5 important tips for the ACT

The ACT has proven to be a viable option to the SAT. Just about every college and university that accepts SAT scores also accepts the ACT. The ACT  is divided into four separate, timed tests: English, math, reading, and science reasoning. There's also an optional essay that we recommend most students complete. The English section consists of 75 questions over 45 minutes with an emphasis on sentence structure and grammar. Students are also given 60 minutes to complete the 60 math problems, which range from basic algebra to trigonometry. The reading and science reading sections each have 40 questions, and test takers have 35 minutes to complete each section. The test is scored on a scale of 1 to 36. Student’s should  invest some time to pick the test that best suits their skills and test-taking strengths, rather than just selecting the ACT or SAT at random. Club Z! recommends taking a timed practice test to determine which test can give them a higher score.  With the exception of a couple of Ivy league schools,  most colleges put equal weight into either test.  In fact, I recently had a friend that only submitted his  ACT score of 34 and applied early decision to Yale and got in.  Club Z! highly recommends the official practice tests provided by the College Board (SAT) and ACT, Inc.   1. Do you excel in Math? If you answered this question in the affirmative then the ACT is probably your test. The math section on the ACT has more challenging problems.  There are four trigonometry questions on the ACT and a higher concentration of intermediate algebra questions.  The ACT also may be your test of choice if you tend to be weak in vocabulary. The ACT doesn’t test vocabulary like the SAT and it’s not critical for a respectable score. 2. Take practice tests.  Test yourself frequently. The test is all about endurance.  Most individuals that take the test for the first claim that they had a difficult time concentrating for the whole test. Don’t just study for the ACT in 10-20 minute increments.  Take the whole entire test a few times to really simulate the actual conditions that you will be put under. 3. Don't skip questions. A Big difference between the SAT and ACT is that there is no penalty for getting a question incorrect on the ACT. The SAT's penalty is to prevent students from guessing, but ACT test takers can guess without any consequence. Club Z! recommends working through each section and skipping those that prove problematic. After you finish, return to  those questions and try them again.  If time is running out just simply pick a letter and bubble it in. 4. Know your directions. Through practice, you should get to know the directions for each section before you take the actual test. Because there are only four sections, learning what to expect from each type of problem should come easily with enough repetition. By knowing the directions you will not waste valuable time reading the descriptions. 5.  Get an ACT tutor from Club Z!  Having the right tutor can make a huge difference in the score you get on ACT.  Students that take our course typically increase their scores by 4-6 points.  An increase in score by this amount can often lead to scholarship opportunities and admission into colleges that were out of consideration prior the course.