Introduction to the ACT

The ACT (or American College Testing Assessment) is one of the two major standardized college entrance tests taken in the United States today (the SAT I is the other). It's growing in popularity nationally. Approximately 1.7 million copies of the test are administered annually; this figure includes repeat test-takers. Some test-takers take either the ACT or the SAT I, while many take both tests, depending on the requirements of the colleges applied to.

Standardized tests like the SAT I and ACT are designed to allow college admissions officers to judge all students by a common yardstick. The tests compensate for the uncertainty surrounding high school grades because of school-to-school differences such as grade inflation and quality of teaching. They are designed to predict first-year college academic performance.

Test Format

The ACT is broken into four tests, always administered in the same order: English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science Reasoning. The total test time is 2 hours and 55 minutes. The entire test is in a multiple-choice format.

One Size Fits All

One good reason for considering the ACT is that it may save you from having to take four SAT tests. Many competitive colleges now require applicants to take both the SAT I Reasoning Test and up to three SAT II Subject Tests. But there are a number of schools that do not require you to take SAT II tests if you take the ACT. So taking the ACT might save you hours of testing (and even more hours of preparation).

Of course, before you get too excited about the one-size-fits-all ACT, keep in mind that these policies vary from school to school. There are a number of schools that require the SAT II regardless of their ACT or SAT I requirements.

ACT or SAT: Which Gives You the Edge?

You might wonder why you have to choose between the SAT and the ACT. Ten or 20 years ago, choosing which test to take was not even an issue. Until recently, colleges in the mid-west traditionally required the ACT, and the SAT was the test of choice in the northeast and on the east and west coasts. But now an increasing number of students are taking the ACT, and the majority of schools in the United States now accept both SAT and ACT test results.

How Does This Affect You?

The increased acceptance of the ACT gives today's students a strategic advantage. The SAT and ACT are significantly different tests, and in many ways, they measure different skills. Therefore, depending on your particular strengths and weaknesses, you may perform much better on one test than the other. As a result, many students embarking on the admissions process are now considering both the SAT and ACT--to figure out which test provides a better showcase for their abilities.

What is the Difference?

Admissions officers and educators often describe the difference between SAT and ACT in these terms: the ACT is a content-based test, whereas the SAT tests critical thinking and problem solving. This perception is one reason many educators express a preference for the ACT--because they believe that the ACT is closer to testing the "core curriculum" taught in most school classrooms. Many questions on the ACT test critical thinking, and there is a predictable range of material that is tested on the SAT. But the SAT and ACT reward different attributes, so performing well on each test can boil down to what kind of test taker you are.
Here are some of the factors that make the SAT and ACT very different breeds:

• The ACT includes a science-reasoning test; the SAT does not.
• The ACT math section includes trigonometry.
• The SAT tests vocabulary much more than the ACT.
• The SAT is not entirely multiple choice.
• The SAT has a guessing penalty; the ACT does not.
• The ACT tests English grammar; the SAT does not.

Remember, both the SAT and ACT are important parts of your application, but they are only one of several factors--from your courses and grades to recommendations and your personal statement--that colleges consider.

Focus: ACT English Test

The English Test is 45 minutes long and includes 75 questions. That works out to about 30 seconds per question. The test is divided into five passages, each with about 15 questions. Students almost always get more questions correct in English than in any other section. That might make you think that this test is a lot easier than the rest of the ACT, but it is not that simple. Because most students do well, the test makers have much higher expectations for English than for other parts of the test. Note also that you have less time per question on the English test than on any of the other three tests so you will have to move fast on this test.

Almost all of the English questions follow a standard format. A word, phrase, or sentence in a passage is underlined. You are given four options: to leave the underlined portion alone ("NO CHANGE," which is always the first choice), or to replace it with one of three alternatives. About a third of the questions on the English section tests writing economy, about another third tests for logic and sense, and only the remaining third tests rules of grammar.

Some ACT English questions--usually about 10 per exam--do not follow this standard format. These items pose a question and offer four possible responses. In many cases, the responses are either "yes" or "no," with an explanation. Pay attention to the reasoning. Many of the nonstandard questions appear at the end of a passage. Some ask about the meaning, purpose, or tone of individual paragraphs or of the passage as a whole. Others ask you to evaluate the passage; and still others ask you to determine the proper order of words, sentences, or paragraphs that have been scrambled in the passage.

• Try skimming an English passage before starting work on the questions.
• On questions that ask you to judge the passage, lean toward selecting a choice that approves of it.
• Choose answers that match the level of formality of the entire passage.
• The best way to write something is the shortest correct way of writing it.
• If you speak a "nonstandard" dialect, be extra careful with questions that focus on idioms.
• Watch for subject-verb and noun-pronoun agreement.
• Make sure parenthetical phrases begin and end with the same punctuation mark.
• Be on the lookout for both sentence fragments and run-on sentences.

Focus: ACT Math Test

The Math test is 60 minutes long and includes 60 questions. That works out to a minute a question, but some will take more time than that, some less. All of the math questions have the same basic multiple-choice format. They ask a question and offer five possible choices. The questions cover a full range of math topics, from pre-algebra and elementary algebra through intermediate algebra, coordinate geometry, plane geometry, and even trigonometry. The questions are not ordered in terms of difficulty like the SATs, but questions drawn from elementary school or junior high curricula tend to come earlier in the section, while those from high school tend to come later.

About a third of the math questions either give you a diagram or a situation that should be diagrammed. The key is to let the diagram tell you what you need to know. For almost half of all diagram questions, you can get a reasonable answer by looking over the diagram.

Another third of the math questions are story problems. You know the type: Evan drove halfway home at 20 miles per hour, then sped up and drove the rest of the way at 30 miles per hour....and so on. A good way to resolve and comprehend a story problem is to think of a real situation just like the one in the story.

Finally, about a third of the math questions directly ask you to demonstrate your knowledge of specific math concepts.

Here are some tips:

• UNDERSTAND: Focus on the question stem and think to yourself, "What kind of question is this? What am I looking for? What am I given?"
• ANALYZE: Do not start crunching numbers until you have given the problem a little thought. Look for patterns and shortcuts. Ask yourself, "What is a quick and reliable way to find the correct answer?"
• SELECT: Once you get an answer--or once you get stuck--check the answer choices. If your answer is listed, fill in the bubble and move on. If it is not, narrow down the choices as best you can by a process of elimination and then guess.

Focus: ACT Science Reasoning Test

The Science Reasoning test is 35 minutes long and includes 40 questions. The test contains seven passages, each followed by five to seven questions. Factoring out the amount of time you will initially spend on the passage leaves you a little more than 30 seconds for each question. You do not have to be a scientist to succeed on the ACT Science Reasoning test. All that is required is common sense.

On most Science Reasoning tests, there are three passages that present scientific data and three passages that discuss specific experiments. In addition, there is usually one passage in which two scientists state opposing views on the same issue. Each passage will generate five to seven questions. A warning: Some of these passages will be very difficult to understand, but they will usually make up for that fact by having many easy questions attached to them.

About a third of the questions in the Science Reasoning test requires you to read data from graphs or tables. In easier questions, you will need only to report the information. In harder questions, you may need to draw inferences or note patterns in the data.

Other Science Reasoning questions require that you understand the way experiments are designed and what they prove.

The remaining Science Reasoning questions require you either to apply a principle logically, or to identify ways of defending or attacking a principle. Often, the question will involve two scientists stating opposing views on the same subject. But this is not always the case. A passage might describe two theories that describe the same phenomenon.

General Tips

• Read through the instructions carefully to orient yourself.
• Do not worry about details on your initial read-through.
• Always refer to the passage and the question stem before selecting an answer.
• In order to read most graphs and tables, you have to do four things: Determine what is being represented, determine what the axes represent, take note of units of measurement, and look for trends in the data.

When reading data, you should be on the lookout for the three characteristic patterns or trends: Extremes (maximums and minimums), critical points (or points of change), and direct or inverse variation (or proportionality).

Focus: ACT Reading Test

The Reading test is 35 minutes long and includes 40 questions. The test contains four passages, each of which is followed by 10 questions. When you factor out the amount of time you will initially spend on the passages, this works out to about 30 seconds per question--more for some, less for others.

You will get one in each of the four reading passage categories: Social Studies, Natural Sciences, Humanities, and Prose Fiction. The passages are about 1,000 words long and are written at about the same difficulty level as college textbooks. After each passage, you will find 10 questions. There are really only three different categories of Reading questions: Specific Detail, Inference, and Big Picture.

General Tips

• Read actively, with an eye toward where the author is going.
• Do not get bogged down in the specific details of the passage.
• Do not let the answer choices direct your thinking.
• Always refer to the passage before choosing an answer.
• Build a mental road map for all nonfiction passages--an outline of the major points covered.
• Do not try to construct a mental road map for the Prose Fiction passage. Instead, pay attention to the story and the characters.
• When given a specific line reference, always read a few sentences before and after the cited lines, to get a sense of the context.
• Answer the easy questions for each passage first. Skip the tough ones and come back to them later.

ACT Scoring

Your ACT score is not merely the sum total of questions you got correct. Instead, what the test makers do is add up all of your correct answers to get what they call "a raw score." Then, they use a formula to convert the raw score into an official score. That score--which has been put through what they call a scoring formula--is your "scaled score."

Scores

ACT scaled scores range from 1 to 36. Nearly half of all test takers score within a much narrower range: 17 to 23. Tests at different dates vary slightly, but the following are typical:

Percentile Rank	ACT Composite Score	Approximate Correct
99 percent	31	90 percent
90 percent	26	75 percent
76 percent	23	63 percent
54 percent	20	53 percent
28 percent	17	43 percent

Notice that to earn a score of 20 (the national average), you need to answer only about 53 percent of the questions correct. On most tests, getting only a bit more than half of the questions right would be terrible. Not on the ACT. That fact alone should ease some of your anxiety about how hard this test is. You can miss loads of ACT questions and still get a good score.

How Many Scores Will You Get?

The "ACT scaled score" we have talked about so far is technically called the "Composite Score." It is the really important one. However, when you take the ACT, you actually receive 12 different scores: The Composite Score, four subject scores, and seven subscores.

How Do Colleges Use Your ACT Score?

You may have heard that the ACT is really the only thing colleges look at when deciding whether to admit you. Untrue. Most admissions officers say that the ACT is only one of several factors they take into consideration. Here is this neat and easy way of comparing all students numerically, no matter what their academic backgrounds and no matter how much grade inflation exists at their high schools. You know the admissions faculty are going to take a serious look at your scores.

The most important score is the Composite Score (which is an average of the four subject scores). This is the score used by most colleges and universities in the admissions process. The four subject scores and seven subscores may be used for advanced placement or occasionally for scholarships, but are primarily used by college advisors to help students select majors and first-year courses.

Top 10 Test-Day Tips

1. BE EQUIPPED On the night before the test you should gather everything you will need: the admission ticket, a valid form of photo identification, several #2 pencils, a calculator with fresh batteries, a watch, and a high-energy snack to satisfy your brain.

2. DON'T CRAM You have worked hard. The best thing to do the evening before the test is to get a good night's sleep. You have covered the content and you have perfected the skills. Now it is time to get in test mode--calm, rested, confident, and ready.

3. DRESS IN LAYERS The climate in test centers can vary from sauna-like to frigid. Be prepared for both extremes and everything in-between. You need to be comfortable to do your best.

4. ARRIVE EARLY You may want to scope out your test location before test day to ensure that you know where you are going. Getting to the test should be the least of your concerns.

5. DON'T SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON ONE QUESTION Each question is worth the same number of points. If a question is confusing or too time-consuming, do not lose your cool. Instead, move on to the next question. You can come back to hard questions if you have time at the end of a section.

6. DON'T LOOK FOR UNSCORED QUESTIONS/SECTIONS Sometimes the ACT contains experimental questions that are scattered throughout the sections. Do your best on every question--that way, you are covered.

7. KEEP TRACK OF WHERE YOU ARE IN A SECTION

8. GUESS AGGRESSIVELY If you do not know an answer, do not leave the question blank or guess randomly. Eliminate the choices you know are wrong, then make an educated guess from the remaining options. The entire ACT has no wrong-answer penalties, so always put your best guess down in these situations.

9. BE CAREFUL FILLING IN THE ANSWER GRID Make sure you are filling in answers next to the right numbers.

10. RELAX Your attitude and outlook are crucial to your test-day performance. Be confident.