This is based off of my personal experience and academic background. I indicated the most important tips with a 🔯.

General:

Abuse Process of Elimination. This is usually good test-taking advice, but this means that for Math you’re backsolving problems if you can’t solve it quickly. This means for Reading you’re directly cross-referencing certain phrases to the passage in order to eliminate them. POE is an immensely useful technique.

English: This section is all about being careful, precise, and consistent. Don’t zone out on this section or you won’t pick up on important details.

Read every single word; do not ever quick-read (skim) on this section ever. Each and every word will likely play some relevant grammatical role, even if it’s in a paragraph that does not have a question in it. Oftentimes, one word will define aspects of context and grammatical syntax that are needed to answer questions. There is a time and place on the ACT to skim; this is not it.

Do each question one at a time and read the entire passage line-by line. The ACT English Section is formatted in such a way to make this easy and intuitive. Bubble your answer sheet in AFTER you complete two pages of problems (circle in the booklet until then).

Don’t get lazy with your grammar. Plural words should always be paired with the appropriate plural words. Verb tenses should be consistent. Confirm that contractions are being used correctly. If you run into an appositive, cover it with your finger (or mentally) in order to check that the grammar on either side is correct.

Semicolons are only ever used when there is a COMPLETE sentence on both sides, and the second sentence is a continuation of the first’s idea. Otherwise, an em dash (—), comma, or new sentence is used.

Don’t fall for the “therefore” trap. A sentence that uses therefore to attach two clauses is a run-on sentence and is not grammatically correct.

Example for Tips 3 & 4:

I got sushi earlier today therefore I am not hungry. INCORRECT

I got sushi earlier today; therefore, I am not hungry. CORRECT

I got sushi earlier today. Therefore, I am not hungry. CORRECT

I got sushi earlier today—therefore, I am not hungry. CORRECT

🔯 Always choose the most concise answer. That is, choose the answer that uses the least amount of words and verbiage to say what is being said. On one previously released ACT I took, the correct answer was only one word off from an incorrect answer, and both were grammatically sound. In that case, ALWAYS pick the shorter one. However, this does not hold true if the meaning is changed by a word being exempted. Adhering to this rule boosted my English score 2-3 points on average.

Math: Math is the simplest but the hardest section. Your success is contingent on how much you practice the math and how strong your math foundation is. There are probably five trick problems per test and the rest are straightforward (but require a wide range of math know-how).

Memorize all relevant formulas ahead of time. Annie can advocate that I could never remember the midpoint formula on all of my practice tests. One formula that occasionally appears that most prep books will not include is d = r*t (this also appears in Science occasionally).

While practicing, spend the majority of your time on geometry. For kids in Calculus or higher, the Trigonometry is very easy and consists of a miniscule (maximum five problems) amount of the test. The geometric properties and problem solving is generally where they will try to trick you. It also is the majority of the ACT (alongside basic algebra).

On roman numeral problems (those that ask you to determine which of I/II/III/IV is true and gives certain combinations in the answers), it is most time-efficient to eliminate answers based off of which roman numeral appears most often in the answer choices. If “II” appears three times in your answer choices, you should check if that one is true or not. If it is not true, you can eliminate all three of those answers. If it is true, you can eliminate the other two.

Use a two-pass system. In other words, speed through the Math section as fast as you can, skipping any problem you cannot immediately solve or any problem that would take too long to solve. Make sure to circle the problem in your textbook and answer it later. PLEASE DO NOT MESS UP THE ORDER OF THE BUBBLES ON YOUR ANSWER SHEET.

Use backsolving where applicable. ACT orders its answer choices from least to greatest. For problems that would not be faster if you were to regularly solve otherwise, it will save you time to plug in the middle answer (choice C/H). If the answer is too big, then you’ve eliminated not only that choice but also the last two choices as well (D, E/I, J). Be discriminating with this though. It will very often be better to solve the problem regularly. I personally only used this when I forgot how to regularly solve the problem.

Use the graphing function of your graphing calculator where you can. If you can see a way to solve a problem using the graphing/table function of your calculator (or some other function), go right ahead. I downloaded a system of equations solver for the ACT but didn’t use it. It did not appear on my test, but it did for some of my practice tests. Side note: make sure your calculator is an approved model (see ACT website).

Reading: I went from scoring in the 29-31 range to scoring 34-36 range consistently on practice tests by improving my technique. Reading is the most technique-driven section. Practice, as always, makes perfect.

Quickly order the passages from easiest to hardest. This should take no more than 2 seconds per passage. Glance at each passage and look at things like passage length, paragraph density, question length, and answer length to quickly determine whether you should prioritize this passage or not. Use your eye, not your brain. This will save you time in the long-run, though.

🔯 Do not do the questions in ACT’s order, ever. You should be doing questions in order of ease of reference. That is, the questions that you answer first should be the ones you can most quickly see in the passage. A question that says “On line 54…” should be the first one you do because you know exactly where to look. A question that asks for a big picture conclusion to be drawn should be answered later on.

Pick a reading technique that works for you. Some people will decide to skim (45-90 seconds) the passage and then go to the questions, continuously referring back to the passage as necessary. Some people will prefer to do a deep read (2-3 minutes) and then answer all of the questions. Others, like myself, will opt for a technique somewhere in the middle. I will detail my technique later, but I recommend practicing a variety of techniques to see which one is the most efficient. Since each Reading Section has four passages, I timed/scored myself using four different techniques for each of the passages to see which one worked best for me. In the end, the method I used shaved minutes off my time and boosted my score—but which one to pick is completely individual.

Read the blurb. The little chunk of information at the beginning (i.e. the one providing title, year, author, etc.) is actually extremely useful. Three seconds of reading may already tell you information like whether the piece is contemporary (based on year), what the general idea is (title/publication), or if it’s an author you recognize (and if so, what they are known for; some of the prose fiction/literary narrative pieces have subtexts).

How I boosted my average Reading score by ~5 points. It turns out that underlining is extremely useful.

Problem: I chose to deep read the passage (2-3 minutes) and then answer all of the questions, but I found that I had trouble knowing if my answers were correct or not because I did not know where things in the passage were if the questions did not provide that information. Thus, I continued to have the problem that I could always get the big picture questions correct, but I often missed basic fact/recall questions if the line number was not given.

Solution: Start by reading the questions but not the answers. Underline keywords (10-20 seconds) in the questions that stand out—years, names, scientific terms, or words that otherwise look specific to the passage are good examples. Now, deep read the passage, underlining anything that is similar to the things you underlined in the questions. Now that you have read the passage, answer the questions. You will be able to back-reference any of the questions to their appropriate line, which helps massively for recall/fact questions. Big picture questions will be easy too, since you have deep read the passage and hopefully absorbed it.

Science: This one is a little harder to give tips for. I did a LOT of practice Science passages in order to get a 36 on Science. This section is definitely one you can learn by doing. Time management is absolutely paramount for Science.

🔯 Glance at the graphs and data tables first; mark the trends. This means if the data table is downwards trending draw an arrow pointing downwards. Ditto for graphs. This helps you not get confused on some of the questions.

Go to the questions first. Many of the questions will be doable just from noticing basic trends in the graphs and tables. Thus, it would be a waste of time to fully read the passage beforehand. Only reference the passage if you need to find the definition for scientific vocabulary or experimental set-up. Only read as much of the passage as is absolutely necessary to do the questions.

Reorder the passages if necessary. If you get to a passage and immediately think “there’s no way I can do it,” just skip it. You can always come back to the passage at a later time. Don’t linger on Science at all (English and Math this is more okay). If you can’t answer a question correctly in around a minute, just mark it and come back later.

Ignore the scientific jargon. The basic formula for Science is a lot of unnecessary vocabulary and some simple data thrown at you in a small period of time in order to inundate you with information. Don’t get discouraged by big words: they often are very simple ideas that are defined or explained within the passage.

Writing: This section uses subjective grading but that just gives you even more wiggle room. Some people will tell you that they hate the way Writing works, but there’s a lot of things you can do to get a leg-up in the grading process. Looking at the rubrics will probably help you (here).

Also, if you’re transitioning from SAT to ACT, PLEASE look at the ACT Writing prompt. It is completely different than SAT in prompt and the approach you’ll have to take. A lot of people got screwed over by the ACT Writing prompt because they wrote this like an SAT essay. THIS IS NOT AN SAT ESSAY.

🔯🔯🔯 Your thesis statement should be in line with one of the three provided perspectives. Your essay should address one perspective per body paragraph. That is, two paragraphs will be on why the other two perspectives are flawed, and one will be on why your perspective is stronger.

Become a human thesaurus. There is an entire rubric category based on word choice. Even if your argument is utter garbage, using an erudite lexicon will monumentally expedite your Writing score.

🔯 Don’t try anything fancy. This is a standardized writing test taken by over a million kids every year. As such, the graders are trained to adhere to a very narrow idea of what a good essay looks like. Use five-paragraph format. Use regular point-support body paragraph formats. This is an extremely cookie-cutter essay, and it’s not bad at all for you essay to be that way.

Plan your essay. Forty minutes is generous, so make use of it. Spend 2-5 minutes planning you structure and supports.

🔯 You will never see this in an ACT prep book: make up BS evidence. Cite the New York Times, make up statistics, paraphrase anecdotes. The graders will NOT fact check you, so abuse that fact to make yourself sound more convincing. Make it believable, of course, but abuse it nevertheless.

Here’s the transcribed essay that I wrote and scored 35 on (I kept in any mistakes that I may have made on the test).

Sports and general athletics in education present a unique set of psychological and social benefits to students that are simply unattainable otherwise. The development of a student is a complex, multifaceted process for which science cannot fully comprehend. Promulgating a more holistic approach to education through sports will serve our students, sports, and society.

A well-intentioned, yet ultimately myopic consideration of athletics in education argues that a sense of community may be developed in this way. The fundamental misunderstanding which proponents of this stance succumb to is that these activities that allow for this sense of community are multitudinous and pervasive. Take something as essential and organic as family relations, for instance. Within one’s own family, a sense of community and goodwill may be easily fostered. Moreover, academic extracurriculars and interest clubs both offer much of the same. It is naive to assert that sports are the ubiquitous way to achieve this sense of community. This is not to say that sports are detrimental, however, as there are other, more valuable ways in which students may benefit from engaging in sports, namely through the development of otherwise difficult to learn skills.

Another flawed perspective addressing this issue belligerently accuses athletics of detracting from education itself. This is clearly untrue and represents yet another complete mischaracterization of sports’ role in education. To say that athletics threatens the purpose of education is to assume that the purpose of education is to unilaterally infuse students with information, rather than to foster the overall development of society’s future leaders. Arguing this ignores the overarching purpose and function of education; education is not a zero-sum game. That is, it is possible to both allow for a strong intellectual development in tandem with promoting sports as a psychological benefactor. One emphatic example comes to mind: a New York teenager who had played soccer all her life had the sport banned from her school for safety reasons. Thereafter, her grades dropped and she became less engaged overall. She later documented this in a Huffington Post editorial, citing the inability to play soccer as the root cause for her weakened grades. Thus, it is clear that sports do indeed provide tangible benefits, both for an individual's grades and or the individual themself.

It follows, then, that a middle ground may be ascertained between sports and education; this being the acknowledgement of the quantitative and qualitative benefits that athletics do provide. First, the difficult to measure, yet no less crucial, development of such qualities as leadership, teamwork, and overcoming adversity are imperative to holistic growth. Having these skills leads to greater monetary gain, a more sociable personality, and more overall life opportunities. It is inherent to our psychology, and thereby to any potential employer, to prefer these characteristics. Sports allow for these traits to grow, presenting each student with distinct, dynamic challenges of leadership, vitality, and especially teamwork. Furthermore, quantitative studies suggest an overall boost to academic performance through athletics. The Economist magazine, in their special report “Generation Uphill,” concluded that a 1-2 hour engagement in athletics for young adults and teens resulted in an overall GPA boost of 28%. Coupled with the more intangible benefits, athletics presents itself as not only a boon to the individual student but also as a vital component of creating future adults.