Our Most-Asked Questions About the ACT
Getting college-ready has SO many steps, and besides tuition, taking the ACT can be the most stressful part. It’s what makes you eligible for big scholarships, and it factors into your acceptance to your dream university.
Here are the answers to a few of the questions you’ve most likely been asking yourself whether you’re just starting this process or right in the middle of it.
How is the ACT scored?
The test is based off of the number of correct answers from the four subject area tests: English, Math, Reading, and Science. You do not lose points by missing questions. You gain points from getting questions correct. Think of your score starting off at 0 and for every question you answer correctly, points are stacked on top.
Because not all of the subject areas have the same number of questions, the grading scale varies between English (75 total questions), Math (60 total questions), and Reading/ Science (both with 40 questions). The total number of correct answers (the raw scores”) from each test are translated into scale scores, corresponding to all four subject tests.
These 4 scale scores are then added together and divided by 4 to equal your final ACT composite score. Below is an example!
Raw Scores
English — 39
Math — 40
Reading — 23
Science — 31
Scale Scores
English — 19
Math — 25
Reading — 21
Science — 27
Composite Score = 23
*a general rule of thumb is that answering half of a subject’s questions correctly will equal around a 21 scale score. Take this into consideration when determining your goal score.
2. How do I avoid running out of time on the ACT?
Let’s just clear the air on this question before we get into some practical tips. The ACT is designed to make you run out of time… and you MUST know the strategies to beat it. So while the strategies you use to finish the test in the allotted time frames depend on your ACT goals, here are a few general tips for each section:
English.
Study grammar. And then study more. And then a little more grammar. Knowing the rules is really the best way to get through this section quickly and accurately. On our blog post How to Improve Your English Score, we explain that many of the English questions are phrased so that one of the wrong answers sounds right, and the only way to see through the trap is by knowing the rules.
If after you’ve done your grammar homework, though, and you’re still struggling to finish on time, try reading each paragraph at a time instead of reading each sentence until you get to the underlined question. A lot of times, that underlined question is in the middle of the sentence. This makes understanding the context of the question more difficult and will eat up extra time.
Math.
What score are you trying to get on math? Got your answer?
The most difficult questions are at the end of the test, so essentially, the last ten questions are really geared toward the students aiming for a score of 30 or more. If you aren’t trying to get a score this high, don’t spend time on the end of the math test! Save a couple minutes at the end of your test to guess on those ten questions, and focus the majority of your time on the rest of the test. This will give you more time for questions you have a better chance of answering, and you won’t be pressured to get the WHOLE test right.
Reading.
Let’s get this straight. The Reading test is NOT about reading the entire passages!!
You have 35 minutes to answer 40 questions. You need to strategize how you answer the questions, or you will never get that goal score of yours. We suggest trying both of the following strategies and then deciding which one works best for you.
Read the questions first to determine what you actually need to pay attention to in the passage. Underline the key words in the questions, and when you see a question with a line number, mark that line in the passage. Next, skim through the passage for the key words and start answering questions!
Instead of reading the questions first, read the first and last sentence of each paragraph. Make notes beside each paragraph, so you remember what is discussed and where. This will save you loads of time when looking for specific answers because you already have an outline of the passage in your head!
Science.
Similar to Reading, the Science passage doesn’t actually need you to know about the topics written in the passages. No science vocabulary is needed! Use some logic to rule out wrong answers and decide which questions to invest the majority of your time into answering.
There are 6 total passages, and in each passage the hardest questions are the last one or two. If you don’t need a score of 30 or above, just give your best guess on those last questions, so you have more time for the rest. On the flip side, if you do need a 30 or higher, set a plan to pace yourself in order to have enough time for all 40 questions.
3. When should I start taking the ACT?
It depends on two things: what kind of student you are & where you want to go to college.
Taking a practice ACT test is a good baseline to assess where you’re at before you begin studying. We highly recommend doing this so that you can learn your strengths and weaknesses. Which section/s do you need to focus on the most? Are you a fast or slow test taker? What English and Math concepts do you need to study? Once you know these answers, you will be able to see what needs to be improved upon before taking the ACT.
Additionally, research what the required scores are for the colleges you’re interested in; this will determine how much higher you need to raise your score, and after taking a practice ACT, you be able to see how many more points you need in order to meet the requirements. Identify which subject areas need to be improved upon the most, and focus on your weaknesses.
Our ACT tutoring packages are based off of a 10 week schedule, and within this time, our students typically raise at least two of their subject scores by anywhere from 1-9 points! The sky’s the limit on how much improvement can happen through one-on-one tutoring. 8-10 weeks is the sweet spot for beginning your ACT test prep.
4. When do I find out my ACT scores?
Per the official ACT website, “Multiple choice scores are normally available within two weeks after each national test date, but it can sometimes take up to eight weeks.”
If you would like to see the specific dates of score releases, visit the ACT’s site here. It’s worth reading through their web pages to learn additional information.