Class 7 1

 Fine Arts Visit Day
 November 17, 2012
 SouthWestern University
Are you hoping to showcase your creativity in college
by participating in Studio Art, Music or Theatre? Then
this day is just for you. Learn more about
Southwestern’sSarofim School of Fine Arts, as well as
gaining valuable information regarding the admission
and financial aid process by attending this event.
 There will be opportunities for auditions and/or art
portfolio review at this event, please contact Allison
Fannin if you would like to schedule either an audition
or art portfolio review.

 Sewanee: The
University of the
South, October
31st at 2:45

 A drawer contains 10 red socks and 10 blue ones.
If you pull out two socks without seeing them,
what is the probability that you pull out two
socks of the same color? (Round it off to two
decimal places.)

A. 1.000
 B. .500
 C. .470
 D. .430
 E. .25

A Guide to Demystifying the ACT

 The Importance of Standardized Testing
 Format of the ACT
 Overview
 English
 Mathematics
 Reading
 Science
 Essay
 General Strategies for Mastering the ACT
 Special Accommodations

 Factors in the Decision Process (in order of
importance):
 High school course selection (the more AP classes the
better)
 GPA and class rank (for Texas public colleges, this can
be the ONLY factor)
 Leadership and extracurricular activities, including
work or community service
 Application essays
 Standardized test scores
 Counselor and teacher recommendations

Standardized testing enables colleges to
roughly correlate academic achievement
among applicants from very different
academic environments – say, comparing the
valedictorian from Boston Latin School to the
valedictorian from Van Horn High School.
Because no cultures are different anywhere,
ever.

 The ACT does not measure intelligence. It
doesn’t measure analytic ability. It DOES
measure academic achievement to a small
extent. But what it mostly measures is how
good students are at taking the ACT.
 Good grades are no guarantee of success;
bad grades are no guarantee of disaster!

 The ACT’s single most  So we teach you to
important quality: work SMARTER, not
 IT’S PREDICTABLE!!!! HARDER by:
 COMPLETELY  Gaining familiarity with
PREDICTABLE!!! the test
 Learning how to avoid
the most common types
of mistakes
 Learning, and ALWAYS
USING, our techniques
and strategies

 The ACT is:
 A multiple-choice
standardized exam of 215
questions
 3.5 hours long, with one
break •Subtests/Sections:
 Divided into four subtests •English
and one essay (which you •Math
will sign up for) •Reading
 Always given in the same •Science
order (unlike that wily SAT) •Essay

 45 minutes long  English Grammar and Usage:
 75 questions  Focus on pronoun and verb
 Roughly one-half will cover questions with emphasis on
English usage skills agreement issues
 The other half will cover  Punctuation
rhetorical skills  Questions involving adjectives,
 The English test does not test adverbs, and idioms
how well you write; it tests  Rhetorical Skills
how well you know and can  Strategy, transition,
apply the rules of standard organization, and style
written English. questions
 Reorder sentences or
paragraphs/reword something
 Evaluate whether the writer of
a passage has satisfied a
particular assignment

 60 minutes, 60 questions  23 Geometry questions
 33 Algebra questions  14 plane geometry questions
 14 pre-algebra questions based on angles, lengths,
based on math terminology, triangles, quadrilaterals,
basic number theory, and circles, perimeter, area, and
manipulation of fractions and volume
decimals  9 coordinate geometry
 10 elementary algebra questions based on slope,
questions based on distance, midpoint, parallel
inequalities, linear equations, and perpendicular lines,
ratios, percents, and points of intersection, and
averages graphing
 9 intermediate algebra  4 Trigonometry questions
questions based on based on basic sine, cosine,
exponents, roots, and tangent functions, trig
simultaneous equations, and identities, and graphing
quadratic equations

 35 minutes long  Prose fiction: excerpts
 40 questions from short stories and
 Four reading passages; novels
each about 750 words  Social Sciences: history,
long – always in this economics, psychology,
order: political sciences, and
 Prose fiction anthropology
 Social Science  Humanities: art, music,
 Humanities architecture, and dance
 Natural Science  Natural Sciences:
 There are always ten biology, chemistry,
questions per passage physics, and physical
sciences

 35 minutes, 40 questions  All seven passages fall
 Seven passages – each of within three basic
which is followed by five to categories:
seven questions  Charts and Graphs (15
 Passages contain material questions, 3 passages)
drawn from biology, ▪ Read charts, tables, graphs, or
illustrations and interpret the
chemistry, physics, and the information
physical sciences  Experiments (18 questions, 3
 YOU DON’T NEED TO BE passages)
A SCIENCE WIZ TO DO ▪ Can you follow the procedures
WELL ON THIS SECTION!!! in each experiment and
interpret them?
 More like the Reading test  Fighting Scientists (7
than anything; but the questions, 1 passage)
subject matter is Science
▪ 2-3 conflicting views on a
research hypothesis

 30 minutes long
 Constructed on a
predictable formula
 More on this section
will come later –
basically: don’t freak
out. It’s a formula and
we’ll teach it to you.

 Plan ahead
 Study hard (to a point)
 Day of the test
 Test taking strategies
 Write, write, write!
 Triage
 What’s your favorite
letter?
 When to Answer

 Optimize your chance  What to bring:
of success by planning  ACT admission ticket
ahead!  Photo ID
 At least one week  2-3 sharpened No. 2
before the test date, pencils with good
put together and set erasers
aside a “test bag” of all  Calculator (anything
the items you’ll need below a TI-89)
on the test day  Spare batteries for
calculator
 Watch (not a cell phone!)

 Study hard for the ACT  Friday after school
until the end of class  Go straight home and
on April 8th (test date is relax
April 10)  Have an early dinner of
 Study hard in class, on all your favorite (healthy)
your own time, and foods
while you’re dreaming  Go to bed by 9:00 pm to
be sure to get enough
sleep

 Have a good breakfast
 Grab your prepared “test
 Do a short mental
bags” and a snack on
“warm-up” by working 3-
your way out the door
4 questions from the
 Be extremely confident!
ACT you’ve practiced on
Start telling yourself
affirmations a few days
before. It is always better
to be calm and collected
to allow your thoughts to
flow.

 WRITE all over your test  Pick favorite letters (and
booklet! You paid for it; stick with them!)
write on it! Research has  A–B–C–D–E –
shown that the more your  F–G–H–J –K –
pencil moves, the better  Answer EVERY
your score because your QUESTION!
brain is constantly problem  Not like the SAT; you won’t
solving. get points off here for wrong
 ACT questions are NOT answers – so always guess
arranged in order of and don’t leave ANYTHING
blank!
difficulty (different than  Triage!
the SAT) – easy, medium,  Use process of elimination
and hard are scattered (POE)
throughout.

 The strategy of taking two or three
passes though each subtest to find
questions which you are most likely
to be able to answer correctly
 For each question decide: Do I want
to solve this problem now?
 Label each question as a “Now”,
“Later”, or “Much Later” question
 Answer the Now questions on your first
pass
 Answer the Later questions on your
second pass
 Answer the Much Later questions on
your last pass
 The most critical factor here is
keeping your answer sheet straight
– transfer answers a page at a time

 In guessing answers, you should always employ the
process of elimination (POE) strategy.
 If you can eliminate two answers out of four, you
have increased your chance of getting the question
right by 100%!
Sample question:
What is the capital of Malawi?
a) New York
b) Lilongwe
c) Paris
d) Kinshasa
You can easily eliminate two of these answers –
now you have a 50/50 shot of getting this question
right (what’s your favorite letter?)!
Even if you miss, you’re still on the right continent!
…is your best friend.

Special accommodations are available for disabled
and/or Learning Disabled students if they 1) can
produce documentary evidence of a diagnosis of their
disability made within the last two years and 2)
receive accommodations at their school. No
documents? No dice. Special accommodations can
include extra time on each section (50-100% more), a
private administration with a proctor who reads the
test aloud, etc. If you qualify, please let me know at
some point so we can help get everything sorted out
for the test.

 http://cofoconnally.weebly.com/ap-test-and-
credit-guide.html
 Click on the “AP Test and Credit Guide” at the
top of the page

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