Random notes on the A.C.T.
1. WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING. Most of the mistakes made on the A.C.T. are made through carelessness & jumping to conclusions in your head. You will catch more of the carelessness and correct more of the erroneous conclusions if you put all your thinking in front of you, on the paper.
This seems as if it would take more time, but it actually does not. What takes the time is staring at the question without doing something.
2. Eliminate answers at every step, every opportunity, during every question. The difference between your current score and the score that you want is the number of times that you chose the wrong answer. Wrong answers should be swept off the page, eliminated.
Every time you eliminate an answer, you are acting with the odds (with every question, 3/4ths of the answers are wrong), and you are increasing the odds of getting the right answer. Eliminate two answers, and you could flip a coin and get the right answer!
3. Fill in your answer grid in groups. The English, reading, & science sections of the A.C.T. are divided into passages. Use those divisions to fill in your grid. You can decrease the number of trips (and the amount of time spent) between booklet & answer grid, and it forces you to write down your final choice IN your booklet (merely by circling it), which is where the game is played.
The passages on the English section are longer than two pages, so there are actually two places where you pause to fill in the answer grid: when turning the page and when finishing a passage.
The math section is not divided into passages, but it is always 16 pages (8 two-page spreads) long. Treat every two-page spread like a passage. Fill in the answer grid when you complete a "passage" and are about to turn the page.
4. Unless you need a score above 30, do not try to finish the science section. Rushing through the science section merely causes more mistakes. Plan your trip through the science. Do the two six-question passages first. Then, do at least the first two seven-question "Experiments" passages. (The texts of these passages will be broken up into "Experiments" or "Studies".) If you still have time, then do the last "Experiments" passage, leaving the Conflicting Viewpoints passage (also seven questions, but with the fewest figures or tables [usually none], and broken up into the explanations of a couple of scientists or, more common now, a few students) for guessing.
You can score in the mid-twenties simply by finishing four passages correctly and snap-guessing the same letter on the fifth & sixth passages. You can score in the high twenties by finishing five passages at 90% accuracy and snap-guessing on that garrulous Conflicting Viewpoints passage.
I have taught test preparation for 35 years, worked for both Kaplan and Princeton Review, and have worked for myself for the last twenty years. Good luck, and if you have any questions, then please e-mail.
1. WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING. Most of the mistakes made on the A.C.T. are made through carelessness & jumping to conclusions in your head. You will catch more of the carelessness and correct more of the erroneous conclusions if you put all your thinking in front of you, on the paper.
This seems as if it would take more time, but it actually does not. What takes the time is staring at the question without doing something.
2. Eliminate answers at every step, every opportunity, during every question. The difference between your current score and the score that you want is the number of times that you chose the wrong answer. Wrong answers should be swept off the page, eliminated.
Every time you eliminate an answer, you are acting with the odds (with every question, 3/4ths of the answers are wrong), and you are increasing the odds of getting the right answer. Eliminate two answers, and you could flip a coin and get the right answer!
3. Fill in your answer grid in groups. The English, reading, & science sections of the A.C.T. are divided into passages. Use those divisions to fill in your grid. You can decrease the number of trips (and the amount of time spent) between booklet & answer grid, and it forces you to write down your final choice IN your booklet (merely by circling it), which is where the game is played.
The passages on the English section are longer than two pages, so there are actually two places where you pause to fill in the answer grid: when turning the page and when finishing a passage.
The math section is not divided into passages, but it is always 16 pages (8 two-page spreads) long. Treat every two-page spread like a passage. Fill in the answer grid when you complete a "passage" and are about to turn the page.
4. Unless you need a score above 30, do not try to finish the science section. Rushing through the science section merely causes more mistakes. Plan your trip through the science. Do the two six-question passages first. Then, do at least the first two seven-question "Experiments" passages. (The texts of these passages will be broken up into "Experiments" or "Studies".) If you still have time, then do the last "Experiments" passage, leaving the Conflicting Viewpoints passage (also seven questions, but with the fewest figures or tables [usually none], and broken up into the explanations of a couple of scientists or, more common now, a few students) for guessing.
You can score in the mid-twenties simply by finishing four passages correctly and snap-guessing the same letter on the fifth & sixth passages. You can score in the high twenties by finishing five passages at 90% accuracy and snap-guessing on that garrulous Conflicting Viewpoints passage.
I have taught test preparation for 35 years, worked for both Kaplan and Princeton Review, and have worked for myself for the last twenty years. Good luck, and if you have any questions, then please e-mail.