ACT Test
Preparation
Test Preparation
Practice Makes Perfect: Students should take numerous
practice tests!
Utilize your resources: Take a test prep course!
Go to www.act.org
Test Preparation from ACT
Test Preparation
Test Preparation
Average ACT score-
BYU- 29.5
Utah State- 24 National Average = 20.8
Southern Utah University- 24
Dixie State- 21
University of Utah- 25
Utah Valley University- 22
Test Preparation
Test Preparation
Test Preparation
Class Placement- English and Math
How to Register
1. Log on to www.actstudent.org
2. Click on “Registration” tab at the top of the page
3. Click on “Online Registration”
https://services.actstudent.org/OA_HTML/actibeCAcdLogin.jsp You
will need to create an account if you haven’t taken the ACT before.
4. ACT No Writing = $38.00 ACT Plus Writing = $54.50
BE MINDFUL OF THE REGISTRATION DEADLINES!
Basic Strategies
Day of the Test
• Take the day before the exam off – do not study
• Get a good night’s sleep on at least the 2 days prior to
the test
• At breakfast students should review 1 or 2 questions in
each section of the test.
• Eat a balance of protein and carbohydrates that will
maintain your energy level for 4 hours
• Don’t do anything different than your normal routine. If
you get up and work out every morning…do that..
Page 12
ACT English Information
75 multiple choice questions; 45 minutes , 36 seconds per
question
Question given in conjunction with a passage
Focus is on: Sentence Structure, Grammar and Usage,
Punctuation, Rhetorical Skills
ACT Math Information
60 multiple choice questions; 60 minutes
1 minute per question!
Focus is on: Algebra I and II, Arithmetic, Geometry,
Trigonometry
7th-11th grade math
Challenge: Wording in the questions, not the math itself
Only four Trigonometry problems: 2 can be done without
having even learned Trig!
ACT Math Strategies
Know how to estimate- this will improve your efficiency and
score!
Learn how to use a calculator – graphing functions and
matrix problems
Be sure to eliminate the wrong answers
Follow your personal order of difficulty – start with
your easiest section
Read the question carefully – they predict where students will
misread the question– you can count on that answer as being one of
your choices – they do this to trap students
ACT Reading Information
40 multiple choice questions; 35 minutes, less than 1 min to
answer each question
4 types of passages you will encounter on the ACT:
1. Prose Fiction: Most interesting to read, but often the hardest
questions! Most time-consuming!
2. Social Sciences: Politics, history
3. Humanities: Arts, culture
4. Natural Science: biology, ecology
ACT Science Information
Basic understanding of the scientific method will
help you
Not much science knowledge is needed – it is more about
deductive reasoning
Read and understand charts and graphs
Science Strategy: Opposites – when you encounter 2 answer
choices that are direct opposites, one will almost always be the correct
answer.
Basic Strategies
Practice Makes Perfect
Students should take numerous practice tests!
Students should not under any circumstances
take the tests for the first time when it counts
towards their admissions!
By taking several practice exams students will
• Increase their confidence & decrease test
anxiety by becoming familiar with the test
• Increase their overall speed and accuracy
Page 18
Basic Strategies
Study Practice Test Results
Too often we see students take one practice
test, receive a score, and do nothing with that
information.
Our practice test score reports give students a
detailed breakdown of their results, not just
their score in each section.
Take a practice test & dive deeply into the
specific sections that you need to improve
upon. Page 19
Basic Strategies
Study The ACT
• Study simple facts about the test
• Number of sections & what they are
• Specific material covered in each section
• Number of questions asked
• How much time do you have on each section &
question?
• Are the questions arranged from easy to hard or are
they mixed?
Page 20
Order of Difficulty and the Math Test
Order of Difficulty and the Math Test
Knowing the order of difficulty will help you shape your approach to the test. ACT
claims that the Math Test is ordered roughly by increasing difficulty. We want to
emphasize the adverb “roughly” so you will not be surprised to find an easy question
near the end of the test or a difficult one near the beginning.
You should pace yourself according to the knowledge that an early problem on the
test will be easier than a problem late in the test. With 60 minutes to solve 60
problems, you might be thinking that you should allot a minute for each problem. But
easy problems should take you less than a minute to solve, while solving a difficult
problem can be time-consuming. If you find yourself spending too much time on a
problem early in the test, skip it and come back to it later.
That said, you should not rush through the early problems on the test to save time for
the problems near the end. Remember that all questions on the ACT are worth the
same to the scoring machine, so you should set a pace that allows you to answer the
early problems carefully without sacrificing speed
There appears to be added difficulty on the latter two passages, but much
of that is an artifact of time limitations.
Basic ACT Strategies
Answer Every Question
• There is no penalty for wrong answers on the
ACT
• Pick a letter of the day and use that letter
every time you guess
AAAAAA
Not
ABACDEA
Page 26
Basic Strategies
Use P.O.E.
Process of Elimination
• Get in the habit of placing a line through the
answers you know are wrong in the test booklet
NEXT Let’s review a sample problem to
demonstrate P.O.E.
Page 27
ACT Guessing Strategies
Strategy #1: Always Try to Eliminate Answer Choices Before Guessing
The number one rule of guessing is...try to minimize guessing. The first
thing you should do when you come across a question that (at least
partially) stumps you is to use process of elimination on the answer
choices. The more choices you can cross off, the better your chances at
answering correctly.
Don’t guess blindly just because you think you don’t know the answer after
reading a question. Read all the answer choices - sometimes a question
that seems difficult will be less so after you review the options you are
given. When it comes down to it, the ACT only tests basic academic skills.
Even if a question appears to ask about an unfamiliar subject, you might be
able to use simple logic to find the answer.
Even if you can only find one answer choice that is clearly incorrect, you
have a better shot at guessing correctly from the remaining three choices.
Page 28
General Strategy: POE
Eliminate what you know is wrong.
What is the capital of Malawi?
Does anyone know the answer to this question?
Page 29
Process of Elimination
Eliminate what you know is wrong.
What is the capital of Malawi?
a) London
b) Tokyo
c) Paris
d) Washington D.C.
e) Lilongwe
Did you know what the right answer was?
Page 30
ACT Guessing Strategies
Strategy #2: Pick One "Guessing Letter" Before the Test
What if you really, really can’t eliminate any answers? On these
questions it is best to pick the same letter answer choice every
time. You have a better likelihood of getting some questions right by
guessing the same letter every time than by skipping around.
Why? For a couple of reasons. It saves you time and it ensures a
random guess. If you have already decided you're going to pick a
certain letter regardless of the question, you can preserve
randomness and count on the law of averages to give you one
question correct out of every four guesses.
Page 31
ACT Guessing Strategies
Strategy #3: Move On and Guess Later
Many students make the mistake of lingering on questions they don’t know,
causing them to lose time that would be better spent on easier questions. If
you really don’t know which answer is better, don’t waste your time
dwelling on the question.
What's considered "wasting your time"? The ACT has pretty narrow time
constraints for each section.
For Math, you get a minute on average for each question. If you haven't
figured out a strategy to answer a question in the first 30 seconds of looking
at it, move on to the next one.
For English, you get around 30 seconds to answer each question, so you
should be able to figure out a strategy within the first 10 seconds or you
need to skip it.
Reading and Science each give you around 50 seconds to answer each
question, so for those sections 20 seconds or less is a good rule of thumb
Page 32
Basic Strategies
ACT Triage
•Work on the easy/quick questions first
Be sure to know your POOD:
Personal Order of Difficulty
Page 33
Personal Oder of Difficulty OR
(POOD)
Time is your nemesis so consider the level of question difficulty for each
passage. Choose the passage that you are most comfortable with first.
Read THAT passage then think about NOW, LATER, and LOTD.
• Consider whether the question looks easy. Can you answer it NOW? If
so do it.
• If the question looks difficult, leave it and come back to it LATER.
• If the question is impossible, NEVER waste your time struggling for
longer than one minute on one question. Instead…
• Choose the Letter of the Day or (LOTD) for NEVER questions. Be
strategic. Always choose the same answer for LOTD questions.
Most common answer on the
ACT? Guess C?
Basic Strategies
Use a Watch
• Timing and Pacing are the most difficult
aspects of the test because students are not
used to dealing with time constraints.
• Wearing a watch will helps keep your pacing
goals and tell you if you are spending too
much time on one section or passage.
Page 36
Traps to Avoid When Taking the ACT
Losing concentration: When you’re in the middle of an excruciatingly
boring reading passage, the worst thing you can do is let your mind drift off to
a more pleasant time. Although visualization (picturing yourself doing
something relaxing or fun) is a good stress-reduction technique to practice
before the exam, it stinks when it comes to helping your ACT score during
the test. Even if you have to pinch yourself to keep from falling asleep or
flaking out, stay focused
Panicking over time: Every section on the ACT begins with directions and a
line that tells you how many questions are in the section and, therefore, how
many minutes you have per question. The ACT is no big mystery. You can
waste a lot of time and drive yourself crazy if you keep flipping pages and
counting how many more questions you have to do. You can do what you
can do; that’s all. Looking ahead and panicking are counterproductive and
waste time.
Traps to Avoid When Taking the ACT
Messing up numbering on the answer grid: Suppose that you decide to
postpone doing Question 11, hoping that inspiration will strike later. But
now you accidentally put the answer to Question 12 in the blank for
Question 11 . . . and mess up all the numbers from that point on. After you
answer Question 40, you suddenly realize that you just filled in bubble
number 39 and have one bubble left — aaargh! It’s easy to say, “Don’t
panic,” but chances are your blood pressure will go sky-high, especially
when you eyeball the clock and see that only one minute remains. If you
have a good eraser with you (and you should), the wrong answers on the
answer grid should take only a few seconds to erase. But how on earth are
you going to re-solve all those problems and reread and re-answer all the
questions? You’re not, because you took the following advice: When you
choose an answer, circle that answer in your test booklet first and then fill
in the answer on the answer grid. Doing so takes you a mere nanosecond
and helps you not only in this panic situation but also as you go back and
double-check your work.
Traps to Avoid When Taking the ACT
Rubbernecking: Rubbernecking is craning your neck
around to see how everyone else is doing. Forget those
bozos. You have too much to do on your own to waste
precious seconds checking out anyone else. After you
have the exam booklet in front of you, don’t look at
anything but it and your watch until time is called
Traps to Avoid When Taking the ACT
Cheating: Cheating on the ACT is a loser’s game, it’s just plain stupid.
Apart from the legal, moral, and ethical questions, let’s talk practicality:
You can’t predict what types of grammatical mistakes will show up in
the questions, so what are you going to do? Copy a textbook on the
palm of your hand? And all the math formulas that you need can’t fit
onto the bottom of your shoe.
Worrying about previous sections: Think of the ACT as five
separate lifetimes. You’re reborn four times, so you get four more
chances to “do it right.” Every time the proctor says, “Your time is up.
Please turn to the next test and begin,” you get a fresh start. The ACT
rules are very strict: You can’t go back to a previous section and finish
work there or change some of your answers. If you try to do so, the
proctor will catch you, and you’ll be in a world of hurt.
Traps to Avoid When Taking the ACT
Worrying about the hard problems: The ACT contains some
incredibly hard problems and questions. Forget about them. Almost
no one gets them right anyway. A ridiculously few students receive
a score of 36 every year, and if you get into the 30s, you’re in a
super-elite club of only a few percent of the thousands who take
the ACT annually. Just accept the fact that you either won’t get to or
can’t answer a few of the hard questions and learn to live with your
imperfection. If you do go quickly enough to get to the hard
questions, don’t waste too much time on them. See if you can use
common sense to eliminate any answers. Then mark your best
guess from the remaining choices. Keep reminding yourself that
every question counts the same in a section.
Traps to Avoid When Taking the ACT
Forgetting to double-check: If you finish a test early, go back and
double-check the easy and medium questions. Don’t spend more
time trying to do the hard questions. If a question was too hard for
you five minutes ago, it’s probably still too hard for you. Your brain
capacity likely hasn’t doubled in the last few minutes. If you made a
careless or dumb mistake on an easy question, however, going
back over the problem gives you a chance to catch and correct
your error. You’re more likely to gain points by double-checking
easy questions than by staring open-mouthed at the hard ones.
Mathematics Scoring Key
1- D 31- D
4- F 34- H
7- E 37- A
10- K 40- F
13- B 43- D
16- H 46- J
19- D 49- A
22- H 52- H
25- B 55- E
28- H 58- K
Estimated score = # correct answers X 3 = _____
Science Scoring Key
1- C 11- C
2- G 12- F
3- D 13-B
4- G 14- F
5- C 15- C
6- F 16- F
7- A 17- B
8- F 18- H
9- D 19- B
10- J 20- J
Estimated score = # correct answers X 2 = _____
Chris Wood
chriswood65@hotmail.com
ACT English Information
ACT English Grammar
– 75 multiple choice questions; 45 minutes , 36 seconds per
question
– Question given in conjunction with a passage
– Sentence Structure, Grammar and Usage, Punctuation,
Rhetorical Skills
– The English section tests not only obscure grammar rules but
also punctuation errors as well
ACT expects students to know what they want—It’s more than
just pure grammar!
– In a series of 3 or more items, put a comma before the “and”
– Shorter sentences are preferred to longer sentences
Page 48
ACT English Strategies
Tests against your ear
– Grocery store: 10 Items or…. Less? Fewer?
No Change = correct 25% of the time it appears
Omit this Underlined Section = correct 50% of the time
it appears
Page 49
ACT English Sample Question
Watch the context.
The scientist’s work in the field of physics continued to
influence the public’s understanding of the subject.
A) No Change
B) continue
C) will continue
D) has the ongoing effect of continuing
Page 50
ACT English Sample Question
Keep it consistent.
The scientist’s work in the field of physics continued to influence the
public’s understanding of the subject. His research will redefine a
common misconception held by many people. By conducting this
experiment, the scientist will become more famous than Albert
Einstein.
A) No Change
B) continue
C) will continue
D) has the ongoing effect of continuing
Page 51
ACT Math Information
Math
60 multiple choice questions; 60 minutes
1 minute per question!
Algebra I and II, Arithmetic, Geometry, Trigonometry
This is 7th-11th grade math
It’s the wording in the question that makes this
section difficult
Only four Trig problems, but two can be done without
having even learned Trig! They are out to intimidate
you!
Page 52
ACT
Math Strategies
Know how to ballpark - this will improve your efficiency and score!
Learn how to use a calculator – graphing functions and matrix
problems
Take 2 passes - X the questions in the test booklet you do not understand at
all and skip them on your second pass - when should I circle some
P.O.E. - be sure to eliminate the wrong answers
Follow your personal order of difficulty – start with your easiest
section
Read the question carefully – they predict where students will misread
the question– you can count on that answer as being one of your choices – they do
this to trap students
Page 53
ACT Reading Information
Reading 40 multiple choice questions; 35 minutes, less
than 1 min to answer each question
There are 4 types of passages you will encounter on the
ACT.
1. Prose Fiction: Most interesting to read, but often the
hardest questions! Most time-consuming!
2. Social Sciences: politics, history
3. Humanities: arts, culture
4. Natural Science: Typically the easiest! (POOD)
Factual information!
Page 54
ACT Reading Strategies
Don’t take the test in the order it’s presented! Do the easiest
section for you first, because you know you’ll get those right. Save the hardest for
last.
Timing is everything! Pace yourself!
You don’t have to read. Skip or Skim.
You should look for and eliminate the wrong answers
Pay attention to distracters. Distracters are designed to distract your
way of thinking, break your concentration, and throw you off track.
Translate the question
Page 55
ACT Science Reasoning
Instead of calling it Science Reasoning, think of it as Technical Reading.
• Basic understanding of the scientific method will help you out.
• Not much science knowledge is needed.
• Read and understand charts and graphs
There are 3 types of science passages:
1. Charts and Graphs = consists only of charts and graphs
2. Experiments = combination of reading text and charts and graphs in the same
question
3. Fighting Scientists = much like the reading section, only reading text, no charts and
graphs
Work out of order – know your POOD
usually students find the charts and graphs the easiest, then the experiments – if
you find the reading section easy then you should do the fighting scientists second.
Opposites – when a student encounters 2 answer choices that are direct opposites, one
will almost always be the correct answer.
Page 56
