High school students everywhere are gearing up to take the ACT. Breakaway Test Prep and the peer tutors at Genesis Test Prep provide some pointers on how to best prepare.
“The ACT is not like a regular test; the prep has to be different,” says Ron Michalak, president of Breakaway. He suggests students not only prepare for the questions, but also the stressful environment. Running practice tests each weekend to “learn the situation” will be of benefit. One common mistake Michalak warns of is wordiness. He notes that the ACT does not like unnecessarily long-winded answers; so when in doubt, stay concise.
Sid Ramesh, former president, and Kyle Deeds, former vice president of Genesis Test Prep, now members of the board of directors, say repetition is key. Though it is rare that you will find the exact problem on the test that you practiced, the concepts will be the same. They suggest that the first and last parts of your test prep each time should be to repeat similar problems so they stick.
