Friday, March 20, 2020

True Reasons We Love Super Bowl

True Reasons We Love Super Bowl Super Bowl is the most popular show among Americans. In a bit more than a week the whole nation will be glued to the screen to see the game. And there is a number of reasons for that! Loving NFL is a long lasting tradition, so nobody actually asks questions like Why watch Super Bowl? or Why do you like Super Bowl? or (God forbid) What is Super Bowl? However, we decided to bring these wonderful Super Bowl things together to make your week of game anticipation even more exciting. This post is also for Super Bowl haters. You still time to change your mind start loving Super Bowl (because in week its going to be too late!) Bringing Folks Together Okay, maybe there’s a fair amount of other things going on in this world that need more attention. And yes, it would be nice if we saw the same passion and fervor for civil rights and personal liberties these days. But at least this magical game, when the best of the best go head to head and the commenters are flipping out, brings people together in sports bars and living rooms across the land. Chanting, cheering, stumbling around, and pretty much going quasi-insane for a few hours. It’s good fun. And listen, Super Bowl parties run the whole gauntlet from two dudes in their boxers in their dorm room eating Cheetos from the vending machine on the first floor†¦to blockbuster block parties and after-parties that literally anger the gods. It proves that whether you want it or not football is a part of our national heritage†¦a part of the DNA, to be more precise. Special Food Chips and dips, wings and BBQ feasts, casseroles galore Super Bowl food comes in many different nuances of class and sophistication. There’s your cheap and dirty munchies finished off with piss beer and then all the more â€Å"adult† parties where they take some time to make decent grub: gourmet sandwiches, tiny sirloin burgers, high-brow quesadillas, etc. If you get invited to one of these parties start counting your blessings! The food rocks no matter what though. And, while the game’s going it doesn’t matter if it’s the most fattening food in the known galaxy. Halftime Commercials Rule Corporations pull out all the stops, it’s madness! Throughout the rest of the year most commercials are like Super Villain fingernails carving words into chalk boards. Then suddenly, this one spellbinding game comes around and almost all the commercials are either super-deep thinker-pieces, or funny as hell. According to superbowl-commercials.org (yep, there’s a website for everything), here are a couple big hits from 2014: NSA – Smile, We Know When You’re Not (youtube.com/watch?v=NcAEjvT-Ri8#t=97) A commercial like this can only happen during a Super Bowl. AXE – Make Love, Not War (youtube.com/watch?v=UIecNEIaPao) It makes sense during the Super Bowl, everything does. Oh man, then you’ve got the halftime show, which, let’s be honest, is pretty hit or miss. Some years it’s dull or you’re laughing all over the place. But some years, wow, the show knocks your socks off and typically delivers some controversy to boot! In case you’re wondering, the Billboard list of the Best Half-Time shows claims these are the top 3 so far: Prince, in 2007: â€Å"But the explosive coda was Purple Rain, which had the stadium full of testosterone-pumped football fanatics waving their arms and howling in falsetto.† U2, in 2002: This was the mega-heart-wrenching tribute to 9/11 set when the wound was still very deep and fresh for the nation. Madonna, 2012: This got some pretty mixed reviews. But that’s the beauty of it, there are winners and losers in every aspect of the game, even in terms of entertainment. Rivalries Are Fun True, it’s not so cool when these rivalries get out of hand and people riot after football games. But to be honest, sports rivalries are much safer than wars, battles, revolutions, civil upheaval, geopolitical struggles, and all the other sorts of violent ways people create to release some steam. The Super Bowl let’s people who love the game really beat up a few pillows, scream at TVs, throw controllers, pull out a little hair, tear a jersey or two, and stomp around like they’ve got the last of their savings account riding on the game. Great Success Stories We follow NFL for the whole year. We know the players and all about them what coffee they drink, how their girlfriends look like and their football career, of course. We know the strengths and weaknesses of each team. And one day here they are on the field. The struggle begins. Each move counts. Each moment can be decisive. One big winning or a big failure. Fans rage. Thats the atmosphere where the legends are born. These stories are remembered and passed from generation to generation. These stories inspire. So, each Super Bowl is legendary and cant be missed for anything on earth. And that’s why we love the Super Bowl! Are there any reasons you like Super Bowl that we didnt mention! Agree or disagree with us in the comments!

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

When Should I Take the ACT for the First Time

When Should I Take the ACT for the First Time SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you starting to ask yourself, When should I take the ACT for the first time?The answer to this is a little more complex thanthe question. There are several factors to consider here, so let's review them so you can make an informed decision. First, when do most students take the ACT for the first time? Typical ACT Schedule Many students take the ACT two or three times to try to improve and hit their target scores. They take it for the first time in the fall of junior year, again in the spring, and for the final time in the fall of senior year. This schedule is a solid plan for a lot of students and gives them a good balance between schoolwork, test prep, and college applications. Apart from the pros of this typical schedule, there are a few cons to consider. The first and foremost is that it limits your available test dates. While the ACT is offered 6times throughout the year, in September, October, December, February, April, and June, realistically you'll need time between each test sitting to prep effectively and see score improvements. Taking the ACT in the fall of junior year leaves most studentswith about three test dates to hit their target scores. This might be totally sufficient for some students, but others might benefit from having more chances to take the ACT. Having more test dates protects you if you have a fluke testing day and get sick or can't sleep the night before. Starting earlier so you have more test datesmight also take off some of the pressure, because you won't feel like you're running out of time to achieve your scores. Let's look closer at some reasons why many students step outside this typical test-taking schedule and sign up to take the ACT earlier than the fall of junior year. Why Would You Take the ACT Early? As I touched on briefly above, one major motivation for signing up your first ACT earlier than junior year is simply to give yourself more test dates, and thus more opportunities, to hit your target scores. More Test Dates Let's say you take the ACT in the fall of sophomore year. Your scores are okay, but you think you can make them even better. You have a sense of what you need to study to improve and focus your test prep on those sections or question types. Then you take it again in the spring of sophomore year. If you're still not satisfied, you still have a bunch more test dates to choose from and over a year to keep prepping. Just starting a year earlier could double your opportunities to take the ACT. This could help relieve stress and safeguard you in case anything unexpected comes up and interferes with testing day. Rather than pushing your test dates up against your college application deadlines, you can separate these two pursuits and give yourself more space to breathe and take your time. At the same time, you only want to sign up for and take the ACT if you've put in some test prep first. You want to study for at least 10 hours to familiarize yourself with the format, timing, and instructions of the test. However, in our experience, something like 100 hours of total study time is better to gain expertise and see a real improvement in your approach, understanding, and scores. If you're taking the ACT early, you also should prep early. While taking the real test is valuable experience, you also shouldn't take any real tests with absolutely zero preparation. In rare cases, a huge score change between your first and second test could alert ACT scorers and lead to them withholding or even canceling your scores. So moving your first ACT test date up a year or two should also coincide with moving your prep schedule up. Another reason you might take this approach is if you're "superscoring" the ACT and building up your scores one section at a time. You're Superscoring the ACT Many colleges superscore the ACT, or take your highest section scores across all test dates and recombine them into a new, highest composite score. Not a lot of students know that theycan actually use this policy to their advantage by "superscoring" their tests, just like the colleges. What I mean by superscoring your tests is that you can strategically build up your ACT superscore section by section. On one test date, for example, you could focus a lot of your prep and energy on getting a high Reading score. The next you could focus intensively on English, then on math, and then on science (or focus on two or three sections at a time). As long as your colleges take your highest section scores, and not your highest "sitting" score on one date, then you might get a high ACT score gradually, rather than all at once. Just as I mentioned above, you don't want to treat any test date or section as a "throwaway," because huge fluctuations could be a red flag to colleges or the ACT scorers. For the most part, you can choose which score reports to send to colleges, but some require that you send all your scores across all testing dates and expect you to be honest and comply with this policy. When designing your testing schedule, you want to be aware of your colleges' policy towards standardized tests and countit in as an important factor. If your collegesdon't require all scores, then really you could take the ACT as many times as you want (well, technically you can take it a maximum of 12 times). But I wouldn't suggest going past 6 times, as it could start to be a waste of time and money. Plus if you're finding yourself dissatisfied with your scores over and over, you probably should rethink your test prep strategy and figure out how to make it more productive and effective. Besides being strategic about raising your ACT scores, you might also want to take the ACT earlier just to gain valuable real test experience. Real Test Experience While timing yourself and taking practice tests (and analyzing your results) is a key part of test prep, no practice test can truly mimic the experience of sitting for the official ACT. You might want to sign up for the test just to get this valuable experience, so you know exactly what to bring, when to arrive, and what snacks will boost your energy during the breaks. If you're worried about all the other factors around taking the test, like logistics of getting to your testing center and how exactly to fill out and proofread your bubble sheet, then you might benefit from taking the official ACT. You'll learn how you handle the whole experience and be prepared to improve on any weaknesses for the next time. You might also be pleasantly surprised that you have the content knowledge and skills to do well on the ACT early on, like in freshman or sophomore year. Prepared for anything. You're Prepared Enough to Take the ACT Early While the ACT covers more advanced math than the SAT and has a science section, it does not require very advanced content knowledge that only upperclassmen have. Instead, you might be well prepared with the skills and knowledge in English, Reading, Math, and Science to do well on the ACT in your freshman or sophomore year. You might even surpass the content once you move into junior and senior year, like by taking pre-calculus or calculus, and have to look back and review concepts from past years, like algebra and geometry, that have gotten rusty. Prepping early could be beneficial both for reinforcing class concepts in the context of the ACT and developing the study habits that will help you get good grades in school. You might have more time in freshman and sophomore year, before you're busy with college applications, AP classes, varsity sports, community service, or any of the other activities in which you get involved. If you're prepared with class and have the time, then putting in the effort to prep and take the ACT in 10th or even 9th grade might let you finish taking the ACT early and free up your time in junior and/or senior year. Finally, some students take the ACT even earlier, like in middle school, to qualify for special academic and talent programs. You're Competing in Talent Search Programs While the ACT is mainly a college entrance exam, some students take it earlier to qualify for talent competitions and academic programs. These programs includeBESTS at the University of Iowa, CTY at Johns Hopkins University, JBA at Truman State University, MATS at Northwestern University, and TIP at Duke University. All of these reasons described above are good ones for signing up for your first ACT earlier than the typical junior year test date. As I mentioned,there are also a few reasons to be cautious when answering the question, When should I take my first ACT? Why Might You Not Take the ACT Earlier? I touched on some reasons why you want to be careful about taking the ACT before you're ready and will elaborate on them in some more detail here. The main reason would simply be lack of preparation. While sitting for the real test is really helpful experience, it's not a good idea to go into the ACT with zero studying. Here's a more extreme case. I actually worked with a student who took the ACT just as a trial run. His scores weren't that great, so he studied for several months and then took it again. He did much better. So much better, in fact, that the ACT withheld his scores and made him go through a long process ofappeal that involved gathering letters from teachers and making a dozen phone calls to all different departments. In the end, the ACT never released his scores. This situation is very rare, but it can happen if the ACT sees a huge jump or senses inconsistencies in your test scores. Especially with recent security breaches around the ACT and SAT, these organizations carefully monitor any hint of foulplay. The moral of this story is that you don't want to take the ACT with absolutely no preparation just to see what it's like, becausethis could not only look strange to ACT, Inc, but could also just be a wasted opportunity to test. The other consideration is that some colleges want you to send all your scores from all test sittings. I would say taking the ACT up to 6 times is fair game, but any more than that might start to send the message that you're not putting in the effort to prep and have a hard time achieving your scores. To sum up, preparation is the name of the game with the ACT, so you want to find a balance between test prep and leaving yourself enough test dates to hit your target scores, line up the test with school, and design a productive schedule for you. Ask yourself these questions. Questions to Ask Yourself Along with asking, when should I take the ACT for the first time, you can ask yourself these key questions: Have I done some test prep? If you answer yes, then you can likely go ahead and register for the ACT. If no, then make some time to study before signing up. Even 10 hours of prep can make a big difference in familiarizing yourselfwith the test. What are my target scores? If you have defined your target scores, take a practice test and see how close you are to achieving them. If you are scoring much lower than your goals, then you might want to prep some more before signing up for your first ACT. How many test dates do I think I need to achieve my target scores? If you think you need more than two or three test dates to reach your target scores, or feel uneasy aboutthe idea of testing in the fall of senior year, then you probably should sign up to take the ACT as a sophomore. What are my colleges' policies regarding superscoring and sending score reports? If your colleges superscore your results, then this might be part of your testing strategy, as described above. If they want you to send all your score reports, then you might be more cautious in your approach. How can I fit test prep into my current and future schedule? If you are planning to take three AP courses junior year or are joining a varsity sports team, you might consider doing Future You a favor and prepping earlier rather than later, when you have more time and flexibility in your schedule. Once you've answered these questions, you should have a clearer sense of what prep and testing schedule work best for you. Rather than simply following the typical schedule, you should make sure you make a plan that works best with your schedule, classes, and personal goals. What's Next? Are you taking the ACT in 9th grade? What about in 10th grade? Read aboutwhat makes a good score for freshmen and sophomores on the ACT and how you can improve for next time. The best way to prepare for the ACT is with official practice questions. Download official ACT practice tests here. Time yourself, score your tests, and make sure you really analyze and understand your strengths and weaknesses. Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.