Preparing yourself for the act

Need to know

• Starts at 8 A.M.
• Eat a good breakfast before you take the test
• Bring a snack for the break

make sure you bring

• A calculator your comfortable with
• Snack
• Watch

time

• Not all classrooms have a clock
• Make sure you bring a watch to keep track of time

Avoid whiplash

• English: Answer the questions for 1 passage (15 questions), then bubble in your answers
• Math: Complete one page, then bubble in your answers
• Reading: Answer the questions for 1 passage (10 questions), then bubble in your answers
• Science: Answer the questions for one experiment/activity (5-7 questions), then bubble in your answers
• Make sure you don’t leave anything blank, if you have too guess! 

english section

answer choice: No change

• It’s okay to fill in No Change as your answer, 21% of your total answers will be “No Change”
• If you think nothing is wrong, then nothing is probably wrong.

Semicolon (;)

• A semicolon can always be replaced with a period and start a new sentence.
• Used to separate two closely related independent clauses linked with a transitional phrase or conjunctive adverb.
• Used to separate two closely related topics without a coordinating conjunction (and, but, etc.)

comma (,)

• The biggest punctuation on the ACT
• the colon is usually overused or not needed at all.

Dashes (--)

• Dashes are used as a ‘super comma’
• Can be used to set off parenthetical phrases or appositive or to indicate an interruption

Contractions v. Possessives

• Many questions will test your knowledge of apostrophe 

verb agreement

• Skill that is commonly tested on the ACT
• Subject Verb Agreement:
• Usually, the noun closest to the verb will indicate a different verb choice.
• Verb Tense:
• Use the passage to help you with the underlined section

Pronouns

• Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement:
• The pronoun agrees with the noun 

Who, Whom, Which or That?

• “Which” and “That” refer to objects, and not to people
• “Whom” is an objective pronoun, typically part of the direct/indirect object
• “Who” is typically part of the subject

mathematics section

the breakdown

• Trigonometry (4 questions)
• Geometry (23 questions)
• Algebra (33 questions)

Eliminating Answer Choices

• If you know what the final answer should looks like 
• then the answer choices that you know are not like the answer you want
• then don’t be afraid to eliminate it!

Methods for Solving: Word Problems

• “Plug in Method”
• "Traditional Method"

Quadratic Equations

• One of the most important skills to know for the ACT 
• Most questions ask to solve the equation 
• Harder questions, use the answer choices to help you find the correct answer.

Angles

• Triangle Sum Theorem 
• 360 degrees in a circle  
• Supplementary Angles & Complementary Angles
• Corresponding Angles 
• Vertical Angles 

Area and Perimeter

• Easy questions on the ACT
• Formulas to know:
• Rectangle: Base x Height
• Triangle: ½ Base x Height
• Circle: Pi x Radius^2

Slope of a Line

• Know the slope-intercept formula: 
• y=mx+b 
• Relationship of parallel lines: Same slope  
• Relationship of perpendicular lines: 
• Negative reciprocal of each other

Probability

• Most probability questions are very simple
• just make sure you answer what the question is asking!

x-intercept

• x-intercept: the x value when the y value is 0

y-intercept

• y-intercept: the y value when the x value is 0

Exponents

• Common Questions:
• Multiplying exponents with the same base 
• Power of a power rule

Scientific Notation

• Need to know a basic understanding
• you will be asked to solve a problem and express your answer in scientific notatio

Distance and Midpoint

• Distance Formula: d= square root of (x2 – x1)^2 + (y2 – y1)^2 
• Midpoint Formula: (x1 + x2/2 , y1 + y2/2)

Pythagorean Theorem

• a^2+b^2=c^2
• 3 questions that directly use this
• Don't be afraid to use it to help you with other problems!

Trigonometry

• Remember: SohCahToa
• (S)in= (O)pposite/(H)ypotenuse
• (C)os= (A)djacent/(H)ypotenuse
• (T)an= (O)pposite/(A)djacent

REading section

Passage types

• Prose Fiction
• Social Sciences
• Humanities
• Natural Sciences

Specific References

• These questions directly state a line or quote from the passage
• These are usually the easiest and the quickest

Lead Words

• Try and find words in a question that are: 
• Italicized
• Proper Nouns
• “Words with Quotation Marks”

Reverse Lead Words

• These types of questions normally include the word: EXCEPT
• Look for words that rarely or do not appear in the passage
• These questions are sometimes difficult

Don’t Study!

• You do not have time to read all the passages in great detail
• take 3 minutes for each passage
• Look for words that are capitalized or bolded, for example “ALL”, “NEVER”, “ALWAYS
• If you don’t know a word or phrase being used, don’t let it slow you dow
• It might not be important

Main Types of Questions

• Main Idea
• Specific Detail
• Conclusion/Inference
• Extrapolation
• Vocabulary

Science Section

types of passages

• Experiment Passages (3)
• Charts/Graphs (3)
• Disputing Scientists (1)

Introduction

• Don't pay attention to the introductions
• Will waste time and slow you down

Spotting the Difference

• Observe the data
• Determine the variables:
• What is being changed
• Control
• What is being collected

Arguing Scientists

• Usually disagreement on a specific concept
• Keep track of what is different in their thoughts and thesis
• Don’t get confused with scientific and technical terms
• If you need to know it, they will tell you

Identifying Trends

• Check graphs:
• Positive Trends or Negative Trends
• Also see if the relationship of the variables is inverse or direct