Violet’s band and dance schedules picked her ACT date for her. She’s a junior in state marching band, which ruled out the October test, and she dances competitively, which ruled out December. That left September 19. When her family enrolled on August 10, the test was about six weeks away.
She’d scored a 25 on her Pre-ACT the previous November. The full-length practice test every student takes when they start with us, which we call the diagnostic, also came back at a 25. Her goal was a 30 or better, for merit scholarships toward a math or computer science major.
Running out of time
Violet is a strong student. She’d skipped two grades in math and was taking Calculus through a local college. But she works carefully, and on the ACT that meant running out of time. In Reading she’d reach the last passage with too little time left, and the rush made her anxious. In English, her lowest section at a 22, she was choosing answers by how they sounded, without the grammar rules to check them against.
Six weeks isn’t enough time to work on every section, so her coach, Thomas, put the time into Reading and English and left Math for her next test.
In Reading he gave her a fixed budget of 10 minutes per passage, so the last passage got the same attention as the first. He also had her practice on older versions of the ACT, which fit more questions into less time than the current test, so test day would feel roomier by comparison. In English she learned the rules the section tests, and her mistakes on a practice section dropped from 13 to 7.
Her first test with us
Violet scored a 31. Her English, a 22 on her diagnostic, came back a 33, and her Reading went from a 26 to a 31. Math came in at a 30, and her coach hadn’t started working on Math with her yet.
That’s six points in six weeks, on the one date her calendar allowed, and a point above her goal. Math is the next section on her plan, and as a junior she has more test dates ahead to add to it.
What we did differently
- Picked the test date before anything else. Marching band ruled out October and a dance competition ruled out December, so the plan worked backward from September 19.
- Spent the six weeks on Reading and English, and saved Math for her next test.
- Gave her a fixed 10 minutes per Reading passage, so the last passage got the same time as the first.
- Practiced on older versions of the ACT, which fit more questions into less time, so the real test would feel roomier.
Coached by
Thomas
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).