How to Study for the ACT®?

If you’re like most high school students, you’re probably dreading taking the ACT®. But don’t worry, there are ways to make studying for the ACT® a lot less painful.

The ACT® is an exam meant to assess what you’ve learned and the abilities you’ve developed throughout your academic journey.

You’ll be exposed to a lot of challenging material, and your ACT® score will significantly influence whether or not you get into the institution of your choosing.

As a result, you must understand how to study for the ACT® to achieve the highest possible score and open up potential educational prospects.

In this blog post, we’ll share our tips to study for the ACT® so that you can get the score you want. Keep reading to learn more!

Here are 15 tips you can utilize to get ready for your ACT® exam. These tips can help you make a study schedule and focus on the areas that need the most attention.

1. Take a Practice Test

By taking a prACT®ice exam, you’ll be able to identify where you’re failing and where you’ve already mastered the material.

For example, if you already know how to perform arithmetic, you don’t need to spend a lot of time studying it. Instead, when studying, you should devote most of your time to your weak areas. A prACT®ice exam can assist you in identifying your deficiencies.

2. List Your Weak Areas

Now that you’ve completed the prACT®ice exam, you’ll be able to identify your weak points and devise a strategy to address them thoroughly before the test.

First, make a list of your strengths and flaws on paper. If any areas on your poor list surprise you, you may need to devote even more attention to them now.

If you have previously attempted the ACT® and can pinpoint why you struggled in a topic you usually excel in, you can drastically improve your score after you address it. For example, if you felt you were good at arithmetic, but your prACT®ice test score was poor, you should consider what aspect of the ACT® math caused these problems.

3. Trade Lessons

Finding a study partner who is also preparing for the ACT® is one of the best things you can do to prepare for the test. You can work with a single buddy or join a group.

Take the time to share and discuss each other’s weak and strong points so that you may effectively support one another.

You should take turns giving classes and displaying issues that correspond to your strengths first, then try presenting problems that correspond to your weaker areas. Through this process, each group member will likely become a more well-rounded test taker, answering more questions correctly.

4. Create a Study Schedule

You’ve undoubtedly heard that you should make an ACT® study schedule, but here are some things to Actually consider.

Your study regimen should be simple to follow and reasonable. Is it a reasonable objective for you to construct a routine in which you study 4 hours every Saturday? Schedule your study time when you’ll be more productive and less likely to get sidetracked.

Set up 20-40 minutes daily to study a small exam component. You’ll recall more knowledge and be more inclined to keep to your timetable. Take a break every hour to stretch and concentrate during lengthier study periods.

5. Practice Your Speed

One of the most challenging obstacles students experience on test day is completing their ACT® sections within the time constraints. Ensure you’re familiar with the test day schedule and practicing within the time restriction.

It’s fine to take it slowly when you’re first learning or reviewing the material, but after that, you should be aware of how long each question takes you.

To get an idea of how long an average question should take, divide the number of questions in each section by the time limit.

6. Learn to Use Your Time

While some people are inherently quick test takers, not everyone is. For the rest, we must find out how to make the most of our time to achieve the greatest possible score.

You must strike a balance between the need to work attentively and the time constraints to succeed. Remember that there is such a thing as going too fast on your ACT®, so make sure you aren’t conditioning yourself to be irresponsible.

If you have time after the test, read through your answers again, double-check that you filled out the answer bubbles correctly, and retake some of the more difficult questions.

7. Find a Study Book or Online Resource

If you like, you can begin with a whole ACT® prep book or discover books primarily focused on your weaker areas. This method can occasionally save you money and time. It’s a good idea to go to a bookstore and review some of your alternatives. Look for clear explanations and high-quality prACT®ice questions that correspond to your practice exam.

8. Learn from the Instructions

To decrease stress on test day, ensure you understand the directions for your ACT® exam. Of course, you will have time to read them, but you don’t want to have to go back to the instructions page during the test.

These instructions may be found on the ACT® website. Believe it or not, learning the exam thoroughly will help you stay calm on test day, which can lead to higher scores.

9. Check Out the ACT® Official Website

The test-makers, Act.org, maintain a website that might be a valuable resource for students. Simply reading through the information there will acquaint you with the organization’s attitude, and you will likely uncover helpful suggestions and practice materials.

This is also where you will register for the ACT®, so be sure to check in early when selecting a test date.

In addition, both free and paid study material is available on the site that you may use in your study sessions.

8. Know the Sections

The ACT® test has four obligatory portions, followed by an optional essay section. In addition, you must complete the areas of English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science, which will take you roughly 2 hours and 55 minutes in total.

You’ll have time between parts to take a break and get up from your seat, so you’ll be at your testing location for a little longer than 3 hours.

Just to give you an idea, the English exam consists of 75 questions which take 45 minutes to finish, the Mathematics test of 60 questions can be completed in 60 minutes, and the Science and Reading tests of 40 questions can be completed in 35 minutes.

9. Learn to Read for Content Quickly

Accurate speed reading is tough to achieve, but if you practice reading fast for information, it will pay you big time on exam day. After all, even in the math or science parts of the exam, you must examine the question and come up with the solutions before making a decision.

The faster you can read (without missing anything), the more possibilities for a better score you’ll get. Before the test, make an effort to read a variety of magazines, articles, and books. You can practice your reading skills, so you’ll be able to read exam questions quickly and accurately.

10. Reverse Engineer the Questions

To answer more complicated questions correctly, you must first ensure that you grasp the questions well. Read the question and try to guess what the answer will be. Then go over the responses and see if any of them match yours.

This might help you organize your thoughts before being lured by poor response alternatives. If the options don’t match your response, go through each and reread the question. Check to see if anything sticks out. You want to disassemble and analyze the answers and questions.

This will assist you in determining the solution. Practicing this ability will prepare you much faster for the actual ACT®. You’ll see tendencies and patterns in ACT® type questions as you practice, which you may utilize to make better response choices.

11. Learn to ‘Guess’ Properly

Teachers have undoubtedly warned you that you shouldn’t guess on tests. This is not true while taking the ACT® because the exam does not include an extra penalty for incorrect answers. So, enhancing your guessing tactics is beneficial to answer more of the questions correctly.

Rather than guessing impatiently, try to eliminate one or two answers that seem incorrect to you. Simply removing one wrong answer choice per guess should increase your average accuracy from 25-33%, and on the ACT®, every correct answer counts.

12 Prep for the Big Day

You must ensure that you have prepared for every facet of your exam day. You’re bound to feel stressed, so continue to exercise and eat healthily in the days leading up to your exam.

The night before the test, get a decent night’s sleep and engage in calming Activities. If you’ve worked hard, try to trust yourself to perform your best because worrying won’t help you answer more questions correctly.

13. Be Prepared for the Day

Make sure you have everything you need on the day of the test. You should have a couple of pencils, good erasers, and an acceptable calculator. Check everything to ensure that your tools will function for you.

The arithmetic component may be performed without a calculator, but you want to give yourself every advantage possible on test day. Plan some enjoyable and relaxing Activities to commemorate the completion of your test.

If you’re taking the ACT® test, you want to make sure you give yourself the best chance to succeed. That means studying effectively and using every resource at your disposal. Here are 3 principles to follow that will help you ace the ACT®:

1. Individualize and Personalize Your Study Methods

The requirements and mindset of each individual are different. Nobody is exactly the same and neither should their study schedules be. Make sure your study strategy meets your own specific requirements.

2. Start Studying Early

Give yourself plenty of time to study for the test. Most students need only 3 months to prepare for the test, however, those who want to significantly improve their scores may need to extend this period to 6 months.

3. Don’t Waste Time

Utilize the time you have wisely. Even studying for 15 minutes every day for a month can significantly improve your chance of getting a good score.

Knowing the subject and preparing for each can help you get ready for the Actual test. Here are some of the subject-wise tips that can better help you get ready for the ACT® exam:

English: Punctuation and Grammar

The ACT® English portion assesses students’ comprehension of basic English norms, reasoning, word usage, language knowledge, and rhetoric abilities.

Learn and grasp all of the fundamentals of high school grammar, including sentence structure and construction, punctuation, and use. When answering a question in this area, always follow the rules and not what “sounds correct”.

Math: Pre/Basic Algebra

The Math portion is only possible to attempt by memorizing the essential formulae and understanding the basics of algebra. So keep reviewing and memorizing the formulae.

Practicing questions can help you identify your weak points and work on them. Make an effort to solve as many problems as possible.

Reading: Reading Strategically

This portion has 40 questions, which candidates must answer in 35 minutes. The questions are primarily based on the excerpts provided.

Try to read the questions first, followed by the passage. This will give you a clear image of what you need to search for to get the proper answer.

Examine your response thoroughly. You should pay extra attention to wrong answers or ones that need some guessing.

Science: Graphs and Charts

Specific scientific knowledge may not be examined in this section. However, brushing up on the ideas, concepts, and essentials of physics, chemistry, and biology is critical.

This section contains paragraphs in the form of Research Summaries, data representation, and opposing opinions. Try reading various scientific papers from publications to familiarize yourself with the language and facts.

If you were wondering how to study for the ACT®, hopefully, these ACT® study tips will be helpful as you prepare for this challenge. Studying for this exam takes a lot of hard work and devotion, but the return might be well worth it.

Don’t be disheartened, and remember that even if you fall short of your scoring targets, the ACT® does not define you or your college choice.

It is simply one component of your candidate profile, and there are several excellent universities for a wide variety of ACT® scores. So study diligently, and offer your best effort!