<p>This will be my first ACT. After taking 3 SAT tests, I ended up only 10 points shy of a scholarship. Instead of attempting a fourth SAT, I decided to take the ACT. On the SAT, I had no trouble with time management, but I took a Math ACT practice section and ran out of time with 11 questions to go. Ended up with a 24. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any tips for getting through all the questions and any tips for someone transitioning to the ACT?</p>
<p>Do the math quicker.</p>
<p>On a more serious note, when I first started practicing the Math part of the ACT, I got a bit rushed toward the end. After having that problem on a few practice tests, I figured out that I shouldn’t be double checking my answers. That wastes a lot of time, and you probably solved the problem fairly thoroughly in the first place. Even if you end up missing 3-4 points because you misread questions or did some silly mistake in your calculations, that’s still a lot better than having to rush through the last 10-15 questions, or not even answering all 60 questions.</p>
<p>1) Don’t check over your work; you just have to assume you did it correctly.</p>
<p>2) If you can’t figure it out quickly, skip it and go on. If you happen to have time left after #60, go back and figure it out. If you have no idea what’s going on, just guess. The geometric figures are usually drawn to scale even though the directions say they aren’t. Algebra questions can sometimes be done by plugging in the answer choices. Sometimes, even the trig questions can be answered using the answer choices, but not too often, however.</p>
<p>3) Learn to use your calculator as efficiently as possible. I recommend the STO feature if you’re dealing with long decimals,</p>
<p>4) If you choose to guess, pick a reasonable answer. The distance from Des Moines to St. Louis is not 10000 km.</p>
<p>5) This is good to know: the questions do get harder as you go on, but there are still easy ones in the last 15 questions. Be sure to find them and answer them correctly.</p>
<p>This is the best advice I can give anyone with time issues: take practice tests with a clicking timer. The ticking will make you nervous and go faster! It worked for me</p>
<p>Honestly, just force yourself to go faster on each question. Once you solve a problem, move on to the Next one. If you can’t solve it in less than 40 seconds, move on. The first 40 questions should be very easy, so you should be able to breeze those in like 30 minutes. This gives you like 30 minutes to work on the last 20 questions which is more than enough time. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to finish the 60 questions in record time like with 10 minutes to spare. </p>
<p>The key step in managing time on the ACT is to do the first 40 questions quickly as @TheCalculator pointed out. The first 40 questions are standard questions that repeat over and over in the official ACT tests. You need to have a solid handle on those and try to breeze through them. Of course, accuracy is important so you need to fine tune that process with practice. </p>
<p>To get familiar with the typical ACT questions in the first half of the ACT test in math, do enough official practice tests to get the concepts down. For example, routine questions like mid-point between two points, slope of a line, or the difference of squares identity typically show up in the first half. You have to have solid familiarity with these problems.</p>
<p>Best wishes.</p>
<p>I used to struggle with ACT Math time too, but then I came up with a great strategy. Start at 60 and work yourself up, since the questions get progressively harder near the end. In this case, you have enough time to work the harder problems while also having just enough time to work the easier problems.</p>
<p>My plan</p>
<p>Work questions 60-40 in 30 minutes
Then go back to the start of the test and work 1-40 in 30 minutes</p>
<p>But make sure you do not go OVER 30 minutes working 60-40. If they look difficult, move on. Don’t spend more than 2 minutes on a question without writing something down. </p>
<p>My Daughter used the McGraw-Hill 50 Skills for ACT Math to raise her math score from 28 in March '14 to 33 in Sept '14. I endorse this book.</p>
<p>@DJFlash That is an interesting approach of going backward. I wouldn’t have the guts to do it. It is so easy and tempting to get stuck on hard questions, it could easily ruin one’s timing. I guess the key is to be disciplined. I would recommend going for 1 to 40 and target to finish them in 30 minutes, because the questions are easier and serve to warm you up. Also, they all carry the same points so you might as well bank the easy ones first. Going the other way is harder. But of course, this is clearly a strategy that works for you, and is definitely an out of the box approach. 
</p>
<p>Best wishes.</p>
<p>Like others have said, the first 40 are the easiest. Break the test into three 20s. The first 20 is all basic geometry or algebra, 12-15 minutes is reasonable, the next 15-18. The last part should take near the rest of it due to harder trig, algebra 2 type of questions. There always seems to be an odd/even function on there…so make sure you know that btw.</p>
<p>TAKE PRACTICE TESTS!!! I raised my math score from 29 June to 34 oct just taking four practice tests and a prep class that reviewed some. If you practice the math section over and over you will eventually find yourself finishing in time! When I took the ACT in June I had about 5-10 questions I guessed on at the end cause I had no time, but I started to finish the math section as I continued to take practice tests! </p>