By this point in your life, you have probably heard about the ACT. The standardized test that everyone advises you to take during your junior or senior year of high school. The one that everyone seems to dread unless they thrive on fast-paced, strategic activities. The one that has existed for over 50 years and quickly become synonymous with the college admissions process. Yes, that ACT.
English -
In this article, I will provide you with various tips and strategies to hopefully make your testing experience less stressful. To start, I’ll go ahead and talk in detail about the ACT’s first section - English. It focuses on a person’s basic knowledge of the English language, but more specifically, on punctuation, grammar, various syntax rules, and the ability to organize ideas within a given essay. Now, before you begin stressing over where you put commas and how to create subject-verb agreement, let me just tell you about some of the ACT’s general preferences when it comes to their English section.
First of all, they like to keep the correct answer choices in active voice rather than passive voice. Active voice is simply putting the subject before the action that it is being performed. For example, “I walked my dog” is a more ACT-friendly option than “my dog was walked by me.” Once you become familiar with active voice and can differentiate between the two, you will notice how much shorter and to the point your sentences are. This directly links to another ACT preference, which is that all correct answer choices must be clear and concise. No wordy answer is going to get you the point. Choose the answer option that clearly replaces or reshapes the sentence and leaves out any extra detail or, as I like to call it, fluff.
Answer options that include additional fluff also run the risk of sounding redundant. This is another rule that the ACT firmly stands by. If something is restated in the same sentence, avoid that answer choice and move on. Finally, be sure to read the whole sentence that the ACT English section is asking you to modify. That’s when a general knowledge of subject-verb agreement and comma placement comes in handy. Before taking the real test, make note of the grammar and syntax rules that you are unsure of. That way, you can brush up on those topics until you feel confident enough in your ability to recognize them. Also, keep the time limit in mind while you are testing. You have 45 minutes to answer 75 questions, so pace yourself.
Math -
Next is the math section. On test day, you will have 60 minutes to answer 60 questions, allowing you a minute per question. This should serve as a little relief since, in comparison, the English section only offers about 36 seconds. However, this extra bit of time goes by fast if you’re not quick at deciphering math problems or setting up appropriate equations. In this case, I would recommend that you approach it in the same way that you would approach any other test - by becoming familiar with the areas that you don’t know. Just to make it easier for you, I’ll list out the different subject areas that you will likely be tested on.
The first mathematical subject deals with algebra. Within that, questions that involve integers, order of operations, fractions, decimals, inequalities, percentages, exponents, and quadratic equations. The second subject area relates to geometry, this including angle measurements, area, perimeter, circles, quadrilaterals, slope, midpoint, and distance. The last subject matter tests you on your ability to solve trigonometric equations. These problems cover everything from trig identities to sine, cosine, and tangent functions. Now, I know this all sounds overwhelming, but giving yourself the time to review each of these mathematical concepts will ultimately prove helpful come test day.
One useful tidbit about the ACT Math section is that the first 30-40 questions are generally more basic and straightforward. The remaining chuck represents the test content’s shift into higher levels of math. In other words, concepts that will test your college level readiness. Because of this, I would suggest spending the bulk of your time making sure that you get as many basic questions right as possible. It is easy to make a problem more complicated than it actually is when you’re in a time crunch, so to avoid that, start with the ones that feel easy. Once you feel confident about those, the rest depend on your ability to think quickly and strategically. Just remember, there is no penalty for guessing. If you find yourself running out of time towards the end, make an educated guess and move on.
Reading -
After completing the first two sections of the ACT and receiving a short, 10-15 minute break, you then progress to the reading section. This portion of the test measures your ability to read closely, draw conclusions, and analyze the different claims, word choices, and main ideas of a given text. However, this “reading” test is hardly a reading test at all. With only 40 minutes to answer 35 questions, it is clear that the ACT’s main goal in administering this test is to evaluate how well you can interpret information and think logically under stressful circumstances. As intimidating as that sounds, it can be achieved.
The thing to take note of is that the reading section is composed of four different passages, each one appearing in the same order every time. The first one is a Literary Narrative. This could be anything from a short story to a memoir. Then, there’s the Social Science passage, which is typically an informational essay on topics like political science, economics, business, anthropology, history, environmentalism, or sociology. It’s followed by the Humanities passage, which includes a piece of nonfiction relating to art, dance, ethics, music, philosophy, or architecture. The final passage refers to Natural Science and touches on subjects like anatomy, biology, physics, technology, astronomy, chemistry, or geology. Ultimately, because you only have 40 minutes to complete this test, it makes sense that you would allocate 10 minutes for each passage and its subsequent multiple-choice questions. Your strategy for completing this section, however, depends solely on the method that works for you.
Some people opt to read the full passage before addressing the questions. Others prefer to approach the questions first and then look for the answers while skimming the passage. Whichever method you choose, the best advice I can give you is to practice. Find the strategy that works for you based on your own personal experience and try it out multiple times. At the end of the day, whether you choose to skim the passage or read it in full, the important thing is that you pay close attention to what the question is asking you. Understand the difference between a main idea and a detail and become comfortable with making generalizations and analyzing an author’s purpose in writing the essay. These are all definitive questions that you will be asked in the ACT Reading section.
Science -
Eventually, after two and a half hours of testing, you get to the last part of the ACT - the science section. Like the reading, this portion of the test focuses on your ability to interpret information and draw conclusions. Although you will not be required to know complex, scientific concepts, you will need to be familiar with graphs and tables. In fact, learning how to accurately analyze graphs is a valuable skill for both the science and the math section of the ACT. These visuals will show up in two out of the three different passage types that you are presented with, which amounts to more than half of the entire section.
The first passage type is associated with data representation. More than that, it measures your ability to relay factual information and evaluate the relationship between various graphs. The second passage type pertains to research summaries and will test you on your understanding of experiments’ designs and executions. The third type, the conflicting viewpoints passage, is the last and most time consuming set. This is due to the fact that it presents you with a couple of short essays and requires you to point out the authors’ differing theories and viewpoints. Since you only have 35 minutes to answer a total of 40 questions, there really isn’t a whole lot of time to read closely. Because of that, I would recommend leaving this passage type for the end. That way, you get the shorter, more basic data questions knocked out in the beginning and can focus the rest of your time on understanding the essays’ content. Typically, you will only be faced with one conflicting viewpoint passage per test, so no need to worry too much about allocating time for it.
Of course, by the time you finish taking the first three sections of the ACT, the last thing you want to do is examine more information. Trust me, I know. What I would recommend doing is practicing as much as you can with the science section. Make sure that you can read a table or chart, that you can analyze graphs, and that you can decipher the different hypotheses and ideas within a scientific essay. Also, keeping in mind that you will be completely exhausted and sick of testing by the time you get there will better prepare you for the real thing. In general, people do well on the science section by itself, but once you place it at the end of a multi-hour timed test, scores tend to suffer. Do not let fatigue prevent you from conquering the science section.
Ultimately, it’s important to remember that, despite its challenging characteristics, the ACT can be conquered. However, it is even more important to note that you shouldn’t base your whole self-worth on getting a perfect score. An old, standardized test that prioritizes speed and strategy over actual knowledge is not worth more than your sanity.
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