ACT is taken by millions of students each year who are looking to get a ticket to the favourite universities in the US and a few other countries. Therefore, in order to score well, the ACT preparation needs a detailed methodical study plan, a knowledge of preparation materials and section wise tips for studying.
Success in the ACT entrance exam is a function of how well you prepare for the exam. Scoring high is very important in the ACT as the score will determine whether you will get to study in the college of your choice or not. Therefore, it is important to consider all the factors and put in your best efforts to prepare for the ACT exam in a planned manner. So, stay with us till the end as we take you through how to prepare for ACT, along with some ACT prep tips!
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8 Key Steps for An Effective ACT Test Preparation Plan
To answer how to prepare for ACT exam, it is extremely essential to plan your study appropriately. Let us make you acquainted with 8 key steps as the best way to prepare for ACT:
Start The Preparation Well in Time
Don’t rush into taking the exam. Make sure that you do not book your ACT test date based on other people’s experiences. Rushing into the test and trying to study all the sections within a limited period can lead you to resort to cramming
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ACT is a test of your knowledge gained throughout your school years, so rushing won’t do any good. You can only ace the exam if your concepts and fundamentals are clear. After registering and picking a date for the ACT, give yourself enough time to prepare for the test. |
Pick a date at least three months prior to ensure that you get adequate time to study and revise the concepts.
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Begin with Understanding the ACT Exam Pattern & Syllabus
Before starting your preparation for the ACT exam, make sure that you know the test pattern and are acquainted with the complete syllabus.
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The ACT exam has two parts - a multiple-choice test under four sections and an optional writing exam. The multiple choice questions aim to assess the skills and abilities students have learned up till high school for 4 subjects - English, Mathematics, Reading and Science. |
It is imperative for students to understand the topics covered under each of the subjects well before taking the final exam. The Writing Exam is an optional exam which tests the student’s writing abilities.
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Take Practice Tests for ACT
Once you are acquainted with the format of the exam, the next step is to take ACT Practice Tests.
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Practising with official ACT practice tests is a great way of getting to know about the format of questions and the kind of passages that might be presented in the real exam. Make sure you get adequate practice before the exam day. By attempting the sample ACT tests, you will understand your strengths and areas of improvisation. |
The sample exam will also give you a preview of the kind of questions asked under each section. So, you can tweak your preparation according to that.
Set a Realistic ACT Target Score for Yourself
Setting a target score can help you stay focussed and devise a study plan for the ACT.
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Make sure that you set a realistic target based on the time you have for preparation. |
You should also consider the average cut-off scores of your favourite schools and colleges/universities to set a target for ACT score.
Prepare an in-Depth ACT Study Plan
Now that you know your strong and weak areas, the next step is to create a consistent study plan. It's best to spend a consistent number of hours every week preparing until you take the test to avoid needing to cram close to the test date.
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In order to determine how many hours you should prep each week, divide the total number of prep hours you think you need by the number of weeks until the test. Thus, if you need to study 80 hours and there are 12 weeks until the test, you should try to study around 6 hours and 40 minutes every week. |
A study plan will not only keep you on track, but it will also help you achieve your study goals at a faster pace. Your study plan should comprise the following details:
- Study hours to be put-in daily
- Prep classes to take
- Subjects to study first
- Intervals and dates to take the practice tests
- Use The Best Preparation Material for Your ACT preparation
Suggested: Check Out the Free ACT Prep Resources!
Don’t Forget to Refer to Your School Notes for Basics
The ACT test is based on high-school knowledge you have gained along your schooling years. Therefore, make sure to refer to your old school notes. Your old school notes will help you revise the concepts quickly and speed up your ACT preparation journey. So, make sure to go back to the notes instead of relearning from other sources.
Time Yourself Under Exam Conditions
Last but definitely not the least, once you are confident enough of the preparation, take an ACT sample paper under exam conditions. Try to complete at least 2 full ACT Sample papers before the exam day. Taking the exam in such a way will not only test your knowledge but also prepare you mentally.
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How Long Does it Take to Prepare for the ACT?
Students willing to study abroad usually start preparing for ACT before a year itself. On the other hand, in order to prepare for ACT test, a time of 3 months is more than enough, as observed by experts!
How to Prepare for the ACT Exam Section Wise?
Now that we have understood the step-wise method of ACT preparation plan, next we will discuss the strategy for subject wise preparation. Each section under the ACT exam, targets a set of subject specific skills, therefore the strategy for each subject needs to be different.
ACT English Section
The English section of the ACT consists of 75 multiple choice questions. These questions are based on passages and a candidate needs to complete them in under 45 minutes.
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The English section in ACT broadly tests the student’s understanding of the basic rules of English, logic, word usage, knowledge of language, and rhetoric skills. |
6 Potent Tips for ACT English Section Preparation
Given below are 6 tips that will help you prepare for this section effectively:
- Learn the Basic Grammar Rules: Learn and understand all the basic high school level grammar including sentence structure and formation, punctuation and usage. When attempting a question under the section, always follow the rules and not what you think “sounds right.”
- Get into the habit of reading ‘Thoroughly’: Practice reading the passages and sentences completely. The questions in this section are based on the passages, therefore, it is important that you get into the habit of reading thoroughly.
- Practice With Official ACT Tests: Acquaint yourself with the kind of questions asked by taking an ACT practice test. This will help you understand the style of the questions better so you aren’t in for any surprises on the exam day.
- Review and Analyse Your Answers Carefully: Practice questions regularly and analyze each of your answers very carefully. Most sample papers will provide an answer key with the questions. Make sure you analyse every incorrect answer to understand where you are lagging.
- Time Yourself Before the Exam: Attempting 75 questions under 45 minutes means you have around 30 seconds to answer each question. Make sure while you sit down to practice, you always have a stopwatch by your side.
- Do Not Rush Through Or Take This Section Lightly: The English section can be one of the highest scoring sections for students. Therefore, do not rush through its preparation. Revise important concepts and practice. Remember high scores in this section can impact your overall average score.
ACT Math Section
The ACT Math Section contains 60 questions that need to be answered within 60 minutes. These questions are asked in a multiple-choice question format and each question has 5 options.
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The math section of the ACT tests the mathematical skills of students. These skills are typically of the high school level and include all major categories such as Algebra, Geometry, probability, statistics, etc. |
6 Potent Tips for the ACT Math Section Preparation
The ACT Math preparation tips below can help you improve your performance:
- Learn the Basic Mathematical Formulas: Without memorising the important formulas, the Math section is impossible to attempt. Memorise the formulas by heart and keep revising.
- Practice With Official ACT Tests: The official ACT Math test can help you get familiarized with the style of questions under this section. Once you know the format of these questions you can prepare accordingly.
- Lay extra emphasis on your weaker areas: Practising questions can help you identify weaker areas and work on improving them. Make sure you practice solving as many problems as possible.
- Perfect your time management: You will have under one minute to solve each question So, make sure you time yourself according to that and work on your speed.
- Learn Important Tricks and Shortcuts for calculations: Learning tricks and formulas for solving certain problems can help you solve the problems faster. This will free up time for more complex questions.
- Focus on Solving the problem: Try not to work your way backwards i.e. checking the answers first and then attempting to solve the problem. This may waste a lot of your time.
ACT Reading Section
This section has 40 questions and the applicants are required to answer them in 35 minutes. The questions are mostly based on the given passages.
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The ACT reading section assesses the student's ability to read closely, reason logically about texts using evidence, and integrate information from multiple sources. |
6 Potent Tips for the ACT Reading Section Preparation
Here are some tips that will help you increasing your efficiency while preparing for this section:
- Practice With Official ACT Tests: Take an ACT reading practice test. This will help you get acquainted with the style of questions.
- Carefully Review and Analyze Your Answers: Analyse your answer carefully. You need to pay special attention to the incorrect answers or the answers that involve some kind of guesswork.
- Inculcate the habit of reading mindfully: While preparing for the section, make sure you read mindfully. While reading, be conscious of relationships between or among ideas. You may take note of important ideas in the passages.
- Watch Out For the Clock: Attempting 40 questions under 35 minutes can be challenging especially if the passages are difficult. Make sure you always practice with an eye on the watch.
- Start by reading questions first: Try to read the questions first and then go on to read the passage. This would provide a clear picture of what you need to look for the correct answer.
- Refer to the Passage while choosing the answer: If you are confused between the options, it is always better to refer to the passages. Don’t hesitate in going back to analysing the important parts again.
Suggested: ACT Reading Guide
ACT Science Section
In this section, students are required to answer 40 questions based on scientific passage in 35 minutes. The science questions are based on scientific scenarios presented to the student.
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The ACT science section measures the interpretation, analysis, evaluation, reasoning, and problem-solving skills required for natural sciences. |
6 Potent Tips for the ACT Science Section Preparation
These are some of the very important tips that will help you during the Science section preparation:
- Understand the Basic Concepts in Science: Specific knowledge of science may not be tested under this section. But brushing up on the basics, concepts, and fundamentals of physics, chemistry, and biology is very essential.
- Get Acquainted With Scientific studies and data: The passages in this section are provided in the form of Research Summaries, data representation and conflicting viewpoints. To get acquainted with the language and data , try to read some scientific studies from journals.
- Identify Your Weak Areas: By trying multiple practice questions you would be able to identify your weak areas. Focus on improving on these in your time before the exam day.
- Reading & Examining Information Carefully Is of Utmost Importance: The scientific information is presented to you in the form of text, tables, graphs, or figures. Read and examine them very carefully and understand the relationship between the different variables.
- Timing Yourself is Very Important: Since the time is limited, it is important that you practice questions with a timer. This will prove a big help on your final exam.
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How to Prepare for the ACT Writing Exam?
This is the optional section of the ACT exam where students are asked to write an essay on a given prompt in 40 minutes.
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The aim of the writing test is to assess the ability of the candidate to assimilate different lines of reasoning along with testing their skill of writing a compelling essay. |
Suggested: Know about the ACT Writing Syllabus
6 Potent Tips for the ACT Writing Test Preparation
Here are some tips that will help you perform better in your ACT writing exam:
- Read & Understand the Perspectives Carefully in Everyday Life: Everyday life presents us with a number of debatable scenarios. Read analytical pieces, participate in discussions and watch TV/News debates to help you think carefully about other perspectives in relation to your own.
- Take an ACT Writing Practice Test: This will give you a sense of how and what kind of opposing perspectives you would be offered in the real exam. Reading and considering the sample prompt material will help understand the issue, the different perspectives on the issue, and your essay task.
- Practice, practice and practice: Practice writing on different themes and meant for different audiences. This will help you polish your expression, flow of language and ability to organize ideas.
- Plan Your Essay Well: Based on the prompt, spend time structuring or outlining your essay. This will help you define the flow of the essay. The outline should focus on making your argument and its main ideas clear.
- Focus on Clarity of Thought: For your essay to be effective, make sure that ideas are laid out well. You don't need to use fancy words, just focus on communicating the idea effectively. You can supplement the ideas with meaningful examples and sound reasoning.
- Time Yourself: You are provided with only 40 minutes to complete the essay. Make sure when practising it at home, you follow the deadline.
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Tips for ACT Exam Preparation
Before we wrap up this preparation guide, here are a few quick last minute ACT preparation tips. These will come handy a few days or hours preceding the exam:
- Revise important concepts for different sections especially pertaining to Math and English Grammar.
- Focus on working on your weak areas and fixing mistakes.
- Take at least one full length ACT exam a week before the exam. This will help you prepare mentally for this long exam.
- Pay attention towards timing yourself and getting it right.
- Do not attempt to learn new concepts right before the exam. This will put extra pressure on you that can negatively impact your performance.
- Take adequate rest and eat well, the night before the exam.
- Keep Calm right before taking the exam.
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A dedicated and focussed ACT preparation will help you score well and land you the college of your choice. Therefore, make sure you prepare for the exam with all your heart. Take it up as a learning experience and enjoy the process. For even further information on how to prepare for ACT test, you can even connect with our Yocket Counsellors!
