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Intensive strategy sessions to prepare students for the AP exams in May.
Learn more about our AP Strategy Workshops!While ½ of America’s universities
have gone test optional, the issue is
far more complex than it seems.
Score At The Top provides students with the most innovative, creative, and successful ACT prep course in Southern Florida. Available through small group, custom group, private, and semi-private sessions, our cutting-edge ACT prep classes achieve results that speak for themselves.
Our curriculum was designed by Score At The Top founder, Judi Robinovitz, who spent 23 years working for Educational Testing Service, the world’s largest private educational testing organization. For that alone, there is no one better than Score At The Top for preparing students for the ACT and other standardized tests!
The ACT test is arguably the most popular college entrance exam in the country. The results of this test are accepted and valued by all colleges and universities in the US. The ACT test, after all, covers everything students learn in high school. It provides a great insight into each student’s academic strength, especially in five core areas: English, Math, Science, Reading, and Writing. So, if your teen aces the ACT, it reveals that they are more than ready to take their learning to a whole new level.
To make sure your teen does well on the ACT test, Score At The Top will provide them with top notch, well-thought-out ACT preparation courses, implemented through the following:
As mentioned, our ACT prep classes in Southern Florida employ a curriculum designed by our founder, Judi Robinovitz. Her impressive credentials include working in the Educational Testing Service for more than two decades and providing consulting to the College Board. In her years with the Board, she wrote the Board’s first test-prep software and strategy chapters of the first test-prep books. The Board, however, scaled back the books because Judi’s strategies were too insightful! With Judi’s expertise on our side, we are able to provide the best ACT preparation a high school student can get in Florida.
Do more than just practice... Learn ACT test-taking strategies from the experts:
As our curriculum was designed by an expert, our ACT preparation courses don’t merely focus on helping the student pass the test — the classes aim to give your teen the mastery they need to confidently ace the test, as well.
Our private ACT tutoring and small group ACT workshops are designed to make test-takers more comfortable with the ACT test-taking experience, to increase their scores and self-confidence, and to teach skills that are as important in school and life as they are on the ACT. Our interactive ACT sessions focus on test familiarity, content, and the test-taking strategies students will need to score at the top of their potential.
A comfortable but lively pace provides a significant opportunity for questions and answers. We begin with an overview of the ACT and then introduce the most effective strategies for each of the ACT’s question types in reading, math, science reasoning, and writing skills. Students use their newfound strategies to solve and then discuss each type of actual ACT question.
Because the ACT emphasizes critical reading and writing, it’s especially important to heighten students’ awareness of the reading and grammar skills needed for this test...as well as in life. A thorough review of the most commonly tested math concepts is integrated into our ACT curriculum, with significant emphasis on effective computational shortcuts, time-saving approaches, and valuable checking strategies.
In addition, students do homework in preparation for each session, typically consisting of a full-length actual ACT or selected test sections, math and science-reasoning drills, and/or outside reading.
With our confidence-building ACT test prep courses in Southern Florida, Score At The Top students truly become ACT smart! Get in touch with us, today, to further discuss what’s best for your teen’s education.
2020-2021 Test Dates (National)
Test Date | Registration Deadline | Reg (Late Fee Required) |
---|---|---|
September 12, 13 & 19, 2020 | August 14, 2020 | August 15-28, 2020 |
October 10 ,17, 24 & 25, 2020 | September 17, 2020 | September 18 -25, 2020 |
December 12, 2020 | January 8, 2021 | January 9-15, 2021 |
February 6, 2021 | January 8, 2021 | January 9-15, 2021 |
April 17, 2021 | March 12, 2021 | March 13-26, 2021 |
June 12, 2021 | May 7, 2021 | May 8-21, 2021 |
July 17, 2021 | June 18, 2021 | June 19-25, 2021 |
The Sept test date is not offered in the U.S. territories, Puerto Rico, or Canada
No test centers are scheduled in New York for the Feb and July test dates.
The ACT, a curriculum-based standardized test for college admission in the USA, is given by the Iowa-based company formerly known as American College Testing, and now called ACT, Inc. The test is used in college admissions in the same way as the SAT. In use since 1959, the ACT is considered an indicator of academic aptitude and readiness to enter college. Although the ACT is not as well-known as the SAT, it is almost as widespread – every college that accepts the SAT also accepts the ACT for admission, scholarships, and honors programs.
The ACT was originally conceived as an examination of achievement. Historically, the SAT had been more popular among colleges on the East and West Coasts and the ACT more popular in the Midwest and South. However, all that has changed, as the two tests are now equally accepted by all colleges that require standardized test scores for admission. In fact, there are a number of high-profile colleges that will accept just the single ACT composite score in place of a combination of SAT Reasoning and Subject Tests.
In February 2005, an optional essay was added to the end of the ACT, mirroring changes made to the SAT in March of that year. Not all colleges require the essay, so it's a good idea for the student to check with colleges to find out if the essay is required. The test takes almost 3½ hours with the essay and just under 3 hours without it.
Some students who perform poorly on the SAT find that they perform better on the ACT and vice versa. In fact, because the ACT is based on what is taught in the high school curriculum, some students are more comfortable with the ACT than they are with the SAT. In actuality, approximately ⅓ of students perform better on the ACT, ⅓ perform better on the SAT, and ⅓ perform exactly the same on both tests. To help determine which may be the better test for a student, click on SAT vs ACT – Which is the better test for you?
The ACT consists of 4 multiple-choice achievement tests and an optional essay. It lasts about 3½ hours (plus breaks), and the tests are always arranged in the same order:
The Perfect ACT | |||
---|---|---|---|
# Questions | # Correct | Test Score | |
English | 75 | 75 | 36 |
Math | 60 | 60 | 36 |
Reading | 40 | 40 | 36 |
Science Reasoning | 40 | 40 | 36 |
Composite | 215 | 215 | 36 |
* Score conversions tables are developed for each test, which means that:
In 2016, the national average ACT scores were:
Composite | English | Math | Reading | Science |
---|---|---|---|---|
20.8 | 20.1 | 20.6 | 21.3 | 20.8 |
For the majority of colleges, the ACT (or SAT) score is the second most important factor in college admissions, second only to the combination of a student's curriculum and grades throughout high school. Of roughly 800 colleges that do not require a test score for admission, only about three dozen are selective liberal arts colleges (e.g., Bates, Bowdoin, Holy Cross, Franklin & Marshall, Mount Holyoke, Rollins, Sarah Lawrence, Wake Forest, to name a few). Chances are that most students will apply to colleges where test scores are vital to the admissions decision. And several of these test-optional colleges require a test score for scholarship consideration.
If a student chooses to report ACT scores rather than SAT scores when applying to college, he or she must contact ACT (www.actstudent.org) to send an official score report to each college (unless the student already did that when registering for the test). The ACT score report contains a single set of four subscores (one from each of the test's four sections), a writing score, a combined English/writing score, and the Composite Score (the average of the four subscores). With only one set of such scores on the ACT score report, the student can automatically suppress unwanted scores from other test dates. Most colleges do not "super score" the ACT. That is, they tend not to select the highest subscores from multiple ACT administrations, which is why the official ACT score report contains the scores from only one ACT administration. (This is in direct contrast to the SAT, where most colleges "super score" by selecting the best subscores from multiple SAT administrations.) Remember, calling colleges is the best way to determine their ACT policies.
Admission records show that a score near the top of the mid-50% range for a college's accepted students plus a strong curriculum with good grades and meaningful extracurricular commitments will significantly improve a student's chances for admission.
The ACT (and SAT) scores are used for more than just college admissions. They may be used to help determine financial aid, scholarships (like Florida's Bright Futures), admission into honors programs, and placement in freshman courses.
After the addition of the optional essay to the ACT in 2005, some colleges started using it to make admission decisions, others took a wait-and-see attitude, and still others did not require it. Since policies vary widely among colleges, students should call each college to which they are applying to determine how the essay score is used. Some of the more popular uses of the essay score include:
Colleges are able to access and read a student's scanned, handwritten essay.
Interestingly, some colleges, like Georgetown, do not use the essay score at all! In any case, it is important for students to master the skills necessary to do their best on the essay portion of the test since writing is a vital skill for college and beyond. And remember: all colleges will receive the ACT essay score of a student who took that section of the ACT, even if the colleges don't require it or say they don't use it.
For most students, effective ACT preparation should begin the summer after tenth grade – and continue until a student has taken his or her final ACT. There is no limit to the number of times a student may take the ACT, but he or she should prepare for each one or risk diminished results. The ACT score report is not a cumulative report containing all of a student's ACT scores; rather, it contains the scores from only one test administration selected by the student. Thus, some students may even want to start preparing for and taking the ACT before the end of the sophomore year.
With all the tests your child may be taking in high school – PSAT, SAT, SAT Subject Tests, PLAN, ACT, AP, IB, AICE – it is vital to have a game plan, and the earlier it is established, the better. In fact, some families begin their 8th and 9th graders with us, building their reading and vocabulary skills with our TestWise program.
When you call Score At The Top, you'll talk to our specially trained director, your personal guide to the test-preparation process at Score At The Top. He or she will suggest a plan of action – small group, private, and/or semi-private lessons – with a timeline and program to bring out the best in your child. The action plan may also contain a recommendation for our SAT vs ACT Assessment Test that can help a student determine which is the better test for him or her, and thus avoid having to take – and prep for – both tests.
Baseline testing provides us with excellent information about your child's needs; tutor experience brings intuitive understanding of how to help your child obtain the best test results. We carefully select the right tutor, and after measuring your child's baseline test scores, we design a test-preparation program based on a student's goals and our four-pronged approach:
Your child will do an in-depth content review with one of our seasoned test-prep tutors, learn how to avoid making careless errors, capitalize on strengths and reduce weaknesses, master timing and other test-taking strategies, and develop enhanced self-confidence. You'll receive email updates about your child's progress after each tutoring session.
With more than 30 years of experience, we can tell you that test preparation can be tremendously worthwhile. At Score At The Top, we deliver your child to the door of the exam room ready to achieve a personal best, and feeling positive about facing this rite of passage. To us, and to the thousands of parents who have sought us out, this is the essence of scoring at the top!
Students who take the ACT more than once tend to gain one composite score point, on average, from one test administration to the next. However, ACT research shows that of the students who took the ACT more than once:
Most students who seriously prepare for the ACT with us should expect significant score gains of 3+ composite score points. And some of our motivated students have enjoyed gains of over 10 composite score points! Here's the "double-edged sword": some of our students have achieved such impressive score gains that they were challenged by ACT and had to re-take the test to prove the legitimacy of their higher scores! While the above results reflect score gains we have observed, we do not guarantee score gains.
Score At The Top comprises several family-owned, full-service Learning Centers and schools throughout Palm Beach and Broward Counties. For over 30 years, we have provided an integrated array of academic support and guidance services to students of all ages.
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Call: (844) 438-1600
Email: info@scoreatthetop.com