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PERFECT SCORE TUTORS

Tips for test day!

7/18/2020

1. The Night Before
Eat a healthy dinner.
Minimize screen time.
Organize your materials for test day.
Know how to get to the testing site.

2. The Morning Before
Wake up early.
Eat a healthy breakfast.
Get there early.
Stay away from nervous people.

3. During the Test
Relax!
Don't leave anything blank.
Pace yourself.
Trust yourself.

4. After the Test
Chill out.
Remind yourself that there is nothing else you can control.
Reward yourself!

how to get a 36 on the ACT science section

7/9/2020

All the information below is brought to you by an ACT perfect scorer!

The science section has a lot of data interpretation—usually bio or chem related but sometimes physics as well.

I suggest that you read the prompt, make sure you understand what the data represents, and if there is more than one experiment w/ variable manipulations, make sure you can easily differentiate which is which.

One science passage provides 3 or 4 student perspectives on some topic, and you have to analyze their differences and similarities and their relation to the data, so highlight/annotate key points of each perspective in order to not have to read the entire perspective every time you get a question about it.

Sometimes though, they ask you about background knowledge that isn’t provided in the data, so you should know your basic bio concepts.

The science section also is mostly direct and you just have to look at the data to answer the questions.

how to get a 36 on the ACT reading section

7/9/2020

All the information below is brought to you by an ACT perfect scorer!

The reading section has one narrative, one social science, one humanities, and one natural science passage.

Find the quickest way for you to approach the reading section because i think it really differs from person to person. Here are some strategies:

- skim the passage first, then answer the questions and look back into the passage if you forgot where the info was

- read the questions first then skim the passage and answer the questions as you go

- skim the passage and ANNOTATE (meaning you can label each paragraph’s main idea) so it’s easier to find info when you look back at the passage

- read through the entire passage (like every word) and then answer the questions

Many of the act reading questions are actually not analytical and more of just literary comprehension, so in that sense you have to be able to find details in the passage. Find a way to spend the least time searching for details (annotating was helpful for me).

I suggest reading the questions and thinking of your own answer first and then checking to see which answer matches best with yours!

How to get a 36 on the ACT math section

7/9/2020

All the information below is brought to you by an ACT perfect scorer!

The math section is the easiest section to improve although it sometimes has precalculus math concepts (but rarely).

Know that it usually goes by increasing difficulty.

Read question carefully and make sure you know what the question is asking for in the end.

Practice is the most important if you want to improve your score for the math section; try to have a good basis in math concepts.

Sometimes you can plug in the answers!!

Use your calculator effectively particularly for graphing problems and get used to using different tricks on your calculator as well (finding standard deviation, finding matrix determinants, etc.)

How to get a 36 on the ACT English Section

7/8/2020

All the information below is brought to you by an ACT perfect scorer!

The english section is the one with the most questions (75 questions in 45 min).

Find patterns when doing practice tests; these are the top three that I noticed:

- repetition or redundancy problems. Usually the right answer is the shortest answer (example: short and brief vs brief). The ACT hates repetition so there’s always a lot of it; sometimes the answer is even “DELETE the underlined portion”

- comma splice (comma used to separate two complete sentences). Instead, use a period, semicolon, or a comma with a conjunction.

- dashes have to be paired when isolating a clause at the middle of a sentence.

Make sure you know how to distinguish complete sentences vs sentence fragments as well as essential vs nonessential clauses.

Know your punctuation usage: mainly apostrophes, dashes, colons, semicolons, and commas.

With questions about inserting sentences or changing topic/concluding sentences, look at transition phrases.

For transition word questions, look at the relationship between the two sentences that the transition word connects.

Skim over each passage but still make sure you understand the main idea because sometimes the passage ends with a question about the content.

For questions where you choose the word that fits best, I usually just did it by sound or whatever sounded best.

You're doing great!

7/8/2020

It’s easy to feel defeated while studying if you aren't really seeing an improvement. Instead of feeling down, try to regroup, find out the problem, and come up with a new game plan. The results you see may not be from the quantity of time you put in, but the quality of time you put in. Sitting at your desk for hours unfocused may not do much, but 30 minutes of looking up and practicing the math concept that you made a mistake on will. If you need help regrouping or coming up with strategies, you can always ask us to book a consultation for free.

Should you take the Sat or act?

7/4/2020

It is important to take either the SAT or ACT before applying to colleges. We strongly recommend that you take both as a diagnostic, but if you're still not sure which one you should take, here are a few differences between both tests that should help you decide.

Timing: The SAT generally gives you more time per question. If you like to speed through things, the ACT is for you.

English/Grammar: The SAT grammar section tends to be harder than the ACT section.

Math: The ACT tends to have more Geometry, allows a calculator the whole time, and is all multiple choice. The SAT tends to have more Algebra, has a no calculator section, and has some free-response questions.

Reading: The ACT is for you if you are a fast reader and detail-oriented. You might want to take the SAT if you're good at evidence based questions.

Science: If you hate science, the SAT is for you as there is no science section. In addition to graphs and concepts, the ACT's science section requires a fair amount of reading comprehension.

tips for studying at home

7/3/2020

With COVID-19 impacting us all, staying home is more important than ever. Here are a few tips for studying at home:

Set up your workspace. Make sure that you have no distractions and that your Youtube window is closed! if you're using your phone as a timer, make sure to turn it upside down.

Put study time in your calendar. Parkinson's Law is true! Instead of telling yourself "I have the afternoon to take the math section," put it in your calendar as "SAT math 2:00-3:20."

Take breaks. Your brain might be dead if you do a practice test every single day. If you feel like you aren't focusing properly and are zoning in and out, try taking a break after completing a section.

SAT Pro tips curated by perfect scorers

7/3/2020

Here is a short series of pro tips for the SAT compiled by our full scoring tutors:

Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Don't waste time doing an entire practice test every time if you always excel at math and struggle on grammar. Focus on your weaknesses for maximum efficiency.

Take each practice test seriously. Understanding each mistake you made is the key to improvement. Make sure that if you took the same practice test, you would get every question right.

Speak up and ask for help. Sometimes, self studying just doesn't work. Instead, find a tutor that works for you.

welcome!

7/3/2020

Welcome to Perfect Score Tutors! We are a group of college students aiming to give high quality standardized test prep. Too many people fall into the trap of paying $150+ an hour for a class that has you sit in a room with 20 other people taking a practice test. Perfect Score Tutors gives you high quality 1-on-1 tutoring sessions for a reasonable price.