Chad Cargill's ACT Test Prep

One of the downfalls of being an inexperienced ACT test taker is you may not know how much time you have left. The tests are very long and difficult to finish. As mentioned earlier, you should always answer every question. If you run out of time without every question answered, your score will not be as high as it could be. Time seems to pass very quickly during a difficult section of the test. Be aware of the time but not terrified of it. Using a wall clock in the testing center may not be the best method. I found that trying to keep time on my watch or a simple wall clock often confused me, and concentrating solely on the test often caused me to forget when the test started and when it was supposed to end. In order to prevent this unnecessary confusion, I created my own method of time keeping. I wore a simple three-handed (hour, minute, and second) watch. Before a section began, I let the second hand on my watch rotate until it pointed to the twelve. Then I stopped the second hand from moving by pulling out the crown. Next, I adjusted the other hands so that the clock read exactly noon. Then I backed the time from noon for the amount of time allotted for the section. For example on the English test, which lasts 45 minutes, I moved the clock to read 11:15. When the test administrator said, "Go," I started the clock. I knew at all times during the test that when my watch read straight up noon, the test was over. No questions. No confusion. This method may seem somewhat ridiculous, but if you want to reduce confusion and improve your score, master a time keeping method. A digital watch can also be used if you want to purchase one, but it can not make noise or communicate such as an Apple watch.

I’d love to connect with you and keep you posted on upcoming episodes and resources. For a free downloadable pdf What Scholarship Committees Look for and How to Win Them, go to scholarships.chadcargill.com, and get your guide now.

For a free downloadable pdf of Key Things You Must Know on Test Day, go to [testday.chadcargill.com](testday.chadcargill.com), and get your guide now.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcast app. Leave a shout out for your high school, and I may read it on a future podcast.

If you have questions, leave a comment here or on the Chad Cargill Workshops Facebook page.

To view the workshop calendar, go to calendar.chadcargill.com. You can also order the prep book Chad Cargill's ACT and sign up for speed reading at chadcargill.com. If you are interested in hosting a workshop at your high school, call our office at (405) 454-3233 or email [email protected].

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Let’s say you guess on 5 questions because you are tired and just want the test to be over. You miss all 5, but you actually score a 26 in science. Your composite score for the ACT ends up at a total of 112 subscore points or a composite of a 28. (112 / 4 = 28.0)

Let’s assume you are playing a basketball game, and you come out in the first period and get a nice lead. During the second period you start to wear down a little, but you work really hard and maintain the lead. At halftime you get a little break and listen to the famous pep talk by the coach. One of my high school basketball coaches Curt Knox always said, “No one’s going to ask you who was winning at halftime.” He was right. So knowing it is only the final score that counts, you come out and play hard in the third quarter and still maintain your lead. What happens if you get to the fourth quarter and you say, “Man, I’m really tired now; I think I’ll just not try so hard anymore.” You lose. There is no reason to play the first three quarters, if you are going to quit in the fourth quarter.

I didn’t just describe a basketball game, I described the ACT test. The first quarter is English. Most students will try in English because it is the first test, and you are relatively fresh. The second quarter is a long, tiring quarter. It is a 60 minute math test. Many of you will have a tendency to go ahead and quit right here, but press on to halftime. When halftime comes, you will get a 15 minute break. Take advantage of this time. Get out of the testing room. Get a snack. Use the bathroom. And make sure you get back to your seat on time. Don’t be late for the start of the 3rd quarter. When the 3rd quarter begins, you will start the reading comprehension test. A common dilemma in sports is called the “3rd quarter letdown.” This is where you come out of halftime not ready to play. You end up blowing any lead you had and losing all momentum you built in the first half. DON’T HAVE A “3RD QUARTER LETDOWN!” Be ready to play when they say, “Go.” So most of you will grind through the reading test, and then comes the fourth quarter – the science test.

Just like the basketball game, you are tired and ready for this thing to end, but you have to press all the way to the end. Most coaches say the fourth quarter is the most important quarter of any game. The fourth quarter of the ACT is the most important quarter of the test. Yes, science is the most important test you will take. This game is won or lost in the fourth quarter.

This is the easiest section to raise your score. Why? The reason is most of you are guessing on at least one problem in science because you give up. If you try on every question, you will probably raise your score. The other primary reason is you are not staying focused. Be committed to stay focused for the entire 35 minutes of this section.

I’d love to connect with you and keep you posted on upcoming episodes and resources. For a free downloadable pdf What Scholarship Committees Look for and How to Win Them, go to scholarships.chadcargill.com, and get your guide now.

For a free downloadable pdf of Key Things You Must Know on Test Day, go to [testday.chadcargill.com](testday.chadcargill.com), and get your guide now.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcast app. Leave a shout out for your high school, and I may read it on a future podcast.

If you have questions, leave a comment here or on the Chad Cargill Workshops Facebook page.

To view the workshop calendar, go to calendar.chadcargill.com. You can also order the prep book Chad Cargill's ACT and sign up for speed reading at chadcargill.com. If you are interested in hosting a workshop at your high school, call our office at (405) 454-3233 or email [email protected].

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Many say you should always preview the questions before you read the passage. Others say you should read the passage first. Some say you should read the first and last sentence of each paragraph. Who is right?

I narrow it down to three general methods:

Method 1:

Method 2:

Method 3:

About 48% score highest using method 1, 8% using method 2, and 44% using method 3.

You must practice. Figure out how to define the methods for you to maximize your reading score.

I’d love to connect with you and keep you posted on upcoming episodes and resources. For a free downloadable pdf What Scholarship Committees Look for and How to Win Them, go to scholarships.chadcargill.com, and get your guide now.

For a free downloadable pdf of Key Things You Must Know on Test Day, go to [testday.chadcargill.com](testday.chadcargill.com), and get your guide now.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcast app. Leave a shout out for your high school, and I may read it on a future podcast.

If you have questions, leave a comment here or on the Chad Cargill Workshops Facebook page.

To view the workshop calendar, go to calendar.chadcargill.com. You can also order the prep book Chad Cargill's ACT and sign up for speed reading at chadcargill.com. If you are interested in hosting a workshop at your high school, call our office at (405) 454-3233 or email [email protected].

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The #1 question parents ask me.

Go to testday.chadcargill.com to get the things you must know the day of the test.

I’d love to connect with you and keep you posted on upcoming episodes and resources. For a free downloadable pdf What Scholarship Committees Look for and How to Win Them, go to scholarships.chadcargill.com, and get your guide now.

For a free downloadable pdf of Key Things You Must Know on Test Day, go to [testday.chadcargill.com](testday.chadcargill.com), and get your guide now.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcast app. Leave a shout out for your high school, and I may read it on a future podcast.

If you have questions, leave a comment here or on the Chad Cargill Workshops Facebook page.

To view the workshop calendar, go to calendar.chadcargill.com. You can also order the prep book Chad Cargill's ACT and sign up for speed reading at chadcargill.com. If you are interested in hosting a workshop at your high school, call our office at (405) 454-3233 or email [email protected].

chadcargill.com

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While the world is anxious about the Corona virus, students are also anxious about taking an ACT. The number one reason good academic students underachieve on the ACT is test anxiety. Here are 7 practical tips you can use to immediately reduce your test anxiety.

Control what you can control. You can't control everything, but control what you can. Apply one, a few, or all of these tips to immediately start reducing your test anxiety.

I’d love to connect with you and keep you posted on upcoming episodes and resources. For a free downloadable pdf What Scholarship Committees Look for and How to Win Them, go to scholarships.chadcargill.com, and get your guide now.

For a free downloadable pdf of Key Things You Must Know on Test Day, go to [testday.chadcargill.com](testday.chadcargill.com), and get your guide now.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcast app. Leave a shout out for your high school, and I may read it on a future podcast.

If you have questions, leave a comment here or on the Chad Cargill Workshops Facebook page.

To view the workshop calendar, go to calendar.chadcargill.com. You can also order the prep book Chad Cargill's ACT and sign up for speed reading at chadcargill.com. If you are interested in hosting a workshop at your high school, call our office at (405) 454-3233 or email [email protected].

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My kids from Congo and Uganda can’t speak Lingala or Luganda anymore. Why? They stopped speaking it. Now they only speak English.

Math is a language you learn to speak. If you stop speaking it, you too will start losing it.

On the ACT, we must be able to quickly speak the language of math to efficiently determine correct answers.

The math test is 60 questions over 60 minutes. That does not mean you have 1 minute per question. It may average that rate, but easier questions are at the beginning. The first 20 questions shouldn’t take you 20 mins.

To work efficiently, you need to have math fresh on your mind from several years of high school and junior high math.

Approximate breakdown of math section:

Most students will start with pre-algebra and algebra I. Many schools will then have students take geometry. This will typically be the freshman year for advanced students and the sophomore year for everyone else. Then algebra II follows geometry. Students may finish with any combination of trigonometry, math analysis, pre-calculus, and calculus.

Some schools encourage students to bypass all courses after algebra II and take college algebra as a concurrent class.

Concurrent classes count for both high school and college credit. With the cost of college these days, these courses can save you a lot of money.

So what math classes should you take and when?

If your goal is to maximize ACT scores, you should take these courses to start:

Trigonometry is the key class. It reteaches or refreshes geometry.

Finally, you must take a math class your senior year. This math class can be one listed above. If those are already taken, the senior math course should be calculus or a concurrent math class.

“But I wanted my son to have a happy senior year.”

Don’t buy this lie. When he can’t do math because he stopped speaking the language of math, you and he won’t be very happy.

Refresh basic math before each test. No derivatives or integrals. Make sure you remember basic geometry and algebra.

I’d love to connect with you and keep you posted on upcoming episodes and resources. For a free downloadable pdf What Scholarship Committees Look for and How to Win Them, go to scholarships.chadcargill.com, and get your guide now.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcast app. Leave a shout out for your high school, and I may read it on a future podcast.

If you have questions, leave a comment here or on the Chad Cargill Workshops Facebook page.

To view the workshop calendar, go to calendar.chadcargill.com. You can also order the prep book Chad Cargill's ACT and sign up for speed reading at chadcargill.com. If you are interested in hosting a workshop at your high school, call our office at (405) 454-3233 or email [email protected].

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Episode 4: I Ordered My Test and Answers. Now What?

Test Information Release - $22

Available December, April, and June national tests

Not available on residuals

Order when you register or by logging back in to your account and adding this up to 5 days after you test.

This year you can also order up to 6 months after you test by calling ACT.

If you order when you register you’ll get your test about 3 weeks after you test.

When it comes in the mail, you’ll receive the test questions, your answers, and the correct answers.

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Look at every question you missed and say, “Why did I miss this?”

This is a two part question. You are not only looking at what was being asked that you missed, but you are also looking at what you selected that was wrong.

For example, if in English the underline part was a dash and you changed it to a colon and missed it, you missed both the dash and the colon.

Build a Pareto chart of your misses.

Spend 80% of your practice time on your top 20% of misses.

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Teachers please work the math section with your math class. Science and English the same.

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I’d love to connect with you and keep you posted on upcoming episodes and resources. For a free downloadable pdf What Scholarship Committees Look for and How to Win Them, go to scholarships.chadcargill.com, and get your guide now.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcast app. Leave a shout out for your high school, and I may read it on a future podcast.

If you have questions, leave a comment here or on the Chad Cargill Workshops Facebook page.

To view the workshop calendar, go to calendar.chadcargill.com. You can also order the prep book Chad Cargill's ACT and sign up for speed reading at chadcargill.com. If you are interested in hosting a workshop at your high school, call our office at (405) 454-3233 or email [email protected].

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Thanks for listening to the podcast!

3 reasons why in English you should read the passage as you go

2 Types of Questions:

Usage questions

General passage questions

Usage

1st choice is no change.

General passage questions do not have an underline part in a sentence. The first choice is usually something other than No Change.

These are questions more about the passage rather than just an underlined part in a sentence.

The first several ACT tests I took in high school, I didn’t read the passage.

Why? I was in a hurry. 75 questions in 45 mins.

When I ask students in my workshop how many skip, over half agree.

Many so called experts teach this.

I figured out quickly I had to read the passage as I tested; otherwise, I was having to go back and reread.

As you read from one underline to the next, remember this isn’t reading comprehension. You just need to think, “In general what is happening?”

“What’s the purpose of the passage?”

3 Reasons why you should read as you go:

Some was/were eaten.

For Cat’s first birthday her mother bought her 2 cakes.

Some were eaten. There were two cakes.

If you read a sentence by itself, the present tense verb, for example, works great.

But if you read the paragraph, every other verb was past tense, and you’ll immediately make a change.

So read the passage as you go. That doesn’t mean read the entire essay, then go back and answer the questions. Just read to question one, then answer question one. Then read to question two, then answer question two.

If you do this, you’ll finish even faster with a higher score than not reading it.

Remember this is not reading comprehension. You don’t need to know all the details. Keep asking yourself as you are reading, “In general, what is happening here?”

Special thanks to Ms. Julie Garner for a great review of the podcast. Julie is an English teacher at Jim Ned HS is West Texas.

This is a great podcast for those of you who are looking for some helpful advice and tips on taking the ACT. Chad Cargill is a trusted source and is the guy that some of you may have gone to see last October in Anson. Whether you went then or not, you should check this out.

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If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcast app. Leave a shout out for your high school, and I may read it on a future podcast.

If you have questions, leave a comment here or on the Chad Cargill Workshops Facebook page.

To view the workshop calendar, go to calendar.chadcargill.com. You can also order the prep book Chad Cargill's ACT and sign up for speed reading at chadcargill.com. If you are interested in hosting a workshop at your high school, call our office at (405) 454-3233 or email [email protected].

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Chad Cargill’s ACT Test Prep Podcast

Composite Score: From a single ACT test, the sum of your English, math, reading, and science divided by 4. This would be your highest overall ACT score from a single ACT test.

Superscore: From any ACT test, your highest English, math, reading, and science divided by 4.

Schools who change to superscores raise minimums for scholarships.

Starting with the 2020-21 school year, ACT will allow you to retest in any section.

• You must have already taken a complete ACT.

Details about this new policy can be found on ACT’s FAQ page. Scroll to the section titled "ACT Section Retesting."

https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/more-choices-for-the-act-sept-2020/faqs.html

Why never do it?

Why do it?

I’d love to connect with you and keep you posted on upcoming episodes and resources. For a free downloadable pdf What Scholarship Committees Look for and How to Win Them, go to scholarships.chadcargill.com, and get your guide now.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcast app. Leave a shout out for your high school, and I may read it on a future podcast.

If you have questions, leave a comment here or on the Chad Cargill Workshops Facebook page.

To view the workshop calendar, go to calendar.chadcargill.com. You can also order the prep book Chad Cargill's ACT and sign up for speed reading at chadcargill.com. If you are interested in hosting a workshop at your high school, call our office at (405) 454-3233 or email [email protected].

chadcargill.com

Thanks for listening to the podcast!

Chad Cargill’s ACT Test Prep Podcast

Chad’s Story

Chad comes from a simple home. He went to his mom's high school graduation, and his dad lugged boxes in a grocery warehouse for 30 years. His parents had not saved any money for college since it really wasn't expected. Chad's dad told him he would have to get a job and attend the local junior college.

During high school Chad knew he needed to win scholarships in order to attend Oklahoma State University. Chad's freshman year in high school, he discovered many scholarships were based on ACT scores, and the journey began.

He took the ACT a total of 18 times in high school raising his score 13 points from a 19 to a 32 which placed him in the scoring in the 99.5 percentile. This increase was simply due to him learning what was on the test and how to take it. Chad says, "The same people make the test every time. It’s the same opponent every time you play the game. They put the same things on every test. They just change the words and numbers.”

After graduating high school, Chad went back to his high school to tell some of the students what he learned taking the test those 18 times. When the results of those students' tests were very positive, the counselor asked if he would come back to tell more students. After a few cycles helping students at his alma-mater, other schools began hearing about the workshop.

Chad lives in Choctaw, Oklahoma with his wife Shellie and their 8 kids Camden (20), Cayce (18), Clarity and Creed (both 11 from the Democratic Republic of Congo), Cai (10 from Uganda), Carli and Crosby (both 8 from Uganda), and Cat (6 months adopted as a frozen embryo).

The 1-2-3 Plan

-Students are limited to 12 ACT tests.

-If you can afford it, students should take all 12.

1 – Sophomore Year: Take one national ACT test your sophomore year. This should be either the December or April test. You can order the test questions, your answers, and the correct answers. Don’t study for this test. Give your best effort and see what happens.

2 – Junior Year: Take the December national ACT and either the April or June national ACT. Order the test both times. Start identifying weakness areas and practicing.

3 – Senior Year: Take the September, October, and December national ACTs. These first three test scores can be used on most scholarships since they will be before most scholarship deadlines.

-If you want to take an ACT your freshman year without actually paying for it and using one of your twelve tests, administer one by yourself or with a group of friends.

-I don’t recommend the Duke Talent Search 7th grade ACT.

You can download a recent national ACT test provided free of charge from ACT. Just Google search Preparing for the ACT Test pdf ACT .org. The scoring chart and correct answers are in the back of the booklet.

I’d love to connect with you and keep you posted on upcoming episodes and resources. For a free downloadable pdf What Scholarship Committees Look for and How to Win Them, go to scholarships.chadcargill.com, and get your guide now.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcast app. Leave a shout out for your high school, and I may read it on a future podcast. If you have questions, leave a comment here or on the Chad Cargill Workshops Facebook page.

To view the workshop calendar, go to calendar.chadcargill.com. You can also order the prep book Chad Cargill's ACT and sign up for speed reading at chadcargill.com. If you are interested in hosting a workshop at your high school, call our office at (405) 454-3233 or email [email protected].

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Next week: Why you should never just take one section of the ACT.

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