Chad's Story and When to take the ACT and Why? The 1-2-3 Plan.

Chad Cargill’s ACT Test Prep Podcast
Episode 1 – Chad’s Story and the 1-2-3 Plan

Chad’s Story

Chad comes from a simple home. He went to his mom's high school graduation, and his dad lugged boxes in a grocery warehouse for 30 years. His parents had not saved any money for college since it really wasn't expected. Chad's dad told him he would have to get a job and attend the local junior college.

During high school Chad knew he needed to win scholarships in order to attend Oklahoma State University. Chad's freshman year in high school, he discovered many scholarships were based on ACT scores, and the journey began.

He took the ACT a total of 18 times in high school raising his score 13 points from a 19 to a 32 which placed him in the scoring in the 99.5 percentile. This increase was simply due to him learning what was on the test and how to take it. Chad says, "The same people make the test every time. It’s the same opponent every time you play the game. They put the same things on every test. They just change the words and numbers.”

After graduating high school, Chad went back to his high school to tell some of the students what he learned taking the test those 18 times. When the results of those students' tests were very positive, the counselor asked if he would come back to tell more students. After a few cycles helping students at his alma-mater, other schools began hearing about the workshop.
Chad began giving workshops when he could get away from class. After graduation, Chad worked five years as an engineer for Lucent Technologies while giving workshops in the evenings and weekends. Now in his 28th year, Chad travels full-time across the country giving his workshop. Each year Chad speaks at high schools in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa. He has spoken to over 200,000 students and sold over 40,000 copies of his test prep book Chad Cargill’s ACT.

Chad lives in Choctaw, Oklahoma with his wife Shellie and their 8 kids Camden (20), Cayce (18), Clarity and Creed (both 11 from the Democratic Republic of Congo), Cai (10 from Uganda), Carli and Crosby (both 8 from Uganda), and Cat (6 months adopted as a frozen embryo).

The 1-2-3 Plan

-Students are limited to 12 ACT tests.

-If you can afford it, students should take all 12.

1 – Sophomore Year: Take one national ACT test your sophomore year. This should be either the December or April test. You can order the test questions, your answers, and the correct answers. Don’t study for this test. Give your best effort and see what happens.

2 – Junior Year: Take the December national ACT and either the April or June national ACT. Order the test both times. Start identifying weakness areas and practicing.

3 – Senior Year: Take the September, October, and December national ACTs. These first three test scores can be used on most scholarships since they will be before most scholarship deadlines.

-If you want to take an ACT your freshman year without actually paying for it and using one of your twelve tests, administer one by yourself or with a group of friends.

-I don’t recommend the Duke Talent Search 7th grade ACT.

You can download a recent national ACT test provided free of charge from ACT. Just Google search Preparing for the ACT Test pdf ACT .org. The scoring chart and correct answers are in the back of the booklet.

I’d love to connect with you and keep you posted on upcoming episodes and resources. For a free downloadable pdf What Scholarship Committees Look for and How to Win Them, go to scholarships.chadcargill.com, and get your guide now.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcast app. Leave a shout out for your high school, and I may read it on a future podcast. If you have questions, leave a comment here or on the Chad Cargill Workshops Facebook page.

To view the workshop calendar, go to calendar.chadcargill.com. You can also order the prep book Chad Cargill's ACT and sign up for speed reading at chadcargill.com. If you are interested in hosting a workshop at your high school, call our office at (405) 454-3233 or email penny@chadcargill.com.

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Twitter: @ChadCargill

Next week: Why you should never just take one section of the ACT.

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