Summer ACT / SAT Prep Special!
Small changes in the way you test….equal big changes in results. Read this, and you should be able to raise your stubborn act / sat score the next time around.
Hey. Dominick here. The ACT / SAT Prep guy.
I’m not here to talk, I’m here to TEACH.
So let’s begin…
If you stink at the ACT (and I’ll presume you’re average), this is probably your problem. Follow along:
LET’S PRETEND YOU’RE ON THE MATH SECTION…and you’re trying to actually get
the right answer and not just guess.
You turn the page to start a “nice math problem” like this:
Sonya leaves home and rides his bike at a constant rate of x miles per hour. His bike gets a flat tire 1/2 of the way, so he walks the remainder of the route at a constant pace of y miles per hour. If it takes him exactly h hours to get to work that morning, how many miles away from home is Sonya’s work?
A. 2xyh/(x+y)
B. 2h(x+y)
C. (x+y)/2h
D. xyh/2
E.2(x+y)/h
By now, you’ve probably scribbled feverishly on your paper and are probably already circling C and moving on.
Why on earth would you spend your precious, limited time on a lengthy word problem?
What is with all the variables?
Is this where I use PEMDAS? Or maybe Y=mx+b? Or was it SOH CAH TOA?
Wrong, wrong, wrong!
C was incorrect. Poor you.
All that time spent trying to get it right just went down in flames.
But you deserved it.
How dare you spend so much time on such an easy problem!
The answer is literally right in front of you! Remember, variables simply hold the place for numbers so why don’t we just plug some number in?!
See where I’m going with this…? If not, let me show you.
Let’s let our distance be 100 (I like that number) and Sonya starts out at 50mph. Half way there, she travels at 25mph (Sonya’s an incredible runner). To go 100 miles, that’s going to take her a total of 3 hours.
And that’s it! Plug in 50 for your x, 25 for your y, and 3 for your h to see which answer will give you 100!
And the answer is A, by the way.
This little example is part of what I call the C.T.P.S.D Technique.
It means Calculator, Triangles, Plug-in an answer, Substitute, or Draw it out.
The CTPSD Technique is just a mind-shift you do BEFORE trying to answer the math question. So instead of thinking like this before starting a problem:
“Do I use the quadratic formula here?”
Think more along these lines:
“Can my calculator solve this for me?” (We show our students how to utilize their technology for maximal results)
What you must understand is that:
ONE.)
The ACT doesn’t care how CLOSE you are to the answer…they care about if you picked the RIGHT one.
TWO.)
The ACT doesn’t care HOW you found the answer…they care if you got it right.
THREE.)
Just slightly shift your mentality to CTPSD and you’ll have a much better chance at getting the
right answer.
FOUR.)
If you wanna learn more about ACT / SAT techniques that’ll make your test taking skills better in all the sub-areas…checkout one of our best-selling programs at Launch Academy, the ACT / SAT Prep Course. This single course has helped so many people get higher scores in their tests by simply showing them techniques that work and how to change their test-taking mindset.
The ACT / SAT Prep Course is an unbelievable investment if you’re applying for scholarships, trying to get into a prestigious school, or get a high enough score to play college athletics (we were surprised by the gains many athletes started getting).
And here’s the thing…it’s not some “take this test and let’s look at the answers” kind of course.
That’s too long.
That’s too boring.
…it’s in the comfort of your home (or a nearby coffee shop if you prefer) and it’s customized to your needs as a student.
There’s three sections to the ACT / SAT Prep Course:
- Learning the tricks and techniques of a good test-taker.
- Learning the technical stuff (you get to learn what concepts you actually do need to know without wasting time on fluff).
- How to put what you learned into action (we administer at least 3 full-length tests during the course to make sure you’re understanding these game-changing techniques).
With several students getting 26 and 27 on their ACT and some even getting 30s and 31s, our results don’t lie.
If you wanna learn more, send us a quick email below and we’ll back to you within the day!
Stay Smart,
– Dominick Cooper, Director and Lead Creative Tutor
