A Brief Arizona ACT Preparation Guide

What is ACT? The ACT (American College Testing Assessment) is an all-multiple-choice test given five times a year at various locations. It is an examination designed to measure academic achievement in four major curriculum areas: English, mathematics, reading, and natural sciences. Materials covered on the four tests that make up the ACT Assessment correspond very closely to topics covered in typical high school classes. Many colleges and universities use ACT scores as part of the admissions process. Our short review introduces future students and their parents to the peculiarities of Arizona ACT preparation.

The ACT test doesn't test your intelligence, and it doesn't necessarily reflect your children high school grades. It is a predictable test and can be well prepared through practice. This is what this short article is about. When your child complete reading through this article, he or she will know exactly how to prepare for the ACT.

To perform well on the ACT, your child needs to find out ahead of time what he'll be expected to know or do and to think about how he can use his unique abilities to his best advantage.

The following are the titles of sub-pages containing frequently asked questions and answers. Please, read them carefully.

When Should Your Child Take The ACT?

When you decide which colleges or universities your child is going to apply to, find out if they required the ACT. Then you need to know when they need your child ACT scores. It normally takes four weeks after test date for your scores to be reported, so be sure to allow enough time.

The ACT is offered nationally several times a year, between September and June. However, it's not offered at every test center on each test date. The Saturday dates are more frequent and are held at more test centers.

Most students take the ACT in the spring of junior year or in the fall of senior year. A good case can be made for taking it at the earlier date. For one thing, you'll have a better idea of where you stand. If your score satisfies you, you can spend the summer visiting the colleges in which you're interested, or getting started on your applications. If your score is lower than you want, you can use the summer to prepare to take the test again in the fall.

How Many Times Should Your Child Take The ACT?

If you decide to take the ACT for more than once in hopes of improving your scores, it's probably better to take the test in your junior year to allow time for a second try.
For a few dollars, ACT allows you to select your best score to be reported to the colleges. This is a big advantage you can and should take. This allows you to take the test as many times as you need to get your highest score.

How to Register for The ACT?

You can usually get an ACT test registration packet from your child high school counselor. If no registration packets are available, you or your child counselor can write or call ACT for them.
ACT Registration
Phone: 480-538-0828
FAX: 1-866-394-3051
E-mail: info@sectutoring.com
Address:
9151 East Bell Rd.
Suite 102
Scottsdale AZ 85260

The ACT test registration packet includes a copy of the booklet Registering for the ACT Assessment. The booklet describes the steps you need to take to register for the ACT test and lists the deadlines.

How should Your Child Make ACT Preparation Plan?

If you have two months or more to prepare (Long-term Preparation), congratulations! This will give you enough time to get a thorough training at this Web site. During the Long-term preparation, your overall academic performance will be significantly improved. It helps you gain skills such as:

1. Reading Effectively: gives you the ability to figure out what the author means as well as what the author says.

2. Improving your vocabulary: gives you tools to figure out new words from the context in which they are used.

3. Developing your problem-solving abilities in all aspects: helps you figure out what to do and how to do it, and helps you started on challenging problems when you seem to be stumped.

To start the Long-term preparation, spend 3 to 5 days thoroughly read and understand the contents of all sections concerning the ACT, and then put the rest of own time on the extensive practice of all question types. Once you feel that your overall questions-solving ability is significantly improved, focus on questions types that are relatively your weak points. Once in a while during your practice, go back to the "Strategies" section and read the page contents again. Your child will have a better understanding about the strategies every time you re-read them.