Is the ACT Hard?

5 min readโ€ขLast Updated on July 11, 2024

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Okay, the big question on your mind, "IS THE ACT HARD, OR NOT?!" ๐Ÿค” Fear not; a three-hour test might seem daunting at first, but once you recognize ๐Ÿ’ก the ACT's patterns and do real practice questions to test yourself, it won't seem so difficult after all.

In this article, I'm going toย break down the ACT for you, reveal someย secretsย about the exam, and give you someย test-taking strategies. When you get to the end of the article, you'll have a much better understanding of the test so that you can take the next step of your ACT study journey!


๐Ÿ“‘ ACTย Test Format

Let's start with the format of the test. The ACT is split intoย 4 multiple-choice sections (English, math, reading, and science) and anย optional essay section. ๐Ÿš€ Each multiple-choice section is scored out of 36, and your composite (or overall) score will be an average of your scores for the four sections. The essay is scored separately. ๐Ÿ’ฏ

This table gives you a breakdown of the number of questions for each section, as well as the time โฐ you have for each:

Section# of QuestionsTime Allotment
English75 MC45 min
Mathematics60 MC60 min
Reading40 MC35 min
Science40 MC35 min
Writing (optional)1 essay40 min

๐Ÿคซย Secrets About the ACT

What's next? We'll talk about how you can use the format of the ACT to your advantage. ๐Ÿ˜

I'm sure we all know that 4 of the sections are multiple-choice. But what does that mean for you, as a test-taker? It means that thereย HAS to be one correct answer. โ˜๏ธ The ACT isn't like your tests at school that teachers write. It won't have two answer choices that COULD both be correct because how would that be fair? ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™€๏ธ That means test-taking strategies, like the process of elimination, will be very effective, but we'll get into that later!

Second, the ACT is veryย consistent andย predictable. You might not realize it at first, but as you do more practice with real ACT tests, you'll begin to see that the structures of many questions are the same, especially in sections like Reading and Science.๐Ÿงช So, once you find what kind of question types you need to work on,ย PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!ย 


๐Ÿ“–ย How Should I Study for the ACT?

Alright, it's time to start studying for the ACT. But should you go about doing that?ย 

๐Ÿฅ‡Conduct an Initial Review

First and foremost, you should go through the Fiveable's ACT guides that break down each section: the "Section Overview" guides and the "5 Things to Know" guides. Doing so will help you gain a better idea and understanding of what each section is on. Here are the links to each of these guides:

Section Overview Guides

5 Things to Know Guides

๐ŸฅˆTake a Practice Test

Next, take a practice test ๐Ÿ“! ACT has released several PDFs of past tests that you can findย online. If you have a study book, many of them should have either a diagnostic test and/or practice tests. Take this test underย realistic conditions, meaning you should take it in one sitting in a quiet location ๐Ÿ˜ถ and time โฐ yourself accurately for each section.ย 

Timing yourself during practice is crucial because the ACT is super fast-paced!ย โณ

After you finish your practice test, grade it.๐Ÿ” Be honest with yourself; it's okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. This means that you should actuallyย revisit and redo each of the problems you got wrong. By doing this, you will be able to discover what areas you need to focus more on and what concepts you need to review, which will allow you can work on them and avoid making the same mistakes on the actual test. ๐Ÿ“‘ This might be a long process, but it'll make your future studying much easier once you figure out the types of questions you're answering incorrectly and why.

๐Ÿฅ‰ Conduct a More Comprehensive Review

Now, go through the rest of theย Fiveable ACT study resources, and be sure to consistently work onย practice problemsย โ” to apply your knowledge!


๐Ÿ“ ACTย Test-Taking Strategies

Here are some test-taking strategies that you can use during all of the multiple-choice sections of the ACT to help you increase your score!

Answer Every Question

Every multiple-choice question is 1 point, no matter how hard or easy it is. Plus, you're only graded on the number of questions you answer right โœ… andย not penalized for any wrong answers ๐Ÿ™ˆ! That gives you an advantage in answering every question. I'm sure you've heard this a million times, but make educated guesses for questions you're not sure about. How should you do that? ๐Ÿ˜ณ Well...

Use Process of Elimination

POE is an excellent strategy for taking a multiple-choice test. When you're scanning the answer choices, there might be one, or even two, choices that you KNOW are wrong.ย Crossย โŒย those out!ย It's much easier to pick between 2-3 answer choices than 4-5. But what if you're REALLY not sure about a question?

Skip & Come Back

You don't have to take the ACT in order! Spend most of your time on questions you CAN do. Mark up questions โœ๏ธ that you want to come back to because there's no time to waste. You can alwaysย reconsider skippedย ๐Ÿคนย questions near the end of the test; you might be able to look at the question from a new perspective ๐Ÿ”ฌ or make an educated guess if you're out of time.


๐ŸŒ‡ย Closing

So, is the ACT hard? It can be, but you have all the tools you need to do well! After going through the steps above you should have a better understanding of the test and strategies you can use. The more familiar you are with the test and the more practice you put in, the less scary the ACT will seem. Good luck with your studying! YOU GOT THIS! ๐Ÿ™Œ

Check out this pageย if you're unsure about taking the ACT because of test-optional policies.

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