How Ella went from a 22 to a 34 on the ACT

Ella started ACT prep with a 22 and finished with a 34, moving from the 69th percentile to the 99th. She and her mom talk about the extra half hour of homework every night, doing a session on vacation, and the call that cleared her on the pre-read at Williams College, where she is now committed for lacrosse.

Transcript

So I had 22 down. That was the starting score. Yeah, which I think makes the ending result, we're not going to give it away just yet, but what makes the ending result that much more impressive, because I know the amount of work it takes on your behalf to get from that starting point to where you ended up. As you started in on the actual process of working through the material, what was the biggest obstacle for you in that process?

I mean, for me it was a huge time commitment, because I already had all of my homework and I was doing drivers ed at the time. So spending an extra half an hour plus every night on ACT homework was just a huge extra load. But when the scores on practice tests started to improve, I was like, okay, I can keep pushing through the extra time. And I have a math science brain, but I could never score well in math tests. So that was really frustrating, and that was also reflected on the ACT.

And she was matched with fantastic... You know, being able for Donald to ask what kind of learner, what drives Ella. I think he was like, okay, I know just who the right matches are. And I think they're... wouldn't you say they're really good matches?

Were there challenges with it being a virtual program, since you guys are in Massachusetts and the team out here is in California?

Honestly, it was kind of helpful, because I even did a session on vacation. You know, without it being available, it was a time that I wouldn't have been able to just meet with someone, but it was the perfect time to just hop on my computer here and join the session.

As a mom, what was it like to watch your daughter go through this process?

I feel like Ella's always been... I'm always telling her that I feel like my job is to try and make sure that she's not doing too much. I have the fortune of not having to be the motivator. Let's get some help.

Because I'm not jumping any lists with a 22. I could just tell how smart Ian and Tiffany were, so I was just asking them questions about stuff. Yeah, so that boosted my confidence in the process.

For sure. Now tell me, what were the increases on the scores? So you started with that 22, then you see the practice test scores come in. What was that progression like? And then where did we eventually end up?

Well, the increases started off slow, I would say. Even on the homework tests, I would say it took maybe a month and a half to creep up to a 24, 26, 28. And it wasn't always consistent. Like I think maybe a couple of sessions, then I got a 30 on one math thing, and then I got straight 26s the next two sessions.

You hand over your academic life work in one email to a coach, who shows it to an admissions liaison, and they're like, well, does she have a shot at getting in or not? So having a good ACT score that's at or above the average ACT of the school was just really validating going into that.

Yeah, I mean, you come in with that 34 and you're well into the top 1% of everyone that takes the test, and now you're really standing out just as an academic applicant, and then as being an athlete on top of it, you really got something going for you. And then what happened when you applied to these colleges and heard back from them?

So on July 1st, I actually missed the call from my coach because I was at work, and then didn't respond to their text about it.

So Chris and I were like, have you heard from Ella? And we're like, what's going on? Like, don't leave me there. Okay.

Yeah, so I got in the car after work. I was cleared on the pre-read for Williams College. So now I'm committed to the admissions process for lacrosse.

Okay. So now we're going to Williams and going to play lacrosse. Well, that is very exciting. Thank you. Well earned, for sure. And I think it also sets a really good example for other students, how motivated you were during this process. I mean, it stood out to me that you said, one, you came to your parents and said, hey, I want to improve my score so I can stand out more in this recruiting. And then it really pops that you've now taken the test twice officially. You've gone through this prep program. A lot of kids would just go, okay, I'm done with this now. Or a parent might step in and say, let's give it one more chance. But I love that in this case it was you that just went and signed up on your own, and then said, yeah mom, I'm going to be busy Saturday because I'm taking this test.

It was actually the day of a lacrosse game too.

So it was like, oh wow.

Just letting you know I'm going to take it. You might want to call your coach and let her know. Yeah, so we didn't move a game and stuff because I was taking it. It was just kind of like, oh, I'm just going to have to do it again.

Ella has that drive, and I try to keep up as much as I can. And so I feel like Test Prep Gurus, you guys are just a very good match for that.

I felt challenged. And yeah, I think that you realized that right off the bat, like, okay, no, this is really good. And this is going to help me reach my goals.

Yeah, because I don't think Ella would have the patience if she felt like she wasn't going to be challenged, or if she wasn't watching her test scores start to go up. Yeah, no, it was a really exciting day when she finally reached that finish line.

And by the way, it also opened doors at Amherst College. Two schools.

And most of the NESCACs, but I chose... right.

So it was helpful across the board.

Yeah, at a lot of excellent schools. Well, and I also think it stands out as a really good example, because you clearly are a bright student that can bring a lot to these colleges as an athlete, but also as a student, right? And colleges want kids like that. And that score could have held you back. And I think it's just a good positive message for everybody, to go, okay, so you started at a 22, which was not representative of what you are capable of, clearly. And I really think now that we've moved away from looking at these tests as intelligence tests, and just as a test that measures this narrow bandwidth of information, but this narrow bandwidth happens to be very predictive of success in college, that should be inspiring to kids like you, where you go, oh, so if I put in the hard work, I can get where I want to go. I can move up from... I mean, you started in the 69th percentile and ended up in the 99th percentile, which is incredible, which is amazing. But I actually think the reason the tests are more predictive than ever is students like you who've realized they actually reward hard work, perseverance, grit, all the things that we want in a, or that a college wants in a student. And so it's just a really wonderful example of what is possible for a student when they're motivated, so just intrinsically motivated like you were, to get where they want to go. And I know it's going to be inspiring to a lot of other students. So thank you for that, Ella.

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