#april act

[leannedodge]

ACT Test Information Release

If you took the April ACT, today is the last day to order the Test Information Release service. This will provide you with a copy of the test questions, correct answers, and answers you put. If you are planning on retaking in the fall, I strongly recommend that you order it, if you haven't already. Test Information Release is available for the December, April, and June test dates. Here is the link: https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/scores/request-a-copy-of-qa.html

[leannedodge]

SOHCAHTOA

With the April ACT coming up, now is a great time to make sure you know some of the math concepts that have been coming up regularly on exams. One of these is application of your trig functions. SOHCAHTOA is a great mnemonic for remembering the side relationships of sine, cosine, and tangent (in terms of adjacent, opposite, and hypotenuse of a right triangle).

Here’s how it typically appears on the ACT: You are given two sides of a triangle (perhaps in the context of a shape such as a garden, or a person looking up at the top of a tree) and must find one of the angles. Alternatively, you could be given an angle and one side and asked to find other sides. If the angles are anything other than 30, 45, or 60 degrees, the ACT will either leave answers in terms of trig functions (or inverse trig functions) or give you the trig values for the angles in question.

When dealing with a question like this, always draw out your triangle. Label the information that you know (any side lengths and angles). Mark what you need to find. Then, look at the relationship between the angle that you are given or need to find and the side lengths. Choose the appropriate trig function and set up your question (e.g., sine x = opposite/hypotenuse, but now substituting in two of the three pieces of information that you know). Solve for the unknown, and you’re done!

[leannedodge]

ACT scores

April ACT scores have started to come back. Here are a few situations and my recommendations:

1. You got the score you need for colleges. - Great! You’re done--go celebrate (and focus on subject tests, APs, etc)!!

2. You didn’t get the score you’re looking for. - Make sure you order the Test Information Release service. This will give you a copy of the questions/answers from the April test, and the answers that you put. I find this invaluable when working with a student--it lets us see what didn’t go well during the actual exam. From there, it’s going to be about figuring out what didn’t work in April and what you can do differently before you take the test again (in June or in the fall). Are there specific areas you know you need to work on? Did you match your scores on official full-length practice tests?

3. You didn’t get the score you’re looking for and you’re waiting for SAT results. - Good news is that the SAT results from March will be out in just a few weeks. In the meantime, focus on any content that you know you need to work on--there’s a lot of overlap between the ACT and SAT. Once you have your SAT and ACT scores, you can do a comparison to determine which test to focus on.

[westcoastsunshine]

ACT today... Ahhh wish me luck!!