Editor’s Note: This article was orginally published on Friday, April 15.
Well, juniors, it’s almost time for us to take the ACT. Some of us have already taken it, but for some of us, the first time we take it will be Wednesday, April 27 here in school. I just took the ACT for the first time, so for those of you who haven’t taken it yet, here are a few tips that I have to help you prepare. For those of you who already have taken it, comment with any tips you have below!
1. Sleep. I know it sounds totally cliché to tell you to sleep well the night before the ACT, but it actually helps. I didn’t think that sleeping enough was such a big deal, but when I woke up and just wanted to go back to sleep, it didn’t help that I had to go sit through a four hour boring test and actually focus on it.
2. Eat breakfast and bring a snack. I normally don’t eat breakfast except on the weekends (not a good habit, guys!), but my mom convinced me to grab something before the test and it really helped! I even brought a snack to eat after between taking the ACT and going to work. It’s probably a better idea to bring one for the break, but that’s up to you.
3. Don’t let yourself space out. I spaced out a lot during the ACT, which was a huge mistake. I ended up wasting a bunch of time and rushing to finish or not even finishing the test I was working on.
4. Time yourself. Between spacing out and being tired, I got off track really easily. Before the test begins, pay attention to how many problems there are and how many time. Then, decide what time you should be at which problem. That way, you know if you need to speed up or if you have time to relax.
5. Come back to the problems that are timely, even if you know how to solve it. There were some problems that I knew how to solve, but they took up a lot of time. I think it’s best if you skip past those problems if you know how to answer other ones. That way, you don’t waste time on one problem when you could answer another three.
6. Don’t panic if you don’t know it, just calm down and try to figure it out. When you’re taking a timed test like the ACT, there isn’t much time to freak out because you don’t know something. Instead of focusing on how you hate science and don’t know what the passages are explaining, just calm down, focus, and read. Chances are that you know more than you think you do.
7. Pick a letter for guessing…there’s no penalty for guessing and picking one letter to guess each time gives you a better chance of getting it all right.
8. Basically, don’t stress over it. You can retake the ACT multiple times and colleges will take your top scores, so don’t worry too much.
Most importantly, good luck!
Gwen • Apr 25, 2011 at 8:43 PM
I agree with Vishal about the timing thing. Trying to remember a rate of questions per minute or anything like that will only freak you out more. If you spend so much time worrying about time then you really will be in trouble. Doing that will only distract you and result in more anxiety. I guess if you really struggle with finishing tests on time then it might be beneficial to you but other than that you shouldn’t bother with counting problems and minutes.
Just be aware that you have a lot of questions to get through, and not a lot of time. So just do it. Take the test and work quickly. Don’t over think pacing yourself.
Getting enough sleep and food in your system is a good idea but make sure you’re not straying from your normal schedule too much. A big breakfast might upset the stomach of someone not used to breakfast at all. And going to bed early could just throw off your clock and leave you even groggier (sp?). It’s important to keep stuff like that in mind.
I completely agree with bringing a snack. I brought carrots with me to the ACT and those things really woke me up during the break and kept me going throughout the rest.
Always ALWAYS take a guess, whether it’s random or estimated. Hopefully that’s fairly common sensical.
In response to Kevin’s comment about colleges looking at your ACT score: If you haven’t done well in high school don’t stress over the possibility of getting a good score on the ACT and having that reflect poorly on your work ethic. Try your best no matter what.
On another note, and this is gonna sound really weird at first, don’t get too enthusiastic. For one of the practice ACTs, I went in there all motivated and ready to go. I told myself “This will be my best score!” It wasn’t. It was my lowest. Here’s what happened: I got all psyched up for the ACT, but when I actually started I had to come down from that motivation because here’s the thing: the ACT is not fun. It is not exciting. If you convince yourself that there’s going to be some excitement in there then you’ll only end up dissapointed. The best thing to do is to acknowledge “Okay, the next couple hours of my life are kind of going to suck and just not be fun. But that’s okay, I’m just gonna do this.” That way you won’t be dissapointed when the test starts.
How much can ACT prep classes and private tutoring go? I took the classes offered by the school so I can only really speak for those. In all honesty the classes can only do so much for you. Sure some of the tips and strategies you get might help you but I know for me I just focused on taking the test and didn’t bother with the tricks they tell you about in the class. Really what was helpful about the class were the practice tests; they are an incredibly useful resource and by viewing your score after each one you can see your progress. The best way to get better at the ACT is repetition. If you aren’t happy with your score the first time, take it again and see if you improved.
Kevin • Apr 17, 2011 at 1:14 AM
Take the test as much as possible. Like every other month. Being good at taking the ACT is probably the most important thing. Unless, of course, you are satisfied by your first score. In that case, good for you, you are a smart cookie.
If you don’t usually eat breakfast, make sure not to eat too much. Your body might not be used to eating in the morning and you might feel sick during the test.
Don’t bring your cell phone, and if you do, make sure it is off, and if you must have your phone on, make sure it is on silent or vibrate. I was once at a testing session and in the middle of the writing portion (the very last part) a girl’s phone went off. She was kicked out and I assume her entire test was ripped up. Having the phone with you is not really worth it. She was a smart girl too. She probably would have got a really good score. Shame, shame, shame 🙁
For those of you taking the ACT who are in higher level English classes like GAW, you might not do as well on the writing portion as you would think. They look for a clean cut 5 parapraph essay with perfect grammar, no typos, and good vocabulary, not a piece of prose with an internal, implicit thesis. AP testers understand that you are writing under stressful time constraints and you are really only scored on your essay’s form and content. The ACT graders don’t care about this and grade mostly on stupid things like grammar or spelling. When I was in GAW I could consistently write 7s and 8s, and I even got a 9 once (jealous?), and on the ACT writing test I would get like 8s, which is pretty average. The test isn’t really designed to test how good you are as a writer or how insightful you are, but rather how well you can crank out a decent 5 paragraph essay. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t write a really good essay; they just look for different things. Also, make sure to have an antithesis. You won’t get a good score unless you put one in.
Consider taking the SAT as well. They are pretty much the same test, but I found the SAT to be easier. Instead of there being 5 ~40 minute tests with a sinlge break, there are several ~10 minute tests with a break in between most of them. There is no science section and if I recall, the reading part is more like the English part on that ACT. The only real negative is you are penalized for guessing, but that shouldn’t really be a problem.
You will do the best on the one the school makes you take. Everyone in the state takes in and I have heard that it is curved. I got my best score on this one and so have many people I know.
For ACT prep classes, I’m not too sure how helpful they actually are. Yes you get test practice and yes, you learn nifty test taking techniques, but most of the stuff in common sense and you can easily learn it yourself. Plus most people in those classes are forced to do it and hate it, so if you are one of those people you probably won’t get too much out of it. They don’t teach you anything new; everything on the ACT is designed for high school juniors, so during the course of high school you probably learned everything you need to know. I’ve also heard that our school’s ACT prep classes don’t really help. I took one hosted by Kaplan over the summer and they have a thing where if your score doesn’t increase 5 points, you get a refund, so that’s cool. However, I am still not too sure how much it helped me and it was during the summer so I so was not into that class. Private tutoring might also be good, but once again, idk. The best way to learn how to do well on the ACT is just by taking it.
Some people think that if you get a really good ACT score, you can get into any college regardless of your grades. This is not true. If colleges see a high ACT score and a low GPA, they will think that you are smart but you don’t apply yourself. This is a HUGE negative. Some schools don’t even require or accept the ACT. Good, high ranking schools like to see a good test score, a high GPA and class rank, a tough course load, an awesome essay with a lot of heart, and lots of activities and proofs of leadership. There are some schools, however, that will accept you if you have a high ACT score but a low GPA. I wouldn’t risk it if I were you, though.
Ask your older friends about the ACT. Their experience can greatly guide you to sucess on the ACT.
Vishal • Apr 16, 2011 at 1:02 PM
It wastes time to think about how many problems there are and how much time you have to do all of them. That’s counter-productive. Just take the test.
When people pick a letter for guessing, they’re less likely to think of which answer is most logical if they read a question they think they don’t understand. Just don’t pick the distractor, and you’ll already have a slightly higher chance of not being wrong.
It’s good not to stress, but of course it’s good not to calm down too much, because taking the ACT costs about $40 and it’s best to just get a satisfactory score as quick as possible. If you take the test with the mentality that you can take it again if you don’t do well, you might take it less seriously.
During the reading parts, I think that it’s good for some people to read in your head with a weak accent, say a British accent, that’s not so distracting so that your mind doesn’t wander.
Pre-test snacks should be higher in protein, and it’s best to avoid carbs. Also, don’t listen to music with lyrics; otherwise, you’ll be listening to the lyrics during the test.