Today, I wanted to give you a primer on everything ACT. At the least I want you to leave knowledgeable about the structure, content and scoring of this former ‘test of the Midwest’ so you can make the most of your ACT preparation.
The ACT has four mandatory sections and one optional section. The four mandatory sections are English, Mathematics, Reading and Science. The sections always appear in the aforementioned order. If a student chooses to take the Writing section, which is optional, s/he will take that before the other sections. All of the sections, with the exception of the Writing Section, are scored on a scale from 1 to 36, and one’s final score is the average of these four scores.
The "Musts": The Core of the ACT Exam
English
The first section, English, has 75 questions for which the test-taker gets 45 minutes to complete. The questions are related to one of five passages. Each passage has 15 questions associated with it. These questions test punctuation, grammar, usage, organization, style and sentence structure.
Mathematics
In the Mathematics section, there are 60 questions, and one gets 60 minutes to complete these questions. The questions test math concepts and formulas from arithmetic, pre-algebra, elementary algebra, intermediate algebra, coordinate geometry, plane geometry and basic trigonometry (e.g., SOHCAHTOA). Just like the SAT, one can use his/her calculator but only on the Mathematics section. Sometimes, small calculations are required on the Science section, but the test-taker cannot whip out his/her calculator to do them.
Reading
In both the Reading and the Science section that follows, one gets thirty-five minutes to complete each section. There are four passages with a total of forty questions. Usually there will be one prose, one social studies, one natural science and one humanities passage. Most students do not consider the questions difficult if given all the time in the world but answering forty questions in thirty-five minutes can be a total feat. Practice is strongly encouraged.
Science
Just like the Reading section, the test-taker gets thirty-five minutes to complete this portion. There are 7 passages, with verbal descriptions of a given science topic and charts and graphs that require analysis given the questions. One can gain significant improvement in this section with practice and tutoring in how to read these graphs and charts quickly and also learn what one absolutely needs to read. Cutting out reading is a tactic many good test-takers do on the Science to gain time.
The "Maybe": Writing Test on the ACT
As ACTstudent.org says on its site: “Taking the Writing Test does not affect your subject area scores or your Composite score.” Instead, the Writing Section is scored on a scale from 2 to 12. When doing ACT preparation with tutors and/or getting application help from consultants or college-career counselors, they will often encourage their students to take the Writing Section. Why? Because many schools will take the ACT + Writing section in lieu of the SAT (which has a mandatory writing section factored into the Writing score). Colleges then feel that the ACT is comparable to the SAT. However, many students do opt out of the Writing Section, either because the college they are applying to does not require it, or they are also taking the SAT. If you are not sure, please consult the admissions offices of the schools to which you, your child or your charge is applying.
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