Spencer is a drum major. His summer included two weeks of band camp, from nine in the morning to nine at night, and the fall means Friday night games and competitions most Saturdays. Any ACT plan had to fit around that.
By the time he enrolled in late June, he’d taken the ACT four times, three on the old version of the test and one on the new one. He was at a 26, with English at 26, Math at 28 and Reading at 24. His goal was a 30 or better, for a full-tuition scholarship at his top school, Southern Miss.
The section tutoring hadn’t reached
Spencer had already worked with a private tutor, and it had helped his English, which went from a 21 to a 26. His Reading had gone up one point. Reading was now his lowest score, so that’s where his coach, Billy, started.
On his early Reading practice tests, Spencer understood every question but ran out of time. Billy noticed that his mistakes were spread through the section rather than piled up at the end, which meant his habit of skipping hard questions and coming back to them was already working. What he needed was a narrower fix for questions about a specific detail, where two answers often look right. Spencer learned to cross out the two clearly wrong choices first and decide between the two that were left.
Band camp and a youth trip paused the plan for most of July, and it picked back up at the end of the month.
September
Spencer scored a 30 in September, with English 29, Math 28 and Reading 32. His Reading went from a 24 to a 32, eight points in the section that had been stuck, and his composite reached the 30 he’d been aiming for.
On the day scores came out, his mom had him come to her school when he got out so the two of them could open his score together.
"We are so excited for him! I made him come to my school when he got out so we could open his score together. We appreciate you and Billy!!!"
— Brittany, Mom
What we did differently
- Started with Reading, his lowest section and the one tutoring hadn't moved.
- Taught him to cross out the two clearly wrong answers on detail questions first, so he was choosing between two answers instead of four.
- Paused the plan for band camp and a youth trip in July, then picked it back up at the end of the month.
- Matched him with an outgoing coach, which is what Spencer asked for.
Coached by
Billy
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).