Mastering the ACT and the SAT
ACT and SAT exam prep that works - focused practice with real materials, drill, learn, repeat.Focused Exam Prep and Clear Targets for the Win!
Preparing for any of the 300 standardized exams used for admissions, certifications, and licensure is the same regardless of the field. Mastery-level understanding of content is an absolute must but, too often does not translate into strong scores. Practice of these academic events is just as important, no different for music recitals or athletic events. So why is there such a disconnect between “education” and performance on exams? The most glaring reason is the lack of preparation for some assessments versus others: educators preach “studying” to pass their class, but are mum when students must “pass” an exam not associated with their class. This is a maddening exercise that has been told for decades despite every other aspect of human learning screams otherwise.
Free access to tests, testing materials, and other preparation information for the SAT or ACT exams is ubiquitous. To raise one’s scores for admission, it only takes practice, but that practice must be great! Both ACT and SAT average national scores have taken a substantive hit over the past 4 years, erasing very small and modest gains over the past 2 decades. It is a devastating metric that is not discussed in education and begs the question, “why not discuss?” There is an unlimited supply of “reasons” and “blame” to pass around, but in the end, the effort an individual student puts into their preparation is all that matters. Please, take advantage of what you can, because if you are college bound – or want to enter the workforce – getting the best score possible on these exams can pave the way to the future of your choosing.
capED has been guiding students in North Carolina to better scores since our founding over 25 years ago. Our approach is meticulous. We sweat the small stuff with our students, because knowing HOW to READ the exam and WHAT to be AWARE OF is often MORE important than just WHAT you know. Expert instruction is key to developing this skill.
We are focused on two things: help students become better students, and prepare them to excel on their ACT and SAT exams!
ACT and SAT Exam Dates
Be sure to check out the act.org and collegeboard.org websites for up to date exam scheduling and locations in our area.
ACT: Click Here
SAT: Click Here
ACT and SAT Percentiles
The percentile scores for the ACT and SAT let students know how their scores ranked among all students who took the exam and often is averaged into the cohort of students who took the exams over the past 3 years. If the percentile score is 70%, this score did better than 70 percent of the students who took the exam, or this score is in the Top 30% of all exam takers. This blending of scores over time allows the ACT and College Board to be sure that scores remain comparable and recent scores can be compared to scores even decades ago. This normalization of scores is important to keep the validity of measurement consistent, fair, and above all, trust in the system of measurement.
These percentiles are also the metric college admissions offices use to meet the goals of the college president when creating a cohort of freshman. These numbers are 1 piece of a student’s application and each school decides how to use this information. Below are the national percentiles and corresponding scores necessary to reach the goal. Check out your percentile rank (can also be found on score reports) and see if it matches the schools of choice. If not, see the improvement necessary to make your candidacy stand out!
Individual Preparation: High Focus
Personalized Standardized Exam preparation programs are designed to meet the student at their current academic level. Individualized instruction to build confidence, remediate old or lost skills, and learn new ones, to help move scores higher! Each session works on missed questions to focus on the areas in most need, along with the soft skills of taking exams to maximize efforts.
capED offers 1-on-1 programs for both the ACT and SAT. Program packages involve 10 hours of instruction (ideally two meetings per week) with homework assigned in multiple practice exams. The ACT or SAT practice exam texts are the main materials used to allow students to work the different subtests. Missed questions are corrected and reviewed to direct remediation; other materials may be included to reinforce the academic skills tested in Grammar, Math, Reading, and Science. Please have previous exam scores handy, they are an invaluable resource to understand your student’s unique experience.
Knowing the Tests
The College Board has made its third change to the SAT (since 2005) in March of 2024. It is now a Computer Adaptive Exam (CAT), reduced the number of questions, and has 2 Subtests in Reading and Math split into two Modules. The student’s performance on the First Module dictates the content mix of easy, medium, and hard questions of the Second Module. This new adaptive model is similar to graduate school admissions exams similar to the GMAT and GRE. The exam time is about 2 hours and 15 minutes.
ACT, Inc. still offers the ACT (American College Test) as a paper-based exam, though there is an option to take a computer version. This exam has not had any major changes in a long time and since 2008, is accepted by every college and university. The ACT has 4 Subtests in English, Math, Reading, and Science, is multiple-choice with a total of 215 questions that take 3 hours.
Neither exam requires an essay subtest, through the ACT still offers a fifth subtest for writing. Neither exam utilizes a penalty for guessing, so random guessing is strongly advised.
capED ACT or SAT Seminars
Seminars are sets of 8 2-hour meetings spanning multiple weeks, and are generally scheduled prior to specific exam sittings. Students will go through timed practice exams in a typical test-taking environment. Each class session will include addressing a different section of the exam or different question types. We will meticulously analyze Math and Verbal questions and review approaches for streamlining the test-taking. Class sizes range from 5-8 students, so sign up early to ensure your space. Schedules are constantly evolving, so please call to customize a seminar for your group or team.
Seminars are scheduled around national test dates, and run typically 4-5 weeks prior to the exam sitting. Please feel free to sign up for a Seminar and contact us directly to tailor a course to suit busy schedules. Either ACT or SAT College Board text required.
ACT Seminars
ACT Seminars are temporarily suspended.
**If you are a group or organization that would like to offer a Seminar to your students at your location, please call or email to inquire about cost, scheduling, and availability.
SAT Seminars
SAT Seminars are temporarily suspended.
**If you are a group or organization that would like to offer a Seminar to your students at your location, please call or email to inquire about cost, scheduling, and availability.
capED ACT/SAT BootCamps
A BootCamp is a focused 8-hour workshop to teach or refresh a student’s exam skills. We work through an entire practice exam, completing sections in the allotted time to help with pacing and to recreate the exam experience. After marking the correct answers, capED take students through each question and have engaged, detailed dialogue about question structure, how to arrive most efficiently at the answers, and then discuss the skills to attack the exam most effectively. This test prep session will ensure your student is ready on exam day!
**If you are a group or organization that would like to offer a 1-day BootCamp to your students at your location, please call or email to inquire about cost, scheduling, and availability.
Test materials provided.
ACT BootCamps
ACT Bootcamps are temporarily suspended.
Please send inquiry form or call (336) 287-4791
SAT BootCamps
SAT Bootcamps are temporarily suspended.
Please send inquiry form or call (336) 287-4791