CrossCuT Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I dunno, true I personally have always tested quite high on tests so I might be biased, but that is I do well across the board on formats, purposes, ect for the test. I have found that if you actually know the information being tested on and know the concept then your good to go. I don't think teaching to the test is necessary. it seems like people are afraid of learning something they won't be tested on. The one skill I would develop is the educated guess. I do usually spend some time, only a little, taking multiple choice practice tests of a subject I am almost completely ignorant about. I then get the best score I can by cross applying what knowledge sets I do have to the question and the answer provided. I usually can end up with a 40-60%, which for ACT purposes where wrong answers don't penalize you it's best to attempt an answer just in case you dumb luck it. A critical method of reducing answers can greatly improve your chances of getting it right. Well its not so much about just simply knowing things, its also about learning styles and different states of mental health. Peoples ability to learn can be impaired by depression, anxiety, and a host of other issues. If you give someone a standard test and they do poorly, you cant just say "They are stupid" because there could be a myriad of reasons as to why they didnt do well. Not everyone learns the same and unfortunately the education system does not cater to all learning types and there is even a very strong exclusion in styles because we think that if you cant conform to certain old learning styles then you are stupid. Which is completely untrue. Learning is learning no matter how you do it. We just need to open channels that allow more children to learn in the highest capacity that they can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Anyways... I smell of elderberries at math but my ACT math score was highest oddly enough. Its great to take initiative (I didnt when I prepared (or didnt prepare)) but at the end of the day no one will care what you got on your ACT. The professional world wont even care much about your GPA. School cares though. School is a business. The unfortunate thing about higher education is that they stress grades more than they stress learning because of how their system is set up. I work in a professional research lab facility and I know of chemists who had GPAs of 2.0 as well as those who had GPAs of 4.0 however they are doing the exact same job now. Standardize testing is kinda meh anyway :) But we live in the matrix so you have to live by its rules. Randomness over :| In my case, the ACTs is an all-important thing. The seminary won't accept anything less than a composite score of 24 because I'm homsechooled, thus why I'm so hell-bent and focused on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossCuT Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 In my case, the ACTs is an all-important thing. The seminary won't accept anything less than a composite score of 24 because I'm homsechooled, thus why I'm so hell-bent and focused on it. Ah yes, it is more important for people who dont have a traditional high school diploma which makes sense in that situation. But the seminary is a school in itself so they would be concerned with grades anyway. :) But good luck FP! Seems like you are very keen to do well and Im sure all your hard work will pay off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 I dunno, true I personally have always tested quite high on tests so I might be biased, but that is I do well across the board on formats, purposes, ect for the test. I have found that if you actually know the information being tested on and know the concept then your good to go. I don't think teaching to the test is necessary. it seems like people are afraid of learning something they won't be tested on. The one skill I would develop is the educated guess. I do usually spend some time, only a little, taking multiple choice practice tests of a subject I am almost completely ignorant about. I then get the best score I can by cross applying what knowledge sets I do have to the question and the answer provided. I usually can end up with a 40-60%, which for ACT purposes where wrong answers don't penalize you it's best to attempt an answer just in case you dumb luck it. A critical method of reducing answers can greatly improve your chances of getting it right. Well, I'm not really sure what everyone means when they say "teach the test", but he's literally teaching me all of the math out of an ACT preparation book, so that's probably a good place to learn when preparing for the ACTs. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Ah yes, it is more important for people who dont have a traditional high school diploma which makes sense in that situation. But the seminary is a school in itself so they would be concerned with grades anyway. :) But good luck FP! Seems like you are very keen to do well and Im sure all your hard work will pay off! On the science, English, and reading sections, I don't have one worry in the world. So long as I keep doing practice tests, there's no reason I shouldn't get 30's in those. But I currently can answer very few of the math questions, which will bring my score down unless I change that. I honestly really love math and thoroughly enjoy it -- I'm just bad at learning without a teacher. I dare anyone to learn algebra out of a book. And for the record since everyone ALWAYS says this: the Khan Academy was no help with algebra. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilllabettt Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 What helped me was taking the test twice. I got rid of the fear of the unknown, and figured out which things I needed to hit. Getting a tutor is a great idea, but only if he teaches to the test. These tests aren't about what you know about the subject, but about how much you know about what they think is important about the subject. I kept trying because I needed the 29 to get the scholarship. Sorry I got annoyed at you. I think its bad manners to talk about your grade / your salary -- thats just how I was raised. I don't mean celebrating with friends after a big test or a grade comes in ... I mean dropping it in when it adds little or nothing to the conversation. Kind of like how I try to work a mention of my ivy league education into every conversation, regardless of how germane it is to the topic at hand. See what I did there? Makes me look like a tool. on the other hand ... the advice about taking the test more than once is super relevant and helpful. That's great advice, and I'm sure FP will appreciate it. I wish you'd given that advice in your first post, instead of just mentioning your score. Honestly I don't know why you did that. Unless you want us to celebrate it with you, which would be fine, but somewhat weird on a FP test anxiety thread. p.s. FP there is a saying in Islamic philosophy that nothing important should be studied except under a Master --- i.e., No true wisdom comes from learning on ones own, only danger. Slight hyperbole, yeah ... but teachers are awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 p.s. FP there is a saying in Islamic philosophy that nothing important should be studied except under a Master --- i.e., No true wisdom comes from learning on ones own, only danger. Slight hyperbole, yeah ... but teachers are amesome. That makes a lot of sense. I know I always cringe when people tell me they've been learning karate off the internet and books, because there's no way to properly learn it without a good teacher. It's also just a lot easier to learn with a teacher. I've never been good at reading directions, though, so that might just be me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PadrePioOfPietrelcino Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Well its not so much about just simply knowing things, its also about learning styles and different states of mental health. Peoples ability to learn can be impaired by depression, anxiety, and a host of other issues. If you give someone a standard test and they do poorly, you cant just say "They are stupid" because there could be a myriad of reasons as to why they didnt do well. Not everyone learns the same and unfortunately the education system does not cater to all learning types and there is even a very strong exclusion in styles because we think that if you cant conform to certain old learning styles then you are stupid. Which is completely untrue. Learning is learning no matter how you do it. We just need to open channels that allow more children to learn in the highest capacity that they can. good points, after rereading my first post I don't think my message was coming through...At the heart of what I was trying to say is that if you KNOW the information even more information than what will be tested then your confidence can be higher, and for some people that can lessen test anxiety and help improve the score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 Sorry I got annoyed at you. I think its bad manners to talk about your grade / your salary -- thats just how I was raised. I don't mean celebrating with friends after a big test or a grade comes in ... I mean dropping it in when it adds little or nothing to the conversation. Kind of like how I try to work a mention of my ivy league education into every conversation, regardless of how germane it is to the topic at hand. See what I did there? Makes me look like a tool. on the other hand ... the advice about taking the test more than once is super relevant and helpful. That's great advice, and I'm sure FP will appreciate it. I wish you'd given that advice in your first post, instead of just mentioning your score. Honestly I don't know why you did that. Unless you want us to celebrate it with you, which would be fine, but somewhat weird on a FP test anxiety thread. p.s. FP there is a saying in Islamic philosophy that nothing important should be studied except under a Master --- i.e., No true wisdom comes from learning on ones own, only danger. Slight hyperbole, yeah ... but teachers are amesome. I mentioned my score to see if the scale was the same now as then. I planned to put the rest in and got side tracked or lost my train of thought. I get sundowner's syndrome with my head injury and when I'm tired it can really make me say stupid stuff. A bit like drunk texting I guess. I should stay off the internet when I'm tired, unfortunately when I'm tired, I don't remember that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 Oh and I annoy lots of people. Always have. I have a Lisa Simpson, Hermione Granger, bossy know-it-all streak that's a mile wide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share Posted January 25, 2014 Oh and I annoy lots of people. Always have. I have a Lisa Simpson, Hermione Granger, bossy know-it-all streak that's a mile wide. I completely understand. I drive my mom nuts, because I correct and explain things all the time. I'm not overbearing in general, but if it's something like philosophy or theology, if something was incorrect, or I feel something wasn't expained adequately, I take it upon myself to fix such matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossCuT Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 At the end of the day it doesnt matter what your grades are or where you went to school. Book knowledge only goes so far if you are unable to apply it to real life or untilize it in any meaningful way. If people judge you based in these facts then their thinking is already confined to a very limited system of pettiness and exclusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share Posted January 25, 2014 At the end of the day it doesnt matter what your grades are or where you went to school. Book knowledge only goes so far if you are unable to apply it to real life or untilize it in any meaningful way. If people judge you based in these facts then their thinking is already confined to a very limited system of pettiness and exclusion. On the contrary, it does matter what your grades are if you intend to go to seminary. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossCuT Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 On the contrary, it does matter what your grades are if you intend to go to seminary. :P Or grad school or anything school related really. All im saying is that if you become a priest someday, no one will be asking you your GPA, ACT scores, or anything of the like as they walk into the confessional...at least I dont think they will....you never know. :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share Posted January 25, 2014 Or grad school or anything school related really. All im saying is that if you become a priest someday, no one will be asking you your GPA, ACT scores, or anything of the like as they walk into the confessional...at least I dont think they will....you never know. :| I'm not concerned about my ACT score because people will ask me about them for the rest of my life. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now