How to Prep for the ACT During a Pandemic
The combination of distance learning in school, changes in testing timelines due to cancelations, and preparing for an in-person test remotely can be a challenging endeavor, and there are some important shifts in your approach to preparation that we would recommend to set yourself up for success this spring. For suggestions on prepping for the SAT during a pandemic, click here.
Plan ahead to dedicate a certain amount of time per day (or week) that you will spend studying or doing homework for the ACT, as well as an extended study plan just in case your first test date gets canceled. At the end of your first week, check back over your goal study time to hold yourself accountable. Acknowledging how much time you’ve actually spent studying vs your goal may help you reset your goal; whether that means you are more motivated to dedicate time or figure out a way to work around your other time commitments. While we highly recommend this over a more expected ACT timeline, it becomes more important during a pandemic to create alternate plans for studying in case your test date gets canceled. Setting up a plan ahead of your official test (e.g. if this test date gets canceled, I’ll take a practice test on my original official exam date and then take a one-week break) can help to avoid unnecessary stress or uncertainty if plans don’t go as expected.
Spend time studying offline. While the internet can be an amazing resource, you will (most likely) be taking a pencil-and-paper test. Using the same mode to study as you will be using on the test is always the preferred way to practice. Also, we learn better when we write things out. Screens can be a big distracting factor, and because most learning has been remote during COVID, you are likely already at risk of screen burn-out.
Consider the occasional in-person tutoring session. There is something to be said for person-to-person interactions and the learning curve. You may find it is more helpful to have your tutor in front of you to show how to implement strategies, work together on a difficult problem, or just be fully engaged. If you tend to learn better in-person, a few in-person sessions may be the difference-maker in your overall progress for any standardiazed test.
Take full-length practice tests. When you are within a month of your official test date, you should consider taking full length practice tests. Not only will this tell you what you should focus on going into the last sprint before the test, it will also give you a good idea of what you may be scoring come exam day. We always suggest that you plan to take at least three full-length practice tests leading up to your official test date. Because part of the difficulty of the ACT is test fatigue as you go through each section, it’s important to practice taking all sections in one sitting. During the pandemic, it’s also important to take these tests under the same conditions you will see on test day: masked, proctored, and using official ACT practice material. While wearing a mask may not affect your performance, you should practice while wearing one so that it’s not a surprise distraction on test day. We host remotely-proctored exams every Saturday and in-person exams the Saturday before each official SAT and ACT test date, with all related COVID-19 precautions, to give students the full experience prior to taking an official exam.
