What is the ACT? The ACT, short for the American College Test, is a standardized test offered by ACT, Inc. for undergraduate college admissions. In this post, we will cover everything you need to know about the ACT test, including when, where, and how to take the test; how the ACT is scored and what is a good ACT score; how hard is the ACT; how to send ACT scores; tips for studying for the exam; and much more. Read on for a complete guide on the ACT, and use the Table of Contents below to jump to any topic you’re interested in.
Table Of Contents
The ACT is comprised of five sections: English, Math, Reading, Science, and Writing. The English, Math, Reading, and Science sections are required sections with multiple choice questions. The Writing section is optional and involves writing one response to a prompt in 40 minutes.
| Section | # of questions | Time | Time per question |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | 75 | 45 minutes | 36 seconds |
| Math | 60 | 60 minutes | 60 seconds |
| Reading | 40 | 35 minutes | 52.5 seconds |
| Science | 40 | 35 minutes | 52.5 seconds |
| Writing (optional) | 1 | 40 minutes | 40 minutes |
| Total (without Writing) | 215 | 175 minutes | 49 seconds |
Let’s go over each section in detail.
Production of writing (29-32% of the ACT English section)
Production of writing questions test your ability to decipher information and identify the author’s purpose in passages. You will need to be able to identify purposes of parts of texts, determine whether the text has achieved that purpose, and evaluate whether the text is reflective of the material mentioned. Think of this like a school assignment where you’re being asked to evaluate an argument and determine whether it is valid and supported by the evidence.
Knowledge of language (15-17% of the ACT English section)
Knowledge of language questions ask you to evaluate and improve a sentence or phrase’s style, tone, and meaning. This section is focused on vocabulary, conciseness, and rhetorical style. These questions focus on word choice (including splitting hairs between similar-but-slightly-different vocabulary words), and maintaining a consistent style and tone within the sentence or related to the passage.
How to beat the ACT English section
Algebra (12-15% of the ACT Math section)
Algebra I and II are both covered extensively in the ACT. These questions will ask you to solve or graph different types of expressions and equations. The types of equations you’ll see include linear, polynomial, exponential, radical, and systems of equations.
Functions (12-15% of the ACT Math section)
Functions questions will ask you to show that you can use functions (naturally), from the basic to the complex. You will need to be able to use most common function types including linear, radial, polynomial, exponential, and logarithmic functions. This section also contains a fair amount of graphs.
Geometry (12-15% of the ACT Math section)
Geometry, which is the mathematical properties of 2D and 3D shapes, is also tested heavily on the ACT Math. You will need to understand the relationships between sides and angles of different shapes and how to calculate area, perimeter, and volume of these shapes. You will often be asked to use existing information to determine missing values. Trigonometry does appear in harder questions, but it is not common.
Statistics & Probability (8-12% of the ACT Math section)
Statistics & probability questions ask you to interpret data sets and understand the relationships between the data variables. You will also be asked to calculate probabilities and review data collection methods.
As you can see, the types of problems you’ll see within Preparing for Higher Math are pretty evenly distributed. You’ll want to make sure you brush up on all the math you’ve learned since middle school to stay on top of the ACT Math section.
Integrating Essential Skills (40-43% of the ACT Math section)
Integrating Essential Skills questions test your ability to solve complex problems by utilizing the things you’ve learned in high school math. These problems are intended to be tricky, requiring you to combine concepts from multiple Preparing for Higher Math subcategories. You will need to be strong in relationships between objects, rates and percentages, calculating geometry values like area and volume in complicated situations, calculating averages in complicated situations, and expressing numbers in various ways.
Modeling (present throughout the ACT Math section)
Modeling is a weird category, because it is sort of behind the scenes throughout the ACT Math section. Modeling is the interpretation and manipulation of numbers in models – and models are “an abstract description of a concrete system using mathematical concepts and language.” Basically, what this means is that you’re going to be dealing with modeling any time you’ve got a question about how fast two trains are going, how much water it will take to fill a pool, et cetera. You’ve seen all of these before in your schoolwork, it’s just important to recognize that the key challenge with these wordy problems is figuring out what the math problem actually is.
The Integrating Essential Skills example question above also serves as a good example of how modeling comes into play on the ACT Math section.
How to beat the ACT Math section
Practice makes perfect. Math is a field where practice can make a big difference, and the ACT Math section is no exception. Make sure you are practicing the ACT Math questions that you’re getting wrong, and go back into your reading material to review where your mistakes are coming from. You should also tailor your practice to how frequently the question types appear:
Additionally, the ACT Math section is commonly one where students run out of time to properly answer all questions. This is intentional – the test gets harder and harder as you get from question 1 to question 60 – and it means that smart time management is crucial. Use problem solving procedures like annotations and crossing out wrong answer choices to move quickly through the first 40 questions of the section. Then, you will hopefully have more time to have a good shot at the last 20 difficult questions. And make sure you guess on any unanswered questions as the time is almost up – better to have a 25% chance of a correct answer than zero.
Lastly, make sure you review ACT’s calculator policy and get some practice in with your ACT calculator beforehand. It will likely not be the same one you use in school, and figuring out calculator functionality on test day is a waste of your valuable time.
Source: ACT Assessment Practice Test 71E, 2013
Scientific investigation (20-30% of the ACT Science section)
Scientific investigation questions test your ability to understand experiment design such as controls and variables, and then compare, expand upon, or change those experiments. You will be asked to answer questions about how experiments are set up, what the results indicate, whether the hypothesis of the experiment is proven or disproven, and to predict the results of additional trials.
Evaluation of models, inferences, and experimental results (25-35% of the ACT Science section)
Evaluation of models, inferences, and experimental results questions test your ability to evaluate scientific information, question its validity, and draw conclusions based on that information. You will be asked to critically evaluate scientific experiments and their conclusions based on the data available.
How to beat the ACT Science section
Don’t be intimidated by the science topics presented in this section – this is more like a data interpretation section than a science one and you’ll most likely be given everything you need to answer each question in the material provided. Think of it as a fact finding exercise – a treasure hunt, if you will – more than a science test. Here’s a few tips to help you beat the ACT Science section:
The optional ACT Writing section tests you on the writing skills that you learned in high school English classes, including your ability to write an essay with good structure and organization, use appropriate vocabulary and grammar, create and share ‘productive’ ideas, provide thoughtful perspective on the assigned topic, develop and support your perspective with evidence, and share the implications of your perspective.
The ACT Writing section is graded on four writing domains from a 1-6 scale by two graders, for a final score of 2-12 in each domain. Then, your final score is the average of those four domai scores. The four domains are:
Insider tip: Getting a perfect 12 score on the ACT Writing section is extremely rare, so don’t fret if you don’t get a perfect score.
Recommended structure for your ACT Writing essay
You need to write an essay that nails all of the domains above while also being about a complex topic you’ve likely never seen before. To do this, it helps to have a plan, and having your essay structure in mind ahead of time makes writing the essay plug-and-play. We recommend the following structure for a powerful essay for the ACT Writing section:
How to beat the ACT Writing section?
The key to beating the ACT Writing section is to write for your audience. Your audience, in this case, is a professional ACT reader. They are typically an education professional that has a degree in the humanities or social sciences, and doing this as a part time job in addition to another full time job. Because of this, there are a few tactics you can employ to make your writing more engaging:
Should I take the ACT Writing section?
Obviously if a college that you are applying to requires the ACT Writing section, you should take it. However, if none of them do, then you have a choice.
The upside of taking the ACT Writing section lies in whether you are a strong writer, and whether writing is relevant to your major. If the ACT Writing section is truly optional for you, and you struggle with writing, it is better not to take it and focus on improving your ACT English and Reading scores. If you are a good writer, then it could be beneficial to submit a strong ACT Writing score if you are applying for an English, Writing, or Humanities major. And finally, if you are applying to a very competitive college, a good ACT Writing score can only help.
The ACT is 2 hours and 55 minutes of test time. Including breaks, the full exam takes about 3 hours and 30 minutes total. If you opt to do the ACT Writing section, then the test becomes a total of 3 hours and 40 minutes, or a little over 4 hours when you include breaks.
| Section | # of questions | Time | Time per question |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | 75 | 45 minutes | 36 seconds |
| Math | 60 | 60 minutes | 60 seconds |
| Reading | 40 | 35 minutes | 52.5 seconds |
| Science | 40 | 35 minutes | 52.5 seconds |
| Writing (optional) | 1 | 40 minutes | 40 minutes |
| Total (without Writing) | 215 | 175 minutes | 49 seconds |
The ACT costs $68 for basic registration with no ACT Writing section. This includes score reports for you, your high school, and up to four colleges. If you’d like to add the ACT Writing section, then the ACT costs $93 and includes the same reports.
There are additional fees for actions that you can take regarding administration of the test:
If you ‘meet one or more of the indicators of economic need’ according to the ACT, you may be eligible for ACT’s Fee Waiver Program. Visit their website to see if you qualify.
The ACT is a college admissions test, so it is meant to measure your readiness for college courses. It is designed to challenge high school juniors and seniors on a typical academic path, without testing you on things that you do not know. It is similar in difficulty to the SAT, the other popular standardized college admissions test. Let’s explore what makes the ACT hard and provide comparison between the ACT and SAT along the way.
Time constraint
The primary thing that makes the ACT hard, and harder for some students than the SAT, is the time constraint. The ACT totals 175 minutes and 215 questions, so you will need to answer most questions in under a minute, and in some sections even less. This is challenging for students that are slower paced, and can sometimes lead to increased test anxiety and mistakes. To address this, you should prioritize earlier questions in each section, which are easier, and include time limits in your practice so you get used to the pace of the exam.
Lack of math formulas
The ACT does not provide the key math formulas you need to solve the problems in the ACT Math section. This means it is up to you to memorize and know how to apply these formulas.
Advanced math
The ACT contains more advanced math (specifically algebra II and trigonometry) than the SAT, though it is in small quantities and only present in the harder questions on the ACT.
Long passages
The ACT Reading and English sections both contain long passages that you must read and then answer multiple questions about. This is in contrast to the new digital SAT, which only uses short passages with one question per passage. If you are not a fast reader or English is not your first language, these long passages can make the ACT more difficult.
Science section
The ACT Science section is unique to the ACT. While the section does not require specific scientific knowledge, it does require you to be able to understand charts, graphs, experiments, and other data – and draw conclusions from that data. This can be challenging for students that struggle with data or applied math.
All in all, the ACT is similar in difficulty to the SAT, but has some differences that can be challenging for certain test takers.
Table Of Contents
Your ACT score is actually two scores. First, you have your raw score, which is simply how many problems you got right out of the possible total. Then, that raw score is converted to a “scale score” by ACT, which is what you and the colleges you submit the score to see.
Think of this as grading on a curve. Your raw score is how many problems you got right or wrong. Each test is a little different, so after collecting data about the test, the ACT converts this to a scaled score based on their calculated difficulty of the exam and the number of questions that other test takers got on that section.
Your scaled score for each section is a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 36, with 36 being the best. Then, your four section scores (each between 1 and 36) are averaged to create your Composite score. Colleges see both your individual section scores and the Composite score.
If you take the ACT more than once, you may be able to take advantage of “super scoring”. Some colleges will let you submit your best ACT section score from each section, regardless of whether they happened on the same test day. For instance, if:
Super scoring gives you the ability to employ a useful prioritization strategy: between tests, focus on your weak score areas and upkeep but not focus on the areas you scored well in. In the example above, if you scored a 35 on the ACT Math in September, then you know you’re probably good in that section, and can focus on improving your weakest scoring categories.
The best way to gauge a good ACT score is by comparing your score to the ACT scores of other students applying to your target universities. This data is often available on the university website, in the US News & World Report Rankings of the best colleges, or through a Google search (try “University name ACT score average”). In general, you want ACT scores above the average of your target school if you want to improve your chances of getting in through your test scores. However, do keep in mind that half of students are admitted with below average scores (that’s how averages work after all), so don’t fret if you’re not hitting your goals. There are many aspects of a college application that factor into admissions decisions, including your background, extracurriculars, capstone project, essay, and references.
In addition to looking at average scores, you should look for data about your target school’s ACT percentiles. A percentile is essentially “what percentage of total applicants that the score beats”. So a score that is 90th percentile is better than 90% of all ACT test takers applying to that school. In general, it is very hard to get into a college when your score is below the 25th percentile (in the bottom 25% of scores), and a score above the 75th percentile (in the top 25% of scores) will improve your admissions chances.
To give you some guidance, below are the percentile scores for the ACT averaged across the entire US:
| Scaled score | English percentile | Math percentile | Reading percentile | Science percentile | Composite percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 35 | 99 | 99 | 98 | 99 | 99 |
| 34 | 97 | 99 | 96 | 99 | 99 |
| 33 | 95 | 98 | 94 | 97 | 98 |
| 32 | 94 | 97 | 92 | 96 | 97 |
| 31 | 92 | 96 | 90 | 95 | 95 |
| 30 | 91 | 95 | 88 | 94 | 94 |
| 29 | 90 | 94 | 86 | 93 | 92 |
| 28 | 88 | 92 | 84 | 91 | 90 |
| 27 | 87 | 90 | 81 | 89 | 87 |
| 26 | 85 | 87 | 79 | 87 | 85 |
| 25 | 82 | 83 | 76 | 84 | 81 |
| 24 | 79 | 79 | 74 | 80 | 78 |
| 23 | 75 | 75 | 69 | 74 | 74 |
| 22 | 71 | 71 | 64 | 67 | 69 |
| 21 | 66 | 68 | 59 | 62 | 64 |
| 20 | 60 | 65 | 53 | 56 | 59 |
| 19 | 55 | 61 | 48 | 50 | 53 |
| 18 | 51 | 56 | 43 | 44 | 47 |
| Mean | 19.0 | 19.4 | 20.5 | 20.0 | 19.9 |
| Source: ACT, Inc. | |||||
The ACT is offered on designated national test dates at high school and local school campuses in February, April, June, July, September, October, and December. For specific dates, see our post about ACT test dates, or you can review the key information below:
| Year | Test Date | Deadlines | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registration | Late Registration | Standby & Photo | ||
| 2023 | October 28 | September 22 | October 6 | October 20 |
| December 9 | November 3 | November 17 | December 1 | |
| 2024 | February 10 | January 5 | January 19 | February 2 |
| April 13 | March 8 | March 22 | April 5 | |
| June 8 | May 3 | May 17 | May 31 | |
| July 13* | June 7 | June 21 | July 5 | |
Remember, if you miss the late registration deadline, you can request standby testing. This gives you the opportunity to take the test on that date so long as there are seats available. Your testing fee will be refunded if you do not get seated.
Many students will start their studying in the summer, which lines up well with the September ACT test date. Then you have another month to prepare to retake it in October, or three months to prepare to retake it in December. This is the typical schedule, but there are also many students that have summer jobs or other commitments, so they may opt to take the ACT on another schedule.
Scores are sent out two weeks after each national test date, but it can sometimes take up to eight weeks. Therefore, you should schedule your test for at least two weeks before the score deadline for your target universities. If your score is already available and you request an additional score report, that report is often sent within one business day.
How long to study for the ACT? A general guideline is that you should study for at least 2-3 months. As we mentioned before, dedicating a summer to ACT prep is generally a good idea if you’re targeting the September test date. You should expect to spend at least 100 hours studying, which over 8 weeks (2 months) is 12 hours per week, or over 12 weeks (3 months) is 8 hours per week. Be sure to schedule this study time in advance to ensure you leave space for it!
Naturally, the more you want to increase your score, the more that you should expect to need to study. If you want to improve your ACT score by 10 points or more, then six months of dedicated studying is recommended.
The ACT tests you on what you learned in high school math, English, and science classes, so your first order of business is to make sure you have learned all of the prominent concepts in each of these classes. Oftentimes, you will need to go back and revisit your notes or old books to ensure that you remember things like the Pythagorean triples or other important formulas. Revisiting this material can also help you with studying down the road as you organize your notes. Then, once you’ve got that down, it’s time to move on to true ACT preparation.
There are many ways to prepare for the ACT, but at a high level, there are four main paths (ordered from least to most expensive):
In all of the above options, the quality of your ACT preparation materials is going to vary depending on the instructor you get or the course you purchase. For online courses, the quality of the software also makes a big impact.
One economical approach that we recommend is to start with an online self-study course, and then hire a tutor to target weak areas. A good online self-study course should point out your weak areas and give you practice problems that you can bring to a tutor, teacher, or parent for review. And if cost is no object, then going with a tutor from the beginning will be your most personalized and hands-on option.
