Five Tips on Taking the ACT

Do the easy stuff first. You will have to get familiar with the format of each section of the ACT so you can recognize passages and questions that are likely to give you trouble. We suggest you bypass "pockets of resistance," and go around those trouble spots rather than through them. It is a much better use of your time and energy to pick up all of the correct answers that you can early on, and then circle back to work on the tougher questions. You don't have to get all of the questions right to get a great ACT score. 

This strategy is both a time management and a stress reduction strategy. The idea is to make three or four passes through the test section, always being sure to work on the easiest of whatever material remains.

Manage the answer grid. You should be certain to avoid the common mistake of marking the answer to each question on your answer document as you finish the question. In other words, you should not go to your "bubble sheet" after each question. This is dangerous because you run an increased risk of marking your answer grid incorrectly and perhaps not catching your error until much later. It also wastes time because you have to find your place on the answer sheet and then find your place back in the test booklet. The amount of time that is spent marking each question is not great, but it adds up over the course of an entire test section and could cost you the opportunity to get a few more questions done correctly.

Instead, you should mark your answers in the test booklet and transfer your answers from the test booklet to the answer sheet in groups. Doing this after each passage on English, Reading, and Science Reasoning has the added benefit of helping you to clear your head between passages. This will make it easier to concentrate on the passage at hand rather than possibly still processing memories of the previous passage. On the Mathematics Test, you should fill in some "bubbles" on your answer sheet every two pages or so. On any of the sections, filling in bubbles can be a good activity to keep you busy when you simply need a break to clear your head.

There is a dangerous and dishonest strategy that we have heard of from some students. Apparently, some so-called ACT prep experts are telling students to put little pencil dots in the answer ovals on the answer sheet and then come back to fill them in completely later. Specifically, some students are taught to do this on the sections that they have trouble finishing on time. Then they are told to come back to the section later and fill in the ovals while they are supposed to be working on another section. The idea is dangerous because the directions for the ACT clearly state that a test taker is not to work on any other section than the one being timed by the proctor. This rule means that you may not go back to fill in the ovals that you marked with a dot. If you are tempted to cheat in this manner, remember that ACT will not hesitate to report confirmed instances of cheating to colleges and universities.

Use the test booklet. An ACT test booklet is meant to be used by one test taker only. Scratch paper is only available during the essay-writing section. Your score comes only from the answers that you mark on the answer sheet, so use your test booklet to do all note taking.

Be aware of time. You really don't want it to be a surprise when the proctor yells "Time!" on test day. The testing room may not have a clock, so you might consider wearing a watch to pace yourself.  Make sure all alarms and other noises are disabled or silenced so you don't disturb those around you. You should time yourself during a few of your practice exams so you get used to the process and your timepiece. We suggest that you use an analog (dial face) watch.

Don't second guess yourself. Your first instinct is usually right.