Be ACT Ready

1. Work questions out of order.

Spending too much time on the hardest problems means you may rush through the easiest. Instead of working questions in order, ask yourself whether a question is a Do Now, Later, or Never.

No need to agonize—this decision can be made very quickly:

• NOW: Does a question look okay? Do you know how to do it? Do it now
• LATER: Will this question take a long time to work? Leave it and come back to it later. Circle the question number for easy reference.
• NEVER: Know the topics that are your worst, and learn the signs that flash danger. Don’t waste time on questions you should never do. Instead, use more time to answer the Now and Later questions accurately.

2. Choose a “Letter of the Day.”

Just because you don’t work a question doesn’t mean you don’t answer it. There is no penalty for wrong answers on the ACT, so you should never leave any blanks on your answer sheet. When you guess on Never questions, pick your favorite two-letter combo of answers and stick with it. For example, always choose A/F or C/H. If you’re consistent, you’re more likely to pick up points.

3. Forget the right answer—find the wrong ones.

Multiple-choice tests offer one great advantage: They provide the correct answer right there on the page. ACT hides the correct answer behind wrong ones, but when you cross off just one or two wrong answers, the correct answer can become more obvious.

4. Tailor your strategy to each section of the ACT.

Check out our test-taking tips for each section of the ACT below.

(Source: https://www.princetonreview.com/college-advice/4-act-tips)

Read the sentence and the paragraph carefully. On the Reading test, the three stage method of previewing, reading and reviewing is useful. Pay more attention to the big ideas and not the minute details in the passage. Be aware of how the ideas connect and take notes as you read along so you can quickly find the answers.

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The ACT English Test contains 75 questions to be answered in 45 minutes.

• Be aware of the writing style used in each passage.
• Consider the elements of writing that are included in each underlined portion of the passage. Some questions will ask you to base your decision on some specific element of writing, such as the tone or emphasis the text should convey.
• Be aware of questions with no underlined portions—that means you will be asked about a section of the passage or about the passage as a whole.
• Examine each answer choice and determine how it differs from the others. Many of the questions in the test will involve more than one aspect of writing.
• Determine the best answer. Read and consider all of the answer choices before you choose the one that best responds to the question.

1. Remember the 4 C’s

• Good writing should be in complete sentences.
• Everything should be consistent.
• The meaning should be clear.
• The best answer, free of any errors, will be the most concise.

Even when you can’t figure out what type of error a question is really testing, apply the 4 C’s, and you’ll be able to eliminate answer choices.

2. Know what ACT Grammar Rules to Expect

You don’t need to memorize your grammar textbook to prep for the ACT. But it’s a smart move to review the most common grammar rules tested on the ACT English Test. You can expect to encounter grammar questions about the following topics (to name a few):

• subject-verb agreement
• pronoun agreement
• adjectives and adverbs
• comparisons and superlatives
• punctuation
• conjunctions

3. Let the Answers Help You

The answer choices are your clues to identifying what the question is really asking. Do any of the words or punctuation change? Pay attention to what changes versus what stays the same in the answers to figure out what the potential error is.

4. Trust Your Ear (But Double-Check)

Your ear is pretty reliable at raising the alarm for outright errors and clunky, awkward phrasing. Always verify what your ear is telling you by checking the answers to identify the topic and confirm there is no error. If something sounds off, investigate further, but remember to be careful for errors your ear won’t catch.

5. Cross Off Answers That Don’t Fix the Error

To go from good to great on the English test, you can’t just fix a question in your head and then find an answer that matches. Instead, after you’ve identified what’s wrong, eliminate all the choices that do not fix the error.

6. Don’t Change What Isn’t Broken

NO CHANGE is a legitimate answer choice. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that all questions have an error that you just can’t spot.

The ACT Reading Test contains 40 questions to be answered in 35 minutes. 

• Read the passage(s) carefully.
• Read and consider all of the answer choices before you choose the one that best responds to the question.
• Refer to the passage(s) when answering the questions.

   

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What’s on the ACT Reading Test?

There are four ACT reading passages of about 800 words each, always in this order:

1. prose fiction
2. social science
3. humanities
4. natural science

After each passage, you’ll answer 10 questions that test you on what was directly stated as well as what meanings were implied in the text.

How to Tackle the ACT Reading Test

Now that you know what to expect, here are six ACT reading strategies that will help you approach any passage:

1. Choose Your Own Adventure

On the ACT Reading Test, you only have 35 minutes to answer 40 questions. To earn your best possible reading score, you have to invest your time where it will do the most good. Always choose your own order, working first the passages that are easiest for you and leaving for last the most difficult. Learn more ACT strategies for working questions out of order.

2. Get Plenty of ACT Reading Practice

The best way to determine which categories you tend to ace is through repeated practice tests. Do you consistently do the best on social science? What types of questions do you find easy or difficult? Try some ACT reading practice or take a full-length ACT practice test.

3. Read the Questions First

Reading actively means knowing in advance what you’re going to read. So, before you start in on the passage, take a look at the questions. You’ll know what important details to look for, and you won’t waste time on details that never appear in a question.

4. Keep Moving

If you read something you don’t understand, do not reread it. Just keep going, and worry about it later only if you have to. Learn more about finding the right ACT pacing for you.

You will have 60 minutes to answer 60 multiple-choice questions based on “topics covered in typical high school classes.” For those of you who aren’t sure if you went to a typical high school, these questions break down into rather precise areas of knowledge.

The ACT Math Test usually breaks down into 6 questions types: pre-algebra, elementary algebra, and intermediate algebra questions; plane geometry and coordinate geometry questions; and some trigonometry questions.

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ACT Algebra

• 14 pre-algebra questions based on math terminology (integers, prime numbers, and so on), basic number theory (rules of zero, order of operations and so on), and manipulation of fractions and decimals
• 10 elementary algebra questions based on inequalities, linear equations, ratios, percentages, and averages
• 9 intermediate algebra questions based on exponents, roots, simultaneous equations, and quadratic equations

Total: 33 questions

ACT Geometry

• 14 plane geometry questions based on angles, lengths, triangles, quadrilaterals, circles, perimeter, area, and volume
• 9 coordinate geometry questions based on slope, distance, midpoint, parallel and perpendicular lines, points of intersection, and graphing

Total: 23 questions

ACT Trigonometry

• 4 questions based on basic sine, cosine, and tangent functions, trig identities, and graphing

Total: 4 questions

Not all standardized tests allow calculators. Fortunately, ACT does. Your calculator can help to save a ton of time on operations that are easy to mess up like multiplying decimals or working with big numbers. The place where you have to be really careful with your calculator, though, is on the easy ones. Be careful with negative numbers!

What kind of calculator should I bring?

TI-89, TI-92, and TI-Nspire CAS model calculators are not allowed on the ACT (among others). In the book ACT Premium Prep, the authors show you to how solve problems on the TI-83.

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If you don’t plan to use a TI-83 on the test, we recommend you make sure your calculator is acceptable for use on the test and that it can do the following:

• handle positive, negative, and fractional exponents
• use parentheses
• graph simple functions
• convert fractions to decimals and vice versa
• change a linear equation into y = mx + b

The ACT Science Test contains 40 questions to be answered in 35 minutes.

• Read the passage carefully.
• Refer to the scientific information in the passage when answering the question.
• Read and consider all of the answer choices before you choose the one that best responds to the question.
• Note conflicting viewpoints in some passages.

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1. Know What to Expect

ACT Science prep begins with understanding what's on the ACT Science test.

• Format:  40 multiple choice questions about 7 science passages
• Topics: biology, chemistry, physics, and the Earth/space sciences such as astronomy, geology, and meteorology

Most of the questions can be answered from the information presented in the passages or figures, but be prepared for 3-4 questions that require outside knowledge. You should be able to:

• Look up data and trends
• Make predictions
• Synthesize information

2. Understand the ACT Science Passage Types

All the science passages fall within 3 categories.

Types of ACT Science Passages

3. Order the Passages

ACT doesn’t present the passages in order of difficulty. But on every exam, some are easier than others, while some are truly tough. Scan the passages and tackle the one that looks easiest, first. You don’t want to spend too much time on the most difficult passages only to run out of time on questions you can answer more easily.

4. Decide if you will do questions Now, Later, or Never

Your goal with all the ACT science passages is to find the main point. You will spot the main point faster when those conclusions are presented in figures rather than in text. So, the easier the figures are to “read,” the faster you’ll crack the main point. 

The best passages to do Now have the most obvious patterns as well as a few other common characteristics. Look for small graphs, easy-to-spot trends, and short answers (especially answers with numbers and relationship words like “increase” or “decrease”).

5. Be Flexible

Always be prepared to adapt your order based on what you see, both in practice and on a real test. If you choose a passage that looked good and then find yourself struggling, leave it and find another.

6. Stumped? Guess and move on.

When you’re stumped, your first instinct may be to go back and read the passage or stare at the figure again, waiting for a flash of inspirational genius to suddenly make everything clear. Instead, use process of elimination to get rid of answers that can’t be right. Even if you can cross off only one answer, guess from what’s left and move on.