ACT
Is the ACT Hard?
5 min read•july 11, 2024
A Q
A Q
Okay, the big question on your mind, "IS THE ACT HARD, OR NOT?!" 🤔 Fear not; a three-hour test might seem daunting at first, but once you recognize 💡 the ACT's patterns and do real practice questions to test yourself, it won't seem so difficult after all.
In this article, I'm going to break down the ACT for you, reveal some secrets about the exam, and give you some test-taking strategies. When you get to the end of the article, you'll have a much better understanding of the test so that you can take the next step of your ACT study journey!
📑 ACT Test Format
Let's start with the format of the test. The ACT is split into 4 multiple-choice sections (English, math, reading, and science) and an optional essay section. 🚀 Each multiple-choice section is scored out of 36, and your composite (or overall) score will be an average of your scores for the four sections. The essay is scored separately. 💯
This table gives you a breakdown of the number of questions for each section, as well as the time ⏰ you have for each:
| Section | # of Questions | Time Allotment |
| English | 75 MC | 45 min |
| Mathematics | 60 MC | 60 min |
| Reading | 40 MC | 35 min |
| Science | 40 MC | 35 min |
| Writing (optional) | 1 essay | 40 min |
🤫 Secrets About the ACT
What's next? We'll talk about how you can use the format of the ACT to your advantage. 😏
I'm sure we all know that 4 of the sections are multiple-choice. But what does that mean for you, as a test-taker? It means that there HAS to be one correct answer. ☝️ The ACT isn't like your tests at school that teachers write. It won't have two answer choices that COULD both be correct because how would that be fair? 🤷♀️ That means test-taking strategies, like the process of elimination, will be very effective, but we'll get into that later!
Second, the ACT is very consistent and predictable. You might not realize it at first, but as you do more practice with real ACT tests, you'll begin to see that the structures of many questions are the same, especially in sections like Reading and Science.🧪 So, once you find what kind of question types you need to work on, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!
📖 How Should I Study for the ACT?
Alright, it's time to start studying for the ACT. But should you go about doing that?
🥇Conduct an Initial Review
First and foremost, you should go through the Fiveable's ACT guides that break down each section: the "Section Overview" guides and the "5 Things to Know" guides. Doing so will help you gain a better idea and understanding of what each section is on. Here are the links to each of these guides:
Section Overview Guides
5 Things to Know Guides
🥈Take a Practice Test
Next, take a practice test 📝! ACT has released several PDFs of past tests that you can find online. If you have a study book, many of them should have either a diagnostic test and/or practice tests. Take this test under realistic conditions, meaning you should take it in one sitting in a quiet location 😶 and time ⏰ yourself accurately for each section.
Timing yourself during practice is crucial because the ACT is super fast-paced! ⏳
After you finish your practice test, grade it.🔍 Be honest with yourself; it's okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. This means that you should actually revisit and redo each of the problems you got wrong. By doing this, you will be able to discover what areas you need to focus more on and what concepts you need to review, which will allow you can work on them and avoid making the same mistakes on the actual test. 📑 This might be a long process, but it'll make your future studying much easier once you figure out the types of questions you're answering incorrectly and why.
🥉 Conduct a More Comprehensive Review
Now, go through the rest of the Fiveable ACT study resources, and be sure to consistently work on practice problems ❔ to apply your knowledge!
📝 ACT Test-Taking Strategies
Here are some test-taking strategies that you can use during all of the multiple-choice sections of the ACT to help you increase your score!
Answer Every Question
Every multiple-choice question is 1 point, no matter how hard or easy it is. Plus, you're only graded on the number of questions you answer right ✅ and not penalized for any wrong answers 🙈! That gives you an advantage in answering every question. I'm sure you've heard this a million times, but make educated guesses for questions you're not sure about. How should you do that? 😳 Well...
Use Process of Elimination
POE is an excellent strategy for taking a multiple-choice test. When you're scanning the answer choices, there might be one, or even two, choices that you KNOW are wrong. Cross ❌ those out! It's much easier to pick between 2-3 answer choices than 4-5. But what if you're REALLY not sure about a question?
Skip & Come Back
You don't have to take the ACT in order! Spend most of your time on questions you CAN do. Mark up questions ✏️ that you want to come back to because there's no time to waste. You can always reconsider skipped 🤹 questions near the end of the test; you might be able to look at the question from a new perspective 🔬 or make an educated guess if you're out of time.
🌇 Closing
So, is the ACT hard? It can be, but you have all the tools you need to do well! After going through the steps above you should have a better understanding of the test and strategies you can use. The more familiar you are with the test and the more practice you put in, the less scary the ACT will seem. Good luck with your studying! YOU GOT THIS! 🙌
Check out this page if you're unsure about taking the ACT because of test-optional policies.