ACT Tips

general tips

• Don't leave any answers blank
• Answer a section then bubble--not back and forth
• Bring a calculator that is approved
• Get a good start to the day by eating breakfast
• Wear comfortable clothes that can be used for various types of weather

time management

• Bring a watch to keep track of time
• Test starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 12:00 p.m.
• There is a break at 10:00 a.m. so bring a snack to eat at this time
• English-45 minutes, Math-60 minutes, Reading-35 minutes, Science-35 minutes

ENGLISH tIPS

• Punctuation and commas are most tested on ACT
• English is the first section of the ACT and it has the most questions
• Know what makes all the choices different
• Don't be afraid to answer "No Change"

punctuation

• Punctuation makes up most of the English section's questions
• Commas are the most common form of punctuation tested
• Other punctuation that is tested are semicolons, fragments, and dashes
• Colons are not usually on the ACT 

grammar

• Types of grammar that are tested include: Verb Agreement, and Pronouns
• Two types of Verb Agreement: Subject-Verb agreement, and Verb Tense
• Two types of Pronouns: Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement and Clarity 
• Know when/where to use the following: Who vs. Whom vs. Which vs. That
• Parallelism is also tested alongside grammar

RHeTORICAL SKILLS

• Read carefully to be able to introduce a paragraph
• Select the best sentence that answers the question asked
• Is a sentence essential to the paragraph or not
• Has the paragraph accomplished a certain goal

MATH TIPS

• Quadratic equations are commonly tested in the Algebra section
• Spend less time on first 20 questions so you have more on last 20
• Basic knowledge of Trigonometry will be tested (4 questions)
• Will include questions on the Pythagorean Theorem (at least 3 questions)
• Take advantage of the answer choices when trying to solve complex problems

algebra

• Main points of Algebra: Area, Perimeter, Slope, and Probability
• Along with slope, you must be able to find x and y intercepts
• There are rarely hard probability questions
• Other skills that are tested:
• Exponent Rules, Scientific Notation, and Distance and Midpoint Formula

angle properties

• Triangle Sum Theory (all angles in a triangle add up to equal 180)
• 360 degrees in a circle
• Supplementary and Complementary Angles 
• Vertical Angles and Corresponding Angles

READING TIPS

• Try to find the most efficient way to complete reading
• Don't try to understand all of the story, just the main idea
• Reading section is the hardest section in terms of time
• Pick up on "lead words" -- they can help with understanding the question

how to answer 5 major Question types

• Find the main idea of the passage
• Be able to find a specific detail of a passage
• The correct answer is usually concise and to the point
• Be able to infer on what is being wrote about
• Vocabulary

SCIENCE TIPS

• Look at the graphs to see a relation between the variables  
• Don't focus on the meaning of the paragraphs-- unless asked to
• Try to identify the Independent Variable and Dependent Variable 
• The introduction is not important to the questions