YOUR STORY STARTS HERE.
Learn more about the typical journey of a CATES student through the following case studies:
YOUR STORY STARTS HERE.
Learn more about the typical journey of a CATES student through the following case studies:
A talented baseball player from New York, Adam completed his diagnostic in February of 2016 (his sophomore year) with the following ACT scores:
- Composite: 20
- English: 18
- Math: 21
- Reading: 19
- Science: 20
Adam wanted to apply to schools such as Middlebury and University of Chicago (two very different schools, indeed) because they had very strong academic programs—particularly in economics and computer science (yes, Middlebury, a liberal arts college, possesses great math and science-oriented programs)—as well as highly competitive NCAA Division III baseball teams. He needed to hit a super score (that is, the highest test scores across all sittings recalculated to create a “super composite”) of 32 or higher. Thus, based on his goals, Adam needed help all across the board, and a 12 point jump in his composite. To complicate matters further, Adam had a learning difference that strongly delayed his processing of language, particularly when it came to reading. As a result, he struggled with reading prompts longer than two or three lines and possessed incredible weaknesses in grammar and general comprehension that had affected him for years. Unsurprisingly, given these challenges, Adam’s confidence in his ability to succeed on the ACT could have been stronger. And, given his ambitious goals, the task seemed tall—if not completely out of reach.
But we set about in earnest, taking care to modify our methods in order to accommodate Adam’s schedule and needs. Since athletes need to have their testing complete by the end of junior year, for recruiting purposes, we set the October ACT as a soft target for Adam’s first test. Additionally, Adam liked working online just as much as working in person, and given his baseball schedule, doing so allowed him the flexibility to keep his appointments while training and playing baseball across the New York City area. Moreover, it became clear early on that writing Adam’s notes for him on a Google doc (most of the time, at least) was the most effective and efficient way to promote his progress. A visual learner, rather than a kinesthetic or aural one, Adam processed and understood the material best when he saw it appearing letter-by-letter before his eyes.
Adam’s formal preparation began in the summer after his sophomore year. Bearing in mind Adam’s strengths and weaknesses, for his first test we designed a program that initially focused heavily on learning English grammar. ACT English tests umpteen grammar rules, and its inner architecture is founded mostly on context. Another reason to focus carefully on grammar: the test is fond of providing tricky answer choices that appeal to the ear of a contemporary student, but wouldn’t fly with your English professor. From there, we taught Adam all of the Math, which took some time due to the sheer volume of material but came relatively more quickly to Adam than the other sections due to his strength in Math. From there, we turned our attention to strategy on the Science and then tackled the Reading. Unfortunately, we could not address the Reading as completely as we had hoped before Adam’s first test due to normal fluctuations in the preparation program (scheduling conflicts, student illness, school priorities, extenuating personal circumstances, etc.). Progress in general came slowly (which is fine), and Adam needed to delay his first actual test to December. His scores were as follows:
- Composite: 30 (+10)
- English: 33 (+15)
- Math: 31 (+10)
- Reading: 24 (+5)
- Science: 31 (+11)
Clearly, Adam made tremendous progress on his first test. Double-digit increases are incredibly impressive, especially on the composite score. However, we had more work to do, and so we focused next on boosting the non-English sections, particularly the Reading.
On his second test, in February, only six weeks after his December test, Adam scored the following:
- Composite: 31 (+11 points from diagnostic)
- English: 31 (+13 points)
- Math: 32 (+11 points)
- Reading: 31 (+12 points)
- Science: 32 (+12 points)
Although his English score dropped a couple of points, Adam made gains in each of the non-English sections, including an amazing additional seven points in the reading, bringing his total improvement to 12 points.
At this point, Adam and I had been meeting three days a week, on average, for roughly six months before his first test in December (60 hours) and then again for six weeks (18 hours) before his re-sit in February. In the process, Adam took six mock tests and his scores, when taken at their highest (as schools do), now stood at the following:
- Composite: 31 (32 Super Composite, +11-12 points)
- English: 33 (+15 points)
- Math: 31 (+10 points)
- Reading: 31 (+12 points)
- Science: 32 (+12 points)
Despite a number of personal and practical obstacles, then, Adam ended up with the scores he needed for entry to his top choice schools by February. And because he started early, Adam had the flexibility to either accept these already excellent scores and move on to other parts of the admissions process, or sit the test again to improve even further. Ultimately, he chose to re-sit the ACT in June to improve his Math to a 34 or higher and move his Super Composite closer to 33. He did—and then some:
- Composite: 34 (34 Super Composite, +14 points)
- English: 31 (+13 points)
- Math: 34 (+13 points)
- Reading: 34 (+15 points)
- Science: 35 (+15 points)
Clearly, Adam (to borrow a baseball term) “knocked it out of the park” on the June test, earning the composite and section scores that were in line with his true ability, which proved greater and greater over the course of the process. Furthermore, Adam’s improvements (coupled with his athletic talent) opened more doors for him. When he applied, he self-reported the following scores on his Common Application:
- Composite: 34 (34 Super Composite, +14 points)
- English: 33 (+15 points)
- Math: 34 (+13 points)
- Reading: 34 (+15 points)
- Science: 35 (+15 points)
These scores allowed Adam to apply early decision to Johns Hopkins—arguably the most rigorous academic and athletic environment for baseball players, as a top-10 university with a top-10 baseball team—and he was accepted. Adam had found a terrific match both academically and athletically. How did he get there? He believed that improvement was possible and was willing to do the work—even alongside his school and baseball commitments (which took up virtually all of his time)—to get the scores he knew that he could earn.
Julie, a very bright student from London, came to CATES wanting to follow in the footsteps of her siblings, who already attended Yale and Georgetown, and study at an American university. Julie started out well, with the following ACT diagnostic scores, taken in June 2015:
- Composite: 25
- English: 22
- Math: 23
- Reading: 30
- Science: 25
Given this strong starting position, we set a target composite score of 34+, with no individual section to fall below 32. Despite her promising performance, however, Julie was very concerned that her “slowness” during tests would not allow her to improve much upon her Reading score and so might hinder her ability to meet the target.
Starting in the summer after Year 11 (that’s sophomore year of high school, for American readers), we convened online twice a week for an hour (or a little more in the summer due to her extra free time), with in-person meetings in London or New York every 6–8 weeks. Our online meetings would employ a variety of platforms: we talked on Skype, used collaborative Google docs, and jointly analyzed scoring patterns via CATES HQ (our proprietary online software), as well as keeping notes on paper.
By her first actual test, in October 2015, Julie had made excellent progress and produced the following scores:
- Composite: 31 (+6 points)
- English: 29 (+7 points)
- Math: 26 (+3 points)
- Reading: 36 (+6 points)
- Science: 33 (+8 points)
In our post-test debrief, Julie explained that she had succumbed to nerves at the start of the test, explaining her comparatively smaller improvement on the Math section, but to her credit she regained control at the break and did incredibly well on the second half of test. For Julie, this experience was a breakthrough in itself: she now understood—from first-hand experience—that it’s possible to take full control over yourself, even in the high-stakes testing environment.
By December 2015, Julie had built further on this experience, earning the following test scores:
- Composite: 33 (+8 points)
- English: 35 (+13 points)
- Math: 31 (+8 points)
- Reading: 36 (+6 points)
- Science: 31 (+6 points)
By this point, Julie had almost achieved her target composite score. We honed in on her mistakes and determined that the main barrier to that final point was simply a tendency to let her focus lapse. Julie seemed to be struggling with complete commitment to the process, and so was experiencing frustration with herself.
The night before her real ACT test, we had the “the big” conversation: “the silly mistakes have got to stop.” Julie already had the knowledge, the ability, and the skills. She had put the practice hours in. Now, she needed to embrace her absolute best and just get the job done. Self-discipline was the key. This was a coaching conversation—centered not on academics nor even on test strategy, but instead on challenging the student to honor this process, her effort, and the reality that she knew exactly what she had to do. She just needed to do it. And she did—when her final scores came in, we were both delighted with her tremendous success:
- Composite: 34 (+9 points)
- English: 35 (+13 points)
- Math: 32 (+9 points)
- Reading: 36 (+6 points)
- Science: 33 (+8 points)
Julie indeed achieved her ultimate testing goal as well as her overall university goal by earning admission to Duke, a top-ten American university. Her scores proved critical to her acceptance.
Franco, an exceptional student in the top 1% of his class at a British boarding school, came to CATES with a raft of accomplishments and qualifications: he was an international ski racer, with Olympic aspirations, and a nationally-recognized academic. With these great accomplishments came great ambition: Franco had his heart set on attending a top-three US college, and he thus needed no less than a 34 ACT composite score. His excellent July diagnostic test results suggested that this would be a more-than-achievable target:
- Composite: 31
- English: 26
- Math: 33
- Reading: 31
- Science: 33
Franco had a decided Type A personality, and he needed to control all aspects of his preparation routine to ensure success. For the most part, he led tutoring sessions, coming prepared with the knowledge of exactly what he needed and aiming to make use of tutoring sessions to gain valuable insight into the forces behind his mistakes and learn proven strategies for how to manage and eliminate them. He created his own preparation system, using Microsoft OneNote, that his CATES tutor was happy to work within so as to achieve the best likelihood of success. Franco met with his tutor for 30–60 minutes, twice a week on average, with the length and content of the sessions adapting entirely based on the student’s evolving needs.
By October, this approach had begun to bear fruit, with the composite score on his first actual test already placing Franco close to his target:
- Composite: 32 (+1 points)
- English: 34 (+8 points)
- Math: 35 (+2 points)
- Reading: 32 (+1 point)
- Science: 27 (-6 points)
In truth, however, based on his strong diagnostic Franco ought to have exceeded these scores, even at this stage. A lack of mock tests in the lead up to the first exam prevented him from building the necessary endurance to stay consistently focused through the entire sitting. Thus, his science score fell six points from the diagnostic, dragging his composite down to a 32—a great score, to be sure, but Franco’s growth in the program showed serious potential for him to earn a composite of 35 or 36.
By placing extra focus on mock tests in the run up to his April exam, we helped Franco to realize this potential:
- Composite: 35 (+4 points)
- English: 36 (+10 points)
- Math: 36 (+2 points)
- Reading: 31 (even)
- Science: 36 (+3 points)
Clearly, Franco did a tremendous job in this exam, building on his successful mock test regimen to position himself for perfect scores in three of the four sections, as well as the composite.
In looking at all both his ACT exams together, ie. super scoring, Franco, along with his perfect 800 in the Math Level II SAT Subject Test and 800 in the Latin SAT Subject Test, has clearly met the highest standards on the ACT for the very top US universities:
- Composite: 35 (+4 points)
- English: 36 (+10 points)
- Math: 36 (+2 points)
- Reading: 32 (+1 point)
- Science: 36 (+3 points)
Adding to his nationally-recognized athletic and academic merits, these scores helped Franco to distinguish himself from the other students in his competitive applicant year. He was to his first-choice college, Harvard.
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