My big oops

[Stacy]

I got everything set up for dd to do the ACT test this year. She goes 10-22. Anyway, she's been studying for it, reading things online to help prepare her for it, etc. However, we didn't do biology her freshman year. We are doing it now. And she likely won't know many of the answers to the science portion of the test. (sigh)

I've already paid for it, so she WILL take it, but I have a feeling her results aren't going to be that great. Should we plan on doing it again next year if the results are bad?

[Katharos]

I don't think that the ACT tests any specific science knowledge. Instead, it focuses on answering questions about information given to you in charts and graphs. So, have her start tackling those charts NOW! They take a lot of getting used to.

The rule of thumb is always to retake if score are not where they need to be. My siblings took standardized tests multiple, multiple times until their scores were where they needed to be. I don't think it hurts a student to retake.

[RobinS]

Unless they've changed the ACT recently, Katharos is right. When I took it, I had not had a full year of high school science (long story)...but I got a 35 on the science portion.

Basically, she'll need to be good at reading comprehension and reading graphs/charts. There will be a bit of deductive reasoning, too. Don't worry about cramming biology at all.

[vicki]

Not much to offer since my dd won't be taking it (ever, if I can help it!). FYI: Veronica never did any science, but scored much better than average in the science portion. Since she was a good reader, she figured out what they were looking for and it wasn't science.

[Ruth]

I used to do ACT training classes with Sylvan and what was said above is exactly true. The science portion is really a reading comprehension test. with some deductive reasoning and graph/chart reading.