ACT prep courses benefit students’ futures

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, September 20, 2017

The ACT is one of the two major tests colleges look at during their enrollment processes, and though in the past it has taken a back seat to the SAT, it is now part of high school curriculums.
Back in my high school days, taking the ACT was like going on a blind date, you walked in not knowing what to expect and walked out even more confused than before.

Let’s face it, the ACT is a difficult test, combining four main subjects with a mixture of questions in a format no high school student is prepared for. But with the ACT prep courses in high school, these high school students are more prepared than ever before, ready to ace any question thrown their way.

It’s a great initiative to get these students acclimated with not only the test material, but also with the style of question formats, studying techniques and pacing strategies to tackle the two hours and 55 minutes of testing, and that’s without the writing portion.

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Students must know more than what the questions ask, they must know testing stamina, meaning how to keep your focus throughout the entirety of the test. In the English section, students have 45 minutes to answer 75 questions, 60 minutes to answer 60 math questions, 35 minutes to answer 40 reading questions and another 35 minutes to answer science questions.

That means each students has one minute and 23 seconds to read, brainstorm and answer each question.

But in the ACT prep courses, students understand this, and learn the best strategies to tackle a test that could very well determine their future endeavors.

I commend the teachers who have taken the obligation to teach this course and the school districts within the county for thinking of their student body’s future and making it available to them.

Now if only we could offer a course to help these kids understand how tragic an actual blind date could go if not prepared for it.