still a 32, and Math, at 26, is where the next points are.
When the scores came out, her mom wrote to Taleen with a message to pass on to Carson: “I am a firm believer in his method—it has worked for both of my daughters!”
"She is definitely relieved. She will take it again this month since I already registered her, but the pressure is off now. Whatever happens from here will just be a bonus."
— Sommer, Mom
"I am so happy with the results. Thank you so much for all of your help."
— Emma M.
What we did differently
- Started with Reading, the section where students usually improve the most in the least time, ahead of her April test.
- Alternated days: a timed practice section one day, and a log of every missed question and why she missed it the next.
- Moved to English next and worked through the grammar rules the section keeps testing, starting with punctuation.
- Saved Math for the run-up to September, and built her superscore from the best of each test.
Coached by
Taleen
Every Boosted Brains coach has a perfect or near-perfect ACT score and has been personally trained by Carson Weekley (perfect 36) and Martin (Head of Student Success).