I’ve had many people PM me for tips on how to score well on the ACT, so I’ve decided to type up a rough guide.
The October test was the first and only time I’ve taken the ACT. However, in comparison with all the practice tests I’ve taken from the Red Book, KhanAcademy, etc., I haven’t noticed anything different. The only change in the the ACT redesign was the essay portion and I’m sure that by next year, there will be more resources available. I haven’t received my writing scores yet so I don’t have anything I can tell you for that test.
My test prep strategy involved taking every single practice test I can get my hands on. The Red Book is an extremely valuable source. The tests inside the Red Book are a bit outdated so they are slightly easier than the real thing but nonetheless indicative of the real test. Outside of the practice tests, I didn’t spend too much time on prep.
For the reading portion, I just made an attempt to broaden my book choices. I wasn’t big on reading anything other than fiction before I began preparing for the ACT but in the process, I read a few books on historical study and keenly followed the news and read editorials, TIME, PopSci, etc. These topics are generally more difficult than the generic John Green and enhance your reading comprehension and reading speed. I strongly recommend going under the Historical Study tab on Amazon and picking a book or two on a topic that interests you and read about it. In addition to developing your reading ability, these books also provide valuable information you can use on the essay.
For the English section, the most valuable resource by far is Erica Meltzer’s website thecriticalreader.com. She has tons of free blog posts about the english section, in addition to the other sections and other tests. I didn’t buy her book, but I’m sure it would be very helpful to get it. I think English is the easiest section to improve on because everything is so repetitive. I’ve had friends improve from 20s-35 just after taking 4 or 5 practice tests because they simply memorized everything that could be tested.
For the Science section, I don’t have very many tips. I guess the best thing to do is to just take practice tests and gauge your speed and accuracy. The majority of the questions involve basic data analysis. Few ask you to reason or infer based on the data and even fewer, if any, test scientific knowledge. Time was my biggest enemy but I managed to speed up the process by reading the questions first and then scanning the passage/data for the answers. This strategy may not work for you, but it did for me.
The Math section was the one I did no direct prep on, so I’m not sure how I would do it. However, I can contribute my success to my years preparing for the Mathcounts and AMC competitions. The ACT tests a deeper understanding of math than what is taught in schools, so to get those last 10 or so points, you’ll need to find a way to develop that understanding. One resource I’ve used to prepare for those competitions is this program called Alcumus by ArtOfProblemSolving. It’s a program that lets you set categories (so you can remove the ones not tested on the ACT) and generates questions and solutions. As you get questions correct, the ones generated will be more difficult. There will be a point where the question difficulty surpasses that tested on the ACT, but I encourage you to continue. Solving difficult problems will only enhance your ability to solve the easier ones.
The problems on Alcumus, however, often do not resemble many of the ones you will encounter on the ACT. Alcumus is just an important tool to build the problem-solving abilities you need on some of the questions on the ACT. In addition to that, I strongly encourage you to take many practice tests and review algebra, geometry, etc. I also encourage you to learn how to use your calculator and how to take advantage of all of its abilities.
The underlying theme of preparing for all the subjects is practice practice practice. Take every test you can get your hands on and mark every question you’re even slightly unsure about. Go back and read the solutions thoroughly and if you have time, read the solutions for the questions you got correct. While it may seem unnecessary, I guarantee you you’ll learn new ways to attack those problems.
If you’re on this website, you obviously have a desire to work hard and succeed. The ACT more of a game than an exam. Every section is set up just like the ones on nearly every practice test. Learn the ways the test makers want to trick you, learn the shortcuts to the solutions, and you’ll have no problem scoring well.
Good luck. If anyone else has tips on things that have helped them, feel free to add on in the replies.