Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^Why do you think so many score poorly on the science section?

OP here. We had opposite situation. DS who is brilliant in math got only 26 in math section, but 32 in science. Very puzzling, but he has yet to start his sophomore year.

Why would a freshman -brilliant or not - be taking the ACT. I can see taking the old SAT since that was more of an aptitude test. But the ACT does pretty much measure what you know.

Yea it is silly since most have not completed Algebra 2 yet and the ones that have have not taken Algebra 1 since 7th grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^Why do you think so many score poorly on the science section?

OP here. We had opposite situation. DS who is brilliant in math got only 26 in math section, but 32 in science. Very puzzling, but he has yet to start his sophomore year.

Why would a freshman -brilliant or not - be taking the ACT. I can see taking the old SAT since that was more of an aptitude test. But the ACT does pretty much measure what you know.

Scores on the science section tend to be more variable, not random necessarily, but a lot more variable. On math, Alg II will help, which is one of the reasons scores tend to be higher when kids take it after completing A 2, and on the ACT, there is more time pressure than SAT so a kid needs to be able to work quickly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^Why do you think so many score poorly on the science section?

OP here. We had opposite situation. DS who is brilliant in math got only 26 in math section, but 32 in science. Very puzzling, but he has yet to start his sophomore year.

When did he take Algebra 1, has he taken Algebra 2?

Anonymous wrote:^^^Why do you think so many score poorly on the science section?

OP here. We had opposite situation. DS who is brilliant in math got only 26 in math section, but 32 in science. Very puzzling, but he has yet to start his sophomore year.

Anonymous wrote:^^^Why do you think so many score poorly on the science section?

b/c kids actually try to "solve the problem" and, therefore, take too much time rather than answering what the question is asking for. it takes a lot of practice but can be done.

my dc took practice test over spring break and got a 32 composite. took test in june and got 34 composite. did no prep. i don't know what any of this means or if DC had a good day or would do as well on future test. we're done.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Practice ACT spring of sophomore year. 23 in science and 26 math. This from a straight A math kid. On the real ACT a year later junior year, 34 math and 35 science.

A year in more depth in classes did make a difference.

Well that is encouraging. Thanks for the info. Surprisingly his reading was 34, science 33, and English 30. The 26 score in math just threw me cause he is also straight A student in honors math classes. He has taken Geometry already and next year will take Algebra II. Not sure what is covered in this test, but hopefully he will be learning it in the next year!

If you prep on anything, prep the so-called science section loaded with graphs and more reading comprehension than anything else. DC had very good prep and they did spend time explaining that section. It paid off.

Why is it that the premise of these standardized tests is to test how good you are at trick questions? Then you end up paying to learn how to interpret trick questions instead of truly being tested what you're taught in school. Okay, I'm done.

I think your premise is wrong. ACT is more of a factual test.

I think the PP included the SAT which I agree.

Old SAT had trick questions (that's why it's called "read between the lines" exam)... New SAT, however, is more like ACT. SAT redesigned b/c it kept losing kids to ACt.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Practice ACT spring of sophomore year. 23 in science and 26 math. This from a straight A math kid. On the real ACT a year later junior year, 34 math and 35 science.

A year in more depth in classes did make a difference.

Well that is encouraging. Thanks for the info. Surprisingly his reading was 34, science 33, and English 30. The 26 score in math just threw me cause he is also straight A student in honors math classes. He has taken Geometry already and next year will take Algebra II. Not sure what is covered in this test, but hopefully he will be learning it in the next year!

If you prep on anything, prep the so-called science section loaded with graphs and more reading comprehension than anything else. DC had very good prep and they did spend time explaining that section. It paid off.

Why is it that the premise of these standardized tests is to test how good you are at trick questions? Then you end up paying to learn how to interpret trick questions instead of truly being tested what you're taught in school. Okay, I'm done.

I think your premise is wrong. ACT is more of a factual test.

I think the PP included the SAT which I agree.

^^^Why do you think so many score poorly on the science section?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Practice ACT spring of sophomore year. 23 in science and 26 math. This from a straight A math kid. On the real ACT a year later junior year, 34 math and 35 science.

A year in more depth in classes did make a difference.

Well that is encouraging. Thanks for the info. Surprisingly his reading was 34, science 33, and English 30. The 26 score in math just threw me cause he is also straight A student in honors math classes. He has taken Geometry already and next year will take Algebra II. Not sure what is covered in this test, but hopefully he will be learning it in the next year!

If you prep on anything, prep the so-called science section loaded with graphs and more reading comprehension than anything else. DC had very good prep and they did spend time explaining that section. It paid off.

Why is it that the premise of these standardized tests is to test how good you are at trick questions? Then you end up paying to learn how to interpret trick questions instead of truly being tested what you're taught in school. Okay, I'm done.

I think your premise is wrong. ACT is more of a factual test.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Practice ACT spring of sophomore year. 23 in science and 26 math. This from a straight A math kid. On the real ACT a year later junior year, 34 math and 35 science.

A year in more depth in classes did make a difference.

Well that is encouraging. Thanks for the info. Surprisingly his reading was 34, science 33, and English 30. The 26 score in math just threw me cause he is also straight A student in honors math classes. He has taken Geometry already and next year will take Algebra II. Not sure what is covered in this test, but hopefully he will be learning it in the next year!

If you prep on anything, prep the so-called science section loaded with graphs and more reading comprehension than anything else. DC had very good prep and they did spend time explaining that section. It paid off.

Why is it that the premise of these standardized tests is to test how good you are at trick questions? Then you end up paying to learn how to interpret trick questions instead of truly being tested what you're taught in school. Okay, I'm done.

Anonymous wrote:Practice ACT spring of sophomore year. 23 in science and 26 math. This from a straight A math kid. On the real ACT a year later junior year, 34 math and 35 science.

A year in more depth in classes did make a difference.

Well that is encouraging. Thanks for the info. Surprisingly his reading was 34, science 33, and English 30. The 26 score in math just threw me cause he is also straight A student in honors math classes. He has taken Geometry already and next year will take Algebra II. Not sure what is covered in this test, but hopefully he will be learning it in the next year!

Practice ACT spring of sophomore year. 23 in science and 26 math. This from a straight A math kid. On the real ACT a year later junior year, 34 math and 35 science.

A year in more depth in classes did make a difference.

My DC who is a rising sophomore in HS just took a pract ACT test and got composite of 31/36. He was strongest in reading and science. Math was lowest by comparison (26). I was surprised because math is his strongest subject. Any insight here? He will also be taking a practice SAT soon.