The ACT might be the most important test you would take in high school. To some extent, your score is a great determining factor for your college admission. So with that in mind, it is best to be prepared and study ahead for your upcoming ACT.
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Importance of ACT
ACT is more than just a requirement for your school of choice. It is an important test that assesses how far you have come academically.
Given that it is a stepping stone towards your higher education, your results on the ACT would also help you plan for your future career.
The ACT helps students understand their strengths and capabilities. Like for instance, whether you are more inclined towards arts or science careers.
Apart from that, your ACT score can be one of your redeeming cards if you have not done so well in high school.
It is an opportunity for you to show that you can study hard, perform well, and work under pressure.
Even if your GPA is not as high as you want it to be, having a high ACT score range will allow you to showcase that you have a high academic potential.
It could even be your trump card to getting into one of your dream schools.
All in all, you should try your best to get a high score on the ACT.
How to study for the ACT
Despite the fact that there are some colleges that superscore ACT and you can just retake it a couple of times, knowing what is a good ACT score for your target school and then reaching it can increase your chances of getting admitted.
So with that in mind, we have listed a few tips on how you can effectively study and reach your target score for your upcoming ACT.
Download the practice test from the ACT website
One of the most important things to do for your test prep is to get your hands on the latest practice test released by ACT every year.
Since it is the official practice test for the ACT, it is the closest one you can get from the actual exam.
The ACT practice test not only contains a full-length sample of the actual test, but it also provides an overview of the ACT: the subjects tests, time allotment, test-taking strategies, do’s and don’ts during the exam, things you should do before and after the exam, and so on.
The official ACT practice test would help you familiarize yourself with the format and style of the exam.
So when the actual testing day comes, the test would not feel so foreign and you can answer the questions with ease.
Some students often make the mistake of immediately just buying any practice test and not checking out the official one from ACT.
While some practice tests are proven to be helpful, it is still best to check out the official practice test from the ACT since they are the ones creating the actual exam.
Wouldn’t you be more at ease if your notes and reviewers are also created by the ones making the exam?
Assess your strengths and weaknesses
Knowing your strengths and weaknesses would make your study session more effective and productive.
After you took the full-length practice test by the ACT, you need to identify the big patterns in your lapses and incorrect answers.
It is not just pointing out the subjects where you are weak at, it is also assessing your habits that contribute to your poor test-taking like taking too long to read a passage, focusing too much on one question, forgetting to go back on the questions you skip, and so on.
Besides your weaknesses, you can also use your strengths in other subjects to make your study sessions more effective.
For instance, if you find out that you are good at reading and comprehension, then you can use that strength when creating notes and reviewers for your science subject.
Given that you have an excellent reading and comprehension skills, you can then rewrite your notes in a more understandable way. By doing this, you can easily understand complex science concepts in no time.
Map out a study plan
Create a realistic and effective plan.
As much as possible, avoid setting vague objectives and big goals. Try to break your goals into small achievable pieces.
By doing this, you can easily achieve it and avoid getting demotivated every time you fail to accomplish a task.
You cannot expect yourself to be always productive since there would be some downtimes in your study session.
When you set small achievable goals, your backlogs would not pile up, it would be much easier to track your progress, and you can easily pick up where you left off.
Mapping out a study plan from early on would allow you to get enough rest and avoid information overload during your test prep.
It would also keep your stress at bay, and at the same time, you would be able to set your priorities straight and make improvements in the areas that need it the most.
Gather all the resources you need
In order to have a smooth sailing study session every time, you need to gather and consolidate all the resources you need.
Some students find it hard to concentrate during their study session when they are constantly scrambling and gathering information whilst also taking notes and absorbing information.
Keep in mind that you should also keep your options open and not only rely on one resource or ACT prep book.
With the help of the internet, topics that would require 20 minutes to read and study using a textbook now only requires 5-minutes explainer videos on YouTube.
I am not saying that you should disregard your textbooks and just watch YouTube videos instead.
What I mean is, you should not shy away from turning to other types of resources if you do not understand it in your textbook.
You have to keep in mind that the questions on the ACT are not based on just one textbook alone.
So to that end, it is okay to rely on other types of resource materials if it is the one that works best for you.
Drill on your weak spots
I know it might be tempting to just answer a practice test on the subject where you are good at, and then just call it a day.
While this would surely make you feel better about yourself, it is not really a productive study session, isn’t it?
You cannot just rely on one subject to do all the heavy lifting for your ACT score. Eventually, the other subjects you have been avoiding during your test prep would weigh your other ACT scores down.
So rather than directing your energy on the subjects, you are already good at, work on the subjects you are having a hard time with instead.
Dedicating extra study time and practice sessions for a specific subject is never a bad idea. In fact, it is much more productive than perfecting and acing several practice tests.
While you should treat and work on all the subjects equally, it is highly advisable to allot more time on the subjects you are having a hard time with.
Besides, if you are already well-versed in the other subjects, it would not hurt your score too much if you take some time off it.
Keep in mind that when you do this, you must be certain that you are really well-versed in that subject before you sacrifice your study session time.
When you drill and allot more time on your weak spots, it does not necessarily mean that you would disregard the other subjects.
You would just lessen your time on it so that you can have more time improving your weak spots.
Do full-length test runs
Timing yourself, answering a full-length practice test, and even practicing with an ACT calculator would allow you to simulate the environment for the actual test day.
This would help tone down your test anxiety and increase your stamina for the actual day.
Answering an exam for 3 hours long can be exhausting and you might lose focus during that time if you are not used to it.
By not doing any test runs before the ACT, you can run the risk of losing your stamina on the testing day.
Some students even record that they fell asleep because they are not used to taking an exam for that long.
So with that, test runs not only let you familiarize yourself with the format of the exam. It also eases you into it so that when the actual testing day comes, you would not be too overwhelmed.
When you already exhausted all the official practice tests from ACT, you can look for other practice tests on the internet. You would be amazed that there are so many full-length practice tests freely available for download.
Take short quizzes frequently
Make it a habit of quizzing yourself after every study session. You can ask simple but specific questions to yourself.
Questions like what are the new things that you learn today, comparing the new things that you learned from the ones you already know, and many more.
By doing this, you can easily recall and absorb new chunks of information.
You can also do this by browsing the internet for short quizzes on a specific subject.
Since the internet is a huge library of information, chances are there are quizzes and problems related to what you just study that day.
Taking short quizzes frequently is one of the most commonly used techniques in an active recall.
Rather than answering full-length practice test every time, you would instead answer short quizzes frequently to help you recall and remember the things you study before.
It is an efficient way to remember and learn new information.
Reassess and compare your notes
As the saying goes, no man is an island.
After your study session, you must reassess your notes and see if you miss anything. One of the best ways to do this is to ask previous or future ACT takers.
Just like your ACT percentiles, comparing your notes among other test-takers would help you realize your where you are in your whole study map or plan.
Given that the ACT does not necessarily give specific pointers on what you should study, the best way to see if you miss anything is to compare your notes with others.
By doing this, you would not be only helping yourself but you would also be helping other ACT takers. So it is a win-win situation for both of you.
However, it is worth noting that not everyone is too keen on sharing their notes and reviewers with others. So you should not force others to share their notes with you if they do not want to.
Read books more often
Reading books might not seem like a study tip related to testing prep, but it has been proven that those students who read more frequently score higher in their exams.
Since the ACT have a reading section test, this would automatically work to your advantage. Given that the section test has a time limit, you can read and understand the passage a lot faster if you often read books.
Apart from that, reading books would also improve your vocabulary and make you a better writer.
Those who frequently read books unconsciously picks up new words and writing styles through reading.
So with that, it might be great if you start reading some books before the ACT.
It does not have to be a textbook or any subjects related to the ACT, just simply reading any books you like would essentially improve your comprehension and reading rate.
This however does not necessarily mean that you have to include it in your study plan.
Since it is a leisure activity, you can read books in between your study break or free time.
Conclusion
The tips that we have cited above are just some of our suggestions on how you can score better on your ACT.
Given that every student has their own learning style, some tips might work for you and some might not.
- Download the practice test from the ACT website
- Assess your strengths and weaknesses
- Map out a study plan
- Gather all the resources you need
- Drill on your weak spots
- Do full-length test runs
- Take short quizzes frequently
- Reassess and compare your notes
- Read books more often
Nevertheless, you should do what it takes in order to prepare and score higher in your ACT.
If you have already taken the exam and are just browsing for the best high school graduation gifts, then you can read our article on the ACT score release dates to find out whether your score measure up to your target school.
Todd VanDuzer
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