The ACT

1
The ACT

• What you need to know
• By Talent Search

2
The ACT

• The Test
• The Dates
• How to sign up
• The cost
• How to prepare for it
• Tips
• Additional Resources

3
The Test

• The ACT is a national standardized test
• Many colleges require it
• May take it more than once
• Two test options
• Regular (Multiple-choice tests in English, math,
  reading, and science)
• Plus Writing (Same as above with additional 30
  minute writing test)
• (Most schools in Midwest DO NOT require the
  Writing)

4
2009-2010 Test Dates

• Test Date Deadline Late Fee Req
• Sept. 12 Aug. 7, 2009 Aug. 8-21
• Oct. 24 Sept. 18, 2009 Sept. 19-Oct. 2
• Dec. 12 Nov. 6, 2009 Nov. 7-20
• Feb. 6 Jan. 5, 2010 Jan. 6-15
• April 10 March 5, 2010 March 6-19
• June 12 May 7, 2010 May 8-21

5
Registering for the ACT

• Online version
• Go to www.actstudent.org/regist/elecreg.html
• Must pay with MasterCard or Visa
• Online is faster
• Very convenient

6
Registering for the ACT

• Paper version
• Obtain copy from HS counselor or call (319)
  337-1270 to request one
• Slower than online version
• Allows you to
• Request test accommodations
• Request test date change
• Pay with fee waiver
• Request a test center change

7
The Cost

• Basic Registration 32.00
• Optional Fees
• Late Fee 21.00
• Optional Writing test 15.00
• 5th and 6th college choices 9.00 each
• Test date change 20.00

8
The Fee Waiver

• A limited number of fee waivers are available to
  juniors and seniors
• Once funds have been exhausted, request will be
  denied
• These waivers may be used twice per person
• Waivers may only be used for the Basic
  Registration
• No late Fee charges
• Only up to 4 colleges

9
Fee Waiver Eligibility

• Must meet all 3 of following requirements.
• Economic need (meet at least 1)
• Students family receives public assistance
• Student is a ward of the state
• Student resides in a foster home
• Student participates in the free or reduced lunch
  program at school
• Student participates in federally funded TRIO
  program
• Total family income in chart on next page

10
Family Income Chart

• 2009 Total Income
• Before Taxes
• 12,100
• 19,800
• 27,200
• 33,600
• 39,600
• 46,300
• 46,300
• (plus 3,600 for additional members)

• Number in Family
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• Over 6

11
Fee Waiver Eligibility

• Grade Level
• Fee waivers are only available to students
  currently enrolled in a high school as a junior
  or senior
• Two-times use
• Fee waiver may be used twice during either the
  students junior or senior year

12
Fee Waiver

• To obtain a fee waiver, please see your high
  school counselor
• If using fee waiver, you must submit your
  registration by paper copy, not online.

13
Checklist for Taking the ACT

• After you have Registered
• Prepare for the test
• Get a copy of preparing for the ACT from hs
  counselor or download from www.actstudent.org
• Read both sides of your admission ticket
• Make sure you have acceptable photo ID

14
Checklist for Taking the ACT

• On the Test Date
• Arrive by 800 am
• You will not be admitted late
• Have appropriate supplies

15
Things to Bring

• Test center Admission ticket
• Acceptable photo ID
• Sharpened soft lead 2 pencils with good erasers
  (no mechanical pencils or ink pens)
• A watch to pace your self
• A permitted calculator
• Almost any 4-function, scientific, or graphing
  calculator
• No Calculators with computer algebra systems

16
Things NOT to Bring

• Food or Drinks, including water
• Books, Dictionaries, notes, scratch paper
• Highlighters, colored pens or pencils
• Pagers, timers, beepers, cell phones, IPods, CD
  or tape players, PDA, headphones, or camera
• Reading materials
• Tobacco in any form

17
ACT Description

• English 75 Questions 45 Minutes
• Mathematics 60 Questions 60 Minutes
• Reading 40 Questions 35 Minutes
• Science 40 Questions 35 Minutes
• Optional
• Writing Test 1 Prompt 30 Minutes

18
Tips for Taking the ACT

• Carefully read the instructions on the cover of
  the test booklet.
• Read the directions of each section carefully.
• Read each question carefully.
• Pace yourself Dont spend too much time on any
  one section or question.
• Use a soft lead No. 2 pencil with good eraser
  not mechanical pencil or pen.
• Answer easy questions first, then go back and
  answer harder questions.
• On difficult questions, eliminate as many
  incorrect answers, then make an educated guess
  among those remaining.
• Answer every question. Not penalized for
  incorrect answers.
• Review your work. If you finish early, go back
  and check your work.
• Mark your answers neatly. If you erase, erase
  completely and cleanly.
• Do not mark or alter any ovals on test after time
  has been called.

19
Test Day Tips

• Get plenty of rest the night before the test
• Dress comfortably. Some test centers are warmer
  or cooler on weekends. Dress in layers.
• Check your admission ticket for your test options
  and location.
• If you are not sure of the test centers
  location, drive to it ahead of time.
• Plan to arrive by the time indicated on your
  admission ticket.
• Make sure you have acceptable identification.
• Be ready to start after everyone has checked in.

20
English Tips

• Be aware of the writing style used in each
  passage.
• Consider the elements of writing that are
  included in each underlined part of the passage.
  Some questions will ask you to base your
  decision on some specific element of writing,
  such as the tone or emphasis the text should
  convey.
• Be aware of questions with no underlined
  portions-that means you will be asked some
  questions about the entire passage.
• Examine each answer choice and determine how it
  differs from the others. Many of the questions
  will involve more than one aspect of writing.
• Read and consider all of the answer choices
  before answering.
• Determine the best answer.
• Reread the sentence, using your selected answer.

21
Content Covered

• Usage/Mechanics
• Sentence Structure (16)
• Test your understanding of relationships between
  and among clauses, placement of modifiers, and
  shifts in construction.
• Grammar and Usage (16)
• Test your understanding of agreement between
  subject and verb, between pronoun and antecedent,
  and between modifiers and word modified verb
  formation pronoun case formation of comparative
  and superlative adjectives and adverbs and
  idiomatic usage.
• Punctuation (13)
• These questions test your knowledge of the
  conventions of internal and end-of-sentence
  punctuation.

22
Content Covered

• Rhetorical Skills
• Strategy (16)
• This tests how well you develop a given topic by
  choosing expressions appropriate to an essays
  audience and purpose judging the effect of
  adding, revising, or deleting supporting
  material and judging the relevancy of statements
  in context.
• Organization (15)
• This tests how well you organize ideas and choose
  effective opening, transitional, and closing
  sentences.
• Style (16)
• This tests how well you choose precise and
  appropriate words and images, maintain the level
  of style and tone in an essay, manage sentence
  elements for rhetorical effectiveness, and avoid
  ambiguous pronoun references, wordiness, and
  redundancy.

23
Math Tips

• Read each question carefully to make sure you
  understand the type of answer required.
• If you use a calculator, be sure it is working on
  test day and has reliable batteries. Use your
  calculator wisely.
• Solve the problem.
• Locate your solution among the answer choices.
• Make sure your answer the question asked.
• Make sure your answer is reasonable.
• Check your work.
• Pace yourself-60 questions in 60 minutes 1
  minute per question

24
Tips for Using a Calculator

• Know which kinds of calculators ACT allows.
• http//www.actstudent.org/faq/answers/calculator.h
  tml
• You are not required to use a calculator.
• All the problems can be solved without a
  calculator.
• If you regularly use a calculator in your math
  work, use one youre familiar with.
• Using a more powerful, but unfamiliar calculator
  is not likely to give you an advantage over using
  the kind you normally use.

25
Math General info

• Questions set for math skills of beginning 12th
  grader
• Emphasized content areas prerequisites to
  successful performance in entry-level college
  math courses
• Requires reasoning skills to solve practical
  problems
• Four Score Areas
• Total score base on all 60 questions
• Sub-score in Pre-Algebra/Elementary Algebra (24
  questions)
• Sub-score in Intermediate Algebra/Coordinate
  Geometry (18 questions)
• Sub-score in Plane Geometry/Trigonometry (18
  questions)

26
Content Covered

• Pre-Algebra/Elementary Algebra
• Pre-Algebra (23)
• These questions are based on basic operations
  using whole numbers, decimals, fractions, and
  integers place value square roots and
  approximations the concepts of exponents
  scientific equations factors ratios
  proportion, and percent linear equations in one
  variation absolute value and ordering numbers by
  value elementary counting techniques and simple
  probability data collection, representation, and
  interpretation and understanding simple
  descriptive statistics.
• Elementary Algebra (17)
• These questions are based on properties of
  exponents and square roots, evaluation of
  algebraic expressions through substitution, using
  variables to express functional relationships,
  understanding algebraic operations, and solution
  of quadratic equations by factoring.

27
Intermediate Algebra/Coordinate Geometry

• Intermediate Algebra (15)
• These questions are based on an understanding of
  the quadratic formula, rational and radical
  expressions, absolute value equations and
  inequalities, sequences and patterns, systems of
  equations, quadratic inequalities, functions,
  modeling matrices, roots of polynomials, and
  complex numbers.
• Coordinate Geometry (15)
• These questions are based on graphing and the
  relations between equations and graphs, including
  points, lines, polynomial, circles, and other
  curves graphing inequalities slope parallel
  and perpendicular lines distance midpoints and
  conics.

28
Plane Geometry/Trigonometry

• Plane Geometry (23)
• These questions are based on the properties and
  relations of plane figures, including angles and
  relations among perpendicular and parallel lines
  properties of circles, triangles, rectangles,
  parallelograms, and trapezoids transformations
  the concept of proof and proof techniques
  volume and applications of geometry to three
  dimensions.
• Trigonometry (7)
• These questions are based on understanding
  trigonometric relations in right triangles
  values and properties of trigonometric functions,
  graphing trigonometric functions modeling using
  trigonometric functions use of trigonometric
  identities and solving trigonometric equations.

29
Reading Tips

• Pace yourself- 40 questions in 35 minutes
• If you spend 2-3 minutes reading each passage,
  youll have 35 seconds to answer each question
• Read the passage carefully.
• Read and consider all of the answer choices
  before you choose the one that best responds to
  the question.
• Refer to the passage when answering the question.

30
Reading General Information

• This test measures your reading comprehension in
  2 ways
• Derive meaning by referring to what is explicitly
  stated (1) and implicitly stated (2)
• Specific areas
• Determining main idea
• Locate and interpret significant details
• Understanding the sequences of events, make
  comparisons
• Make comparisons
• Comprehend cause-effect relationships
• Determine the meaning of context-dependent words,
  phrases, and statements
• Draw generalizations
• Analyze the authors or narrators voice and
  method

31
Reading Scoring Information

• Three Scoring Areas Reported
• First - Based on all 40 questions
• Second Sub-score in Social Studies/Science (20
  questions)
• Third Sub-score in Arts/Literature (20
  questions)
• Prose fiction and humanities passages

32
Content Covered

• These reading selections are based on 4 types of
  selections
• Social Studies (25)
• Passages are based on content areas of
  anthropology, archaeology, biography, business,
  economics, education, geography, history,
  political science, psychology, and sociology
• Natural Sciences (25)
• Passages are based on content areas of anatomy,
  astronomy, biology, botany, chemistry, ecology,
  geology, medicine, meteorology, microbiology,
  natural history, physiology, physics, technology,
  and zoology

33
Reading Content Covered

• Prose Fiction (25)
• Passages are based on intact short stories or
  excerpts from short stories or novels
• Humanities (25)
• Passages are based on personal essays and memoirs
  and in the content areas of architecture, art,
  dance, ethics, film, language, literary
  criticism, music, philosophy, radio, television,
  and theater

34
Science Tips

• Pace yourself if you spend 2 minutes reading
  the passage, you have 30 seconds for each
  question
• Read the passage carefully.
• Read and consider all of the answer choices
  before you choose the one that best responds to
  the question.
• Note different viewpoints in passages.
• NOT Allowed to use calculator on this section

35
Science General Information

• Questions will measure the interpretation,
  analysis, evaluation, reasoning, and
  problem-solving skills required in natural
  sciences.
• This test presents 7 sets of scientific
  information followed by a number of
  multiple-choice questions.
• Information is conveyed in 1 of 3 formats
• Data Representation (Graphs, tables, and other
  schematic forms)
• Research summaries (descriptions of several
  related experiments)
• Conflicting viewpoints (expressions of several
  related hypotheses or views that are inconsistent
  with one another)

36
Science information

• Questions require you to recognize and understand
  the basic features of, and concepts related to,
  the provided information to examine critically
  the relationship between the information provided
  and conclusions drawn or hypotheses developed
  and to generalize from given information to gain
  new information, draw conclusions, or make
  predictions.
• One score is totaled based off of all 40
  questions.

37
Content Covered

• Content includes biology, chemistry, physics,
  and the Earth and Space Sciences (for example,
  geology, astronomy, and meteorology.)
• Advanced knowledge is not required.
• Test emphasizes scientific reasoning skills over
  recall of scientific content, skill in math, or
  reading ability.
• Information is conveyed in 1 of 3 formats
• Data Representation (38)
• Presents graphic and tabular material similar to
  that found in a scientific journal
• Questions measure skills such as graph reading,
  interpretation of scatter plots, and
  interpretation of information presented in tables

38
Science Content

• Research Summaries (45)
• Format provides descriptions of one or more
  related experiments
• Questions focus on design of experiments and
  interpretation of experimental results
• Conflicting Viewpoints (17)
• Format presents expressions of several hypotheses
  or view that, being based on differing premises
  or on incomplete data, are inconsistent with one
  another.
• Questions focus on understanding, analysis, and
  comparison of alternative viewpoints or
  hypotheses.

39
Writing Test Tips

• DONT take it unless you know your college looks
  at it. Most in area DO NOT look at it. Waste of
  time and money
• 30 minutes to write about something they tell you
• Pace yourself
• Pre-Write
• Gather your thoughts and make a plan on how and
  what you are going to write about
• End with strong conclusion that summarizes or
  reinforces your position
• Review your essay

40
Additional resources

• http//www.actstudent.org/testprep/index.html
• Take Practice Test in booklet.
• Do it like your are going to do it on test day.
• This will help you feel better informed for the
  real test day.
• GOOD LUCK Youll do great.