Possibly the most important test Berlin High School students will take is the ACT. The ACT is crucial in college admissions, paying for college, and for determining the funding allocated to the school. It’s for these reasons that the ACT prep adviser, Matt Willett, is abandoning the old, faulty prep class, and instead opting for a new software: Magoosh.
“We got rid of something we had in the past that was not working or being utilized really well. This year we instead have 28 students that have volunteered to prep through a company called Magoosh,” Willett said.
Magoosh is a new software that fits better into student’s schedules and that has all types of tools to help students learn.
“They put forth a whole bunch of test questions, strategies, vignettes, even access to live human beings, all to answer questions for the students that have the account,” Willett said.
The effects of this new system are already being seen with students noticing improvements in learning the content of the ACT, as well as managing the timing and pressure of the exam.
“I think it’s positively benefiting everyone that’s taking it. It’s helping us with our time management and all of the stuff that’s going to most likely be on the ACT,” junior Ashley Dretske said.
Although a good resource, there are limitations to Magoosh. Due to Magoosh costing $40 per seat, there is only a certain number of students who can participate. This year the number was 28; most students signed up to participate, while others were approached by Willett.
“It happened to give us 28 seats for Magoosh. Then I opened it up for anybody that wanted to come down and sign up. After the sign ups, I started tapping some kids on the shoulder saying, ‘Hey, I think you take your study seriously. Would you ever be interested in improving your score?’” Willett said.
Along with the limited number of seats, there seems to be a common problem with the ACT prep course: finding time for it. Due to the meetings taking place during ELT on Wednesdays, many students feel as if the prep takes them away from their time to do other school work as well as engage in clubs.
“A major downside is having to go on most ELT’s because sometimes we need that time to work on our own school work,” junior Lilly Johnson said.
Due to it taking up student’s time, the people who are in the class truly want to improve, hoping the ACT can open doors for them in the future.
“Obviously, grades are really important to me, right? Because a better ACT score gets you in higher colleges, and gets you a better education. I think it’s easier to get accepted into places with a better ACT score,” Dretske said.
Weighing the pros and cons, Magoosh is still a relatively new and unproven software for Berlin’s students. Depending on its success, the allocated seats and the use of the platform could grow going into next year or be scrapped altogether.
“The junior class sample is really my feedback people. We can’t be afraid of the negative feedback either. I’m not looking for everything to be roses. I’m just looking for actual, honest feedback from it. I’ve been sampling around, but the students are the ones who try to fit it in their busy schedules and decide whether it’s worth it or not,” Willett said.
