ACT, SAT
& ESSAY WRITING
Dr. Shawnita Sealy-Jefferson, Ph.D., M.P.H., B.S.
Epidemiologist
Postdoctoral Fellow
Wayne State University School of Medicine
Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences
shawnitasj@gmail.com
Objectives
1) Discuss ACT and SAT
 What they are, test components, strategies for success
2) Compare and contrast ACT & SAT
3) Advantages/disadvantages of both
4) Discuss admission/scholarship essay writing





Role of the essay
Where to start when writing
Mechanics
Tips
Should you have a reviewer?
5) Answer questions
ACT
American College Testing
What is the ACT?
 Achievement test, measuring how much you
learned in school
 Up to 5 components:
 English, Mathematics, Reading, Science, and an optional Writing Test
 Scale scores range from 1-36
 Two scores for writing Test
 Combined english/writing score (1-36)
 Writing sub-score (2-12)
 Comments from one of the trained readers
 ACT national average score is 21
 Typically taken first in junior year˚
Basics of preparation
 Become familiar with the content and format of
ACT
 Learn appropriate test-taking strategies
 Use ACT Online Prep—ACT’s test preparation
program
 Review “The Real ACT Prep Guide”—the official
test prep book
 Take ACT’s free practice test
 See your counselor for other test preparation
materials
 Visit the ACT website at www.actstudent.org˚
The Best Preparation Is A Solid
High School Curriculum
English
Mathematics (Algebra 1 and above)
Social Studies
Science
Foreign Language
Arts
4 Years
4 Years
3 Years
3 Years
2 Years
1 Year˚
REMEMBER:
Test scores are only ONE factor used
for college admissions and scholarship
decisions!!!
What is the national average score for the ACT
and what score do YOU want?!?
ACT English
Editing five short passages
75 questions - 45 minutes – 9 minutes Per passage
Usage - Mechanics Skills
40Q
53%
Punctuation
10Q
13%
Comma
Semicolon
End-stop
Dashes
Hyphens
quotes
Grammar
and Use
Sentence
Structure
12Q
16%
18Q
24%
Tense
Subject-verb agreement
Pronoun use
Adverb vs adjective
Double negative
Idioms
Possessives
comparisons
Run-on
Comma splice
Fragment
Coord conjunction
Parallelism
Misplaced modifiers
Clauses
Subordination
Split construction
Unintended meaning
Rhetoric Skills
35Q
47%
Strategy
Organization
Style
12Q
16%
11Q
15%
12Q
16%
Appropriate support
Main idea
Audience
Effective:
Opening sentence
Concluding sentence
Paragraph development
Sentence-level structure
Paragraph-level structure
Conciseness
Ambiguity
Low-level usage
Shifting point of view
ACT English Practice Question
I grew up with buckets, shovels, and nets waiting by
the back door; hip-waders hanging in the closet;
tide table charts covering the refrigerator door; and
a microscope was sitting on the kitchen table.
A.
B.
C.
D.
No change
Waiting, by the back door,
Waiting by the back door,
Waiting by the back door
A.
B.
C.
D.
No change
Would sit
Sitting
Sat
ACT Math
60 questions - 60 minutes
Direct use of math facts
or formulas
32Q
53%
Pre-Algebra
14Q
23%
Word Problems
16Q
27%
Elementary
Algebra
Intermediate
Algebra
10Q
17%
9Q
15%
Geometry
14Q
23%
Inference/ decision making
12Q
20%
Coordinate
Geometry
9Q
15%
Trigonometry
4Q
7%
PRACTICE ACT MATH PROBLEM
 What is the value of x when 2x + 3 = 3x – 4 ?
A) –7
B) -1/5
C) 1
D) 1/5
E) 7
ACT Reading
4 Passages – 40 Questions – 35 Minutes
Read 750 words
Prose/Fiction
10Q
25%
Read 750 words
Humanities
10Q
25%
Explicit Questions
14Q
35%
Specific
Detail
Sequence
Cause/Effect
Comparison
Read 750 words
Social Science
10Q
25%
Read 750 words
Natural Science
10Q
25%
Implicit Questions
26Q
65%
Author’s Voice Generalization
Main Idea
Conclusion
Words in
Context
ACT Reading Practice Question
(65) Existing that way all the
time, on the edge of hunger,
on the edge of kindness,
gave Abshu an appreciation
for a life fully lived. Do
whatever job makes you
happy, regardless of the
cost; and fill your home
with love. Well, his home
became the community
center right around the
corner from Brewster place.
• As it is used in line 65, the
term the edge refers to a
place where Abshu felt:
A. most alive.
B. unfulfilled.
C. defeated.
D. most competitive.
ACT
Science Reasoning
7 passages - 40 questions - 35minutes
3 passages
Data Representation
15Q
37%
Understand
7Q
17 5%
Analyze
20Q
50%
Generalize
13Q
32 5%
3
9
3
3 passages
Research Summary
18Q
45%
3
6
9
1 Passage
Conflicting Viewpoint
7Q
18%
1
Identify data points
Identify units/labels
Identify trends
Identify variables
Identify controls
5
Hypothesize
Conclude
Compare
Evaluate
1
Extrapolate
Interpolate
Predict
Generalize
ACT Science Reasoning Practice Question
•
•
Spent fuel (SF), a radioactive waste, is
often buried underground in
canisters for disposal. As it decays, SF
generates high heat and raises the
temperature of the surrounding rock,
which may expand and crack,
allowing radioactivity to escape into
the environment. Scientists wanted
to determine which of 4 rock types—
rock salt, granite, basalt, or shale—
would be least affected by the heat
from SF. The thermal conductivity
(how well heat is conducted through
a material) and heating trends of the
4 rock types were studied.
The scientists calculated the
temperature increase that would be
expected over a period of 100,000 yr
in each rock type at a point within a
site holding buried SF.
•
According this study, if another set of
temperatures had been calculated for a time
1,000,000 years in the future, the calculated
temperature increase in any of the 4 rock types
would most likely be closest to:
A. 0°C
B. 10°C.
C. 20°C.
D. 30°C.
10 Strategies for ACT
1) Skip the directions
2) Skim the whole section
3) Pace yourself
4) Answer the easy questions first
5) When in doubt, guess
6) Don’t lose your confidence with tough questions
7) Frequently check your place on the answer sheet
8) Don’t get sidetracked by the unimportant
9) Understand what you’re being asked
10) Stop a minute or two before your time is up
BONUS: Make a study plan and follow it ˚
SAT
Scholastic Aptitude Test
SAT: WHAT IS THE PURPOSE?
 Aptitude: predicts your potential for future
success
 Assess your academic readiness for college
 Provides a path to opportunities, financial
support and scholarships
 Measures the skills required for success in
college and beyond!
SAT
 Taken 1st time in spring of junior year
 Indicates how well you use skills and knowledge
attained in and out of the classroom
 How you think, solve problems, and communicate
 3 hr and 45 min exam
 10 sections
 3 critical reading sections
 3 math sections
 3 writing sections
 1 experimental section
 Total score is between 600-2400
 National average for the SAT is 1510˚
SAT
 Offered 7 times a year
 January, March, May, June, October, November,
December
 Students can register at www.Collegeboard.com
 SAT Fee Waivers are available
 Cost is $45.00 and includes 4 score reports˚
SAT Critical Reading
Time
Total 70 minutes
Two 25-minute sections
One 20 minute section
Content
Reading Comprehension:
Single paragraphs
Longer passages
Paired paragraphs
Paired longer passages
Sentence level reading
Question Types
Score
Multiple-choice with 5 answer choices
Critical Reading
Sentence completions
200-800
SAT Writing
Time
Total: 60 minutes
25-minute essay
One 25-minute multiple choice section
One 10-minute multiple choice section
Content
Grammar and usage
Word choice (diction)
Question Types
Multiple choice with 5 answer choices
Identifying sentence errors
Improving sentence errors
Improving sentences
Improving paragraphs
Student-written essay
Score
200-800; essay sub-score: 2-12
SAT PRACTICE WRITING PROBLEM
Hoping to -------the dispute, negotiators proposed a
compromise that they felt would be --------to both
labor and management.
A) enforce…useful
B) end…divisive
C) overcome…unattractive
D) extend…satisfactory
E) resolve…acceptable
SAT Math
Time
Total: 70 minutes
Two 25-minute sections
One 20-minute section
Content
Algebra I
Algebra II
Geometry
Data analysis, statistics, probability
Question Types
Multiple-choice with 5 answer choices
Student-produced responses (grid-ins)
Score
200-800
SAT SUBJECT AREA TESTS
 Measure your knowledge and skills in particular
subject areas
 SAT Subject Tests fall into five general subject areas:
English
Languages
Literature
Chinese with Listening
History
French
US History
French with Listening
World History
German
Mathematics
German with Listening
Mathematics Level 1
Spanish
Mathematics Level 2
Spanish with Listening
Science
Modern Hebrew
Biology E/M
Italian
Chemistry
Latin
Physics
Japanese with Listening
Korean with Listening
10 Strategies for SAT
1)
2)
3)
4)
Create a study plan and follow it
Don’t get stuck on any one question
Learn the directions in advance
For the essay, develop your ideas and express them clearly, using examples to
back them up
5) For the writing multiple-choice questions, think about the simplest clearest way
to express an idea
6) For sentence completions, as you read, try to predict what word should go in
each blank
7) For reading comprehension questions, skim the passage to see what it’s about
8) For the math multiple choice, you’re allowed to use a calculator, but it won’t
help you unless you know how to approach the problems
9) For the math grid-ins, you must come up with the answer and fill in the grid
10) Relax the night before the test
OR BOTH????
What is the difference between an aptitude and
an achievement test?
ACT/SAT COMPARISON
 SAT
 Aptitude Test
 Given 7 times per year
 Reading, Math, and
Writing
 ¼ of a point deduction for
wrong answer on multiple
choice
 200-800 points per
section, for a total score
of 600-2400˚
 ACT
 Achievement Test
 Given 6 times per year
 English, Math, Reading,
Science Reasoning, and
optional Writing
 No penalty for wrong
answer
 1-36 for each subject,
averaged for a composite
score, 2-12 for the Writing
Test˚
ACT/SAT COMPARISON
 SAT
 Math section includes
Algebra I, Geometry, and
Algebra 2
 Sends 4 free reports to
colleges of your choice,
each additional report is
$10
 Formulas given for math
section˚
 ACT
 Math section includes
Algebra I, Geometry,
Algebra 2, and
Trigonometry
 Sends 4 free reports to
colleges of your choice,
each additional report is
$10
 No formulas given for
math section˚
SAT Advantages
SAT Disadvantages
 10 short sections, the
longest of which is 25minutes
 Tests 9th and 10th grade
math, plus a few reasoning
concepts
 About 1/4 of Critical
Reading questions are
vocabulary-based
 “Score choice”: choose to
send best scores while
suppressing lower scores˚
 The SAT is about 4 hours
long
 ¼ point penalty for
wrong answers
 If you don’t like writing
essays, the SAT begins
with a timed essay that
is graded and factored
into your writing score˚
ACT Advantages
 Only 4 sections, the
longest is 1 hour
 ~3 hours long
 “Score choice”: only
send your highest score
to colleges
 No penalty for incorrect
answers˚
ACT Disadvantages
 Time demand can be
profound
 Science section is
challenging for those w/
difficulty reasoning with
numbers and graphs
 Math concepts include
trigonometry
 ACT English will certainly
challenge knowledge of
colons, hyphens, commas,
etc˚
Additional Resources
College Information
– CSO College Center: www.CSOcollegecenter.org
– The College Board: www.collegeboard.com
– Peterson’s: www.petersons.com
– The Common App: www.commonapp.org
– Hobson’s Collegeview: www.collegeview.com
– Colleges That Change Lives: www.ctcl.org
Additional resources
Testing
– ACT: www.act.org
– ACT Fee Waiver Instructions: www.actstudent.
org/faq/answers/feewaiver.html
– SAT: The College Board: www.collegeboard.com
– SAT Fee Waiver Instructions: www.collegeboard
com/student/testing/sat/calenfees/feewaivers.html
– Preliminary SAT(PSAT): www.collegeboard
com/student/testing/psat/about/html
– Free Test Prep from Number2 com:
www.number2.com
– The Princeton Review: www.princetonreview.com
– Kaplan’s Test Prep: www.kaptest.com
ESSAY WRITING
WHY DO I HAVE TO WRITE ESSAYS?!?
 Gives some context for your accomplishments
 Allows you to add your voice to the admission
process
 Gives readers insight into you as a person
 Allows admission/scholarship committee to evaluate:
 Writing style
 Language usage
 Organization
 Persuasion skills
 Confidence˚
Role Of The Essay
 Allows you to add information that you couldn't
share in other parts of the application
 Adds clarity, depth, and meaning to information
collected in other parts of your application
 Enables you to make the best possible case for why
you should be admitted/awarded a scholarship˚
ROLE OF THE ESSAY
 It's your only chance to explain to college
admissions/scholarship committee why you are a good
fit:
 become more than just another application
 become an individual
 share your personality
 your goals
 your experiences
 explain any opportunities or obstacles that have
affected your academic record˚
TRUE OR FALSE (and why):
If I write one good admission/scholarship
essay, I can send the same essay to all of the
schools/scholarship search committees?
WHERE DO I START?
 Complete the application FIRST!
 Use the application to help you:
 Think about your life story and how you will convey it
 Think about your academic experiences as a whole
 Connect the issues raised by the application to your
responses in your personal statement
 Find the questions that your readers might ask
 You as the writer have a responsibility anticipate & answer
your readers' questions, even before they are asked˚
NOW WHAT??
1) Investigate and explore your audience
 Info about the universities their admissions process
 What does the committee want to find out about
applicants through the personal statement?
 This info can be found on the university or
scholarship website
2) Explore Yourself!
 The more comfortable you are with writing about
yourself and your story, the better your essay will be!
Mechanics of Writing the Essay
 Be original - be yourself
 Tell a story - your story
 Remember to put things in the
words and language with
which you are comfortable
 Don’t use big, fancy words,
especially if you are not sure of
the meaning of the words
 A simple style is best
 Good writing sounds like
speech rather than a
vocabulary review lesson
 Use clear, vivid writing style˚
 The body must relate to the
first sentence of the paragraph
 Use transition words
 Your conclusion is crucial
 Revise, Revise, Revise!
 Read aloud what you have
written to help you locate
areas that don’t make sense
 Put your draft aside for one
day, then read it again and
revise˚
Tips for Writing :
 Get Personal
 A successful essay is the one where the reader learns about you
and your life
 Details, Details, Details
 Use details to personalize your essay and to make it more
interesting
 Be Honest
 Write about what really happened and who you really are
 Don’t just list the facts
 The why and how about the information is also important
 Use specific, concrete examples and language
 Avoid generalities like "being on the track team was fun”
 Make sure your response directly addresses the ?
 Expand on information contained elsewhere in your application
˚
Tips (cont)
 Get right to the point
 Adding unnecessary info is distracting and not helpful
 Adhere to word restrictions
 Better to be under the limit than over the limit
 Responses should complete the application
 The personal statement is an extension of your
application
 It should provide new information
 Do not repeat things you've already said in other parts of your
application
 A strong essay demonstrates self-awareness, a
key indicator of intelligence˚
In your essay did you:
1) Assist the reader in
learning about you?
2) Explain experiences,
accomplishments, and
point of view that you
would contribute?
3) Explain your attributes
and experiences that are
not evident from your
academic record?
4) Describe any unusual
circumstances or
challenges you have
faced?
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
Discuss how you
responded to these
circumstances or
challenges?
Discuss your interest in
your intended major?
Discuss how your interest
developed?
Describe any relevant
work or volunteer
experience you’ve had?
Discuss your long-term
goals after the Bachelor’s
degree?
Should You Have Someone Review It?
 Having someone review the essay is a necessary step in
the process
 Incorporate the suggestions for improvement
 Fine line between having your college essay edited and
having it rewritten by the reviewer
 Ultimately, the essay you submit must be your work, not the
reviewer’s
 Be careful about suggestions for major revisions like
changing the basic thoughts and content of the essay or
adding things that are NOT truly your story
 An essay that is written by someone else is not yours and
should not submitted with your application
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
General Websites
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http://www.collegeboard.com/apply/essay_skills/
http://www.carleton.edu/admissions/essay/
http://www.west.net/~stewart/beste.htm
http://www.accepted.com/college/dosdonts.aspx
http://www.accepted.com/college/tenwritingtips.aspx
http://www.accepted.com/college/miningyouridentity.aspx