ACT
The ACT test is a curriculum-based education and career planning tool for high school students that assesses the mastery of college readiness standards.
The ACT contains four multiple-choice tests—English, mathematics, reading, and science—and an optional writing test. These tests are designed to measure skills that are most important for success in postsecondary education and that are acquired in secondary education. The purpose of the ACT test is to measure a high school student's readiness for college, and provide colleges with one common data point that can be used to compare all applicants.
The ACT test is a college admissions exam accepted by all four-year colleges and universities in the United States. It has four mandatory subject tests—English (45 minutes), Math (60 minutes), Reading (35 minutes), and Science (35 minutes)—and consists of 215 multiple-choice questions. Typically, students do not take the Writing test unless trying to meet specific requirements.
Meeting benchmark on the ACT predicts a 50% chance of achieving a B or higher or a 75% chance of achieving a C or higher in the corresponding college course.
Currently, there are 3 different ways a student may register for the ACT.
National ACT
State Assessment ACT
District ACT
National ACT Assessment
To take the ACT on a national test date (Saturdays), students must register online at act.org. After completing the account set up and the survey, students can choose a testing location, where to send scores, and pay for the test. Sign up for the ACT with no writing.
Scoring: When you take the ACT test, each of the subject tests will be scored individually, and then combined into an average score on a scale from 1 to 36. This score is based on the number of correct answers per section. There is NO penalty for wrong answers, so guessing is highly encouraged.
Most scores are available for online viewing within 2 weeks after each test date. You will need to check your online account if you have taken the national test. You can take the ACT test more than once and can select which scores are sent to colleges for review.
State Assessment
Juniors will take the ACT as part of the state assessment. There is no online registration required. Students will complete demographic information at school. There is no fee.
District Assessment
Students in grades 9 & 10 can sign up for the ACT at a reduced rate. The registration takes place at school with the school counselor and the ACT assessment coordinator.
Want to score higher?
The ACT is predictable; you can improve your score by taking it multiple times. Most students raise their score by taking the test a second time with no tutoring. If you want to improve after that, you probably need to study specific areas or get tutoring.
You should take the test in December when ACT allows test release at least once.
That’s because these are the only times you can order a copy of the test, your answers, and the answer key. This allows you to see exactly what you missed and where your weaknesses are. You have to specifically order this before the test or within 3 months afterward. The dates are usually June, December, and one other month. It’s listed on the website: click on “View Scores,” then “Current ACT fees and Services,” scroll to the bottom and click on “Test Information Release.” Follow the instructions there. Or search “Request a Copy of My Test.”
The directions are always the same. Don’t read them. If there’s a box at the top of the passage, however, read what’s in the box.
Answer all the questions. There’s no penalty for missing a question, so you should guess.
Answer the ones you know first. The questions are not ordered by difficulty, so some of the easier ones may be at the end. You don’t want to leave a question blank that you know the answer to, so don’t spend a lot of time on questions you don’t know and run out of time to answer the ones you do know.
If you know the answer, do the problem.
If you don’t know the answer at all, take a guess and color in a circle, but mark the question on your test booklet to come back to if you have time.
If you can eliminate one or two answer options, but you’re not sure of the answer, mark out the wrong answers on the test booklet, color in one of the remaining circles one the answer sheet, star the question on the booklet, and come back to it.
Come back to the starred questions first when you finish the section the first time through, because you’ve already done some work on those questions.
Watch out for coloring in the wrong answers. You may want to use your finger to keep track of which questions correspond with which line on the answer sheet. I strongly recommend you circle your answer choices on the test booklet so that if you ever get off track anf you have to redo some of your bubbled in answers, you won’t have to reread the questions: you’ll have the answers circled.
Choose the letter to use as your guessing letter and stick to it throughout the test whenever you guess.
Just Before the Test
Lay out all your supplies a day or two before the test. Make sure you have the following things:
Picture ID (National test dates only)
Your admission ticket (National test dates only)
A digital watch that works. Proctors do not always announce the timing and you can’t take your cell phone in.
Two or more #2 pencils with good erasers. Invest in a pink eraser that will erase quickly and cleanly. You don’t want to waste time trying to erase. (National test dates only)
A permitted calculator (check the website for what’s acceptable). Make sure the batteries work and bring a back-up calculator and batteries.
A snack. Really. It’s a long test and there’s a break. You need a high-protein food: peanut butter, boiled egg, string cheese, yogurt, nuts.
You might want a jacket. The room may be cold. And dress comfortably.
Some people think peppermint helps you think more clearly. It will at least help wake up before the test starts.
Make sure you know where the test center is located. Some colleges are hard to navigate and finding parking can be a problem. If you are out of town, make a test run the night before so you won’t be panicking the morning of the test.
Go to bed at a reasonable time the night before and don’t cram. It’s really best if you can get a good night’s sleep for the week before the test.
On the day of the test, check out your desk. If it’s wobbly, ask for another one. If you are under the vent and the air bothers you, ask for another seat. If there’s not enough light, tell the test official. You won’t be able to fix any of this after the test starts, so speak up now.
ACT Tutoring Can Help
The ACT tests specific skills, not necessarily knowledge acquired in school. For example, on the Science test, the students are not required to know specific facts about biology or the periodic table of elements or types of rocks. They DO have to know how to read charts and interpret data. So they can make great grades in science in school , but not do well on the ACT Science section. A good tutor can make sure they not only know how to read the charts, but she can also teach them ways to read them faster.
A good math tutor knows what specific math skills are tested. The students are mainly tested on algebra, geometry, and algebra 2. There will be 4 trig questions on the ACT, so if you spend the majority of your time reviewing higher math skills, you’ve wasted much of that time. A good math tutor will also teach the students that geometry pictures are to scale, and they can tear off the corner of the test for the right angle. A good English tutor can usually raise a student’s score with one or two sessions. English is the easiest score to raise. Many students think they should pick long, wordy or flowery answers. This is the opposite of what the ACT test-makers want. Statistically, the shortest answer is most often correct in the English section. A good tutor can explain when the short answer is a good choice.
The Reading section is probably the hardest section to improve quickly. If a student has not been a pleasure reader for several years, he or she has probably lost some speed and comprehension skills. But a good tutor can still help the students figure out how to move quickly with a tight time-limit and how to read the questions carefully. The phrasing of the questions is critical on the ACT. More than one answer can be a true statement; in fact, all four answers can be true, but only one of the answers correctly answers the question. So we have to teach the students to read the questions carefully. However, they do not have time to read the passage carefully, so we have to teach them how to move quickly through the passage and still know how to answer the questions.
The good ACT tutors know not only these tricks of the test, but the actual subject matter also. You can only increase a score so much by knowing these tricks. A one or two hour session can cover all these quirks of the test, but to make a substantial score increase, the student is going to have to be willing to buckle down to some serious tutoring and do the homework. A basic tutoring session for one subject on the ACT should cover at least 4 hours and involve homework, so that’s a total of 16 hours of tutoring for a possible composite score increase of 3 to 4 points. Sometimes it’s a much higher increase :) We strongly recommend tutoring for all four subjects. If a student receives tutoring on one subject and makes a 4 point increase in that subject, that still only nets one composite point, but they can usually increase more subjects with tutoring.
ACT Prep Resources
Baldwin’s ACT Prep Workshop
The 16-hour workshop is open to all students from all schools in the area. Students will not only review the subject matter, but will also learn ACT- specific test-taking strategies. The instructors will teach the different question types, and tips for dealing with tight time limits. Instructors are Shawn Baldwin (math and science) and Kelly King Walden (English and reading). Private tutoring sessions are also available. To register contact Kelly Walden at kellylogos@bellsouth.net.
On the ACT website there are many helpful resources that are advantageous for students: Available
Reviewing your test scores can help tremendously for further testing or career matching.
GCHS Study Sessions
GCHS provides a study session for each subject the week of each National ACT test, with the exception of the summer ACT dates. The dates and locations are posted throughout the school, posted on schoology, on the announcements, and emailed to parents and students.
Preparing for the ACT Test
ACT sends the school a set number of free publications of Preparing for the ACT Test to give out when students request. Provided in this packet are test-taking strategies, full-length practice ACT test, and other important information.
Learning Express Library
The Learning Express Library provides Complete Test Preparation. This tutorial will help you prepare for the ACT test. With interactive lessons and practice exercises, this tutorial reviews all the key concepts you need to know, while testing your knowledge along the way.
This skill-building eBook features 600 ACT® flashcards with definitions, sample sentences, synonyms, and a pronunciation key for each term. It’s the perfect companion to any ACT® study plan, and an ideal guide for self-study and review.
ACT® Word Games is a fun way to brush up on your vocabulary. Complete a series of challenging games and learn new words. This eBook includes more than 500 key test words and a variety of fun vocabulary-building activities, along with expert tips and strategies. ➢ Download eBook
ACT®: Power Practice will help you boost your ACT® score! This eBook contains four complete ACT® practice exams, detailed answer explanations, helpful study strategies, and essential tips for managing your study time as you prepare for the ACT®.
8 Tools Provided on www.actstudents.org to Help You Prepare for the ACT
Free Tools
Prepare for the ACT test
Download this booklet with helpful test information, a complete practice test, and a sample writing prompt.
ACT questions of the day
We post a new practice question taken from a retired ACT test every day in the ACT Profile www.actprofile.org
Sample test questions
Experience our test questions, see how they’re formatted, and test your knowledge with sets of questions for each subject.
Test tips
Read through our advice on how to do your best on the ACT.
Test descriptions
Get to know what’s covered on each of the four subject tests: English, mathematics, reading, and science.
Affordable Tools
The Official ACT Prep guide
This book walks you through the entire test experience, from registration through results, and includes three new full-length practice tests.
ACT Online Prep
Track your progress as you work through a library of lessons, practice questions, and a full-length practice test.
ACT Kaplan Prep live
All the benefits of ACT Online Prep, plus an interactive teaching experience from Kaplan Test Prep, including engaging instructions, live learning, recorded sessions for on-demand reviewing, and real questions and sample materials from previous ACT tests.