1. How to Increase Your Score: Time Management and Test-taking Strategies
ACT PREP ENGLISH
How to Increase Your Score:
Time Management
and
Test-taking Strategies

2. Overview of the ACT
The ACT is about three hours long (3.5 with the Writing test).
There will be a short break between the Math and Reading subtests.
The ACT consists of a total of 215 multiple-choice questions and one optional essay.
The ACT Writing test score is not factored into your ACT English or Composite scores.
The ACT exam is comprised of four subject tests:
English (45 minutes, 75 questions)
Math (60 minutes, 60 questions)
Reading (35 minutes, 40 questions)
Science (35 minutes, 40 questions)

3. ACT Scoring
The ACT scaled (or Composite) score is what is reported to colleges.
The scaled (or Composite) score is NOT determined by how many questions are answered correctly or even the percentage of questions answered correctly.
All correct answers are added up to determine a RAW SCORE.
The raw score is converted to a SCALED SCORE or COMPOSITE SCORE from 1 to 36. The scaled score correlates with percentile ranking with all test takers.
ACT Percentile Rank
Scaled Score
(or Composite)
Percentage of questions correct
99% 31
90% 26
75%
76% 23
63%
54% 20
53%
28% 17
43%

4. ACT Scoring Facts
Nearly half of all test takers have a composite score of
To earn a score of 20—the national average—you need to answer only about 53% of the questions correctly. Answering slightly over half of the answers correctly puts you in the middle range of test takers.
Two very strong scores are 26 and 31. Either score would impress almost any college admissions officer. A 26 puts you in the top 10% of ACT test takers; a 31 puts you in the top 1%.
A score below 17 will seriously limit your choice of colleges. Any score above 23 will be an asset for admission.

6. SET YOUR ENGLISH ACT GOAL
Score Ranking Percent Correct on English ACT
34 top .5% 95% correct on ACT
31 top 1% 90% correct on ACT
26 top 10% 80% correct on ACT
23 top 25% 70% correct on ACT
20 national average 60% correct on ACT
See P. 59 in the 2015/16 ACT practice booklet.

7. SEVEN BASIC RULES FOR TAKING THE ACT
These seven rules apply to every section of the ACT. They really are just commonsense guidelines, but it’s amazing how the pressure and time constraints of the ACT can warp and mangle common sense.
Remembering and practicing these seven basic rules will help you save time and cut down on careless errors.

8. 1. Know the instructions for each subject test
Guess what? The subject test instructions are always the same—learn them ahead of time and save time.
Since you’ll need all the time you can get, don’t waste time reading the Subject Test instructions during the actual test. Learn the instructions beforehand by taking practice tests and reading our chapters on the Subject Tests.

9. 2. Use Your Test Booklet as Scratch Paper
A pristine test booklet is a sad test booklet.
Use the margins to make notes of key points.
Make marks beside questions you skip and need to return to.
Underline key words, names, dates, and facts.
Note your “figuring,” draw diagrams, jot down solutions in the math and science subject tests.
In the reading subject test, use your test booklet for the “skim and scribble” strategy—note as you go.

10. 3. Answer Easy Questions before Hard Questions
This is a crucial strategy for the ACT. All questions within a Subject Test are worth the same number of points, there’s no point slaving away over a difficult question if doing so requires several minutes.
Answer the easy and moderate questions first. That way you’ll make sure that you get to see all the questions on the test that you have a good shot of getting right, while saving the leftover time for returning to the difficult questions.
Use a NOW, LATER, and NEVER (GUESS) strategy as you proceed through the questions.

11. 4. Don’t Get Bogged Down by a Hard Question
If you’ve spent a significant amount of time on a problem and haven’t gotten close to answering it, just let it go. (In ACT world, a minute and a half is a lot of time. On the English subtest, 75 questions in 45 minutes works out to about 30 seconds per question.)
Finish answering the easy and moderate questions about the passage and then return to the more difficult questions.
If you need to guess, choose B or C as your “guessing letter” and use that throughout the test (experts say your chances are higher than randomly guessing). In the English test, generally choose the shortest answer or “NO CHANGE,” as 25% of the underlined words or phrases are fine as they are.

12. 5. Avoid Carelessness
Don’t move too quickly through the questions, though. Speeding through the test can result in misinterpreting a question or missing a crucial piece of information.
Don’t be tempted by “partial answers” among the answer choices. (Yeah, test makers do this deliberately.) Everything given in the answer must be correct.
Identify what skill or knowledge the question is testing you on in order to avoid distracting or tempting answers. Use the passage and the answers to help you determine this.
Don’t allow yourself to assume a defeatist attitude toward questions that appear to be complex. Jump in; you may find the question is easier than it appears.

13. 6. Be Careful Bubbling In Your Answers
Imagine this: you get all the right answers to the ACT questions, but you fill in all the wrong bubbles. The scoring computer doesn’t care that you did the right work; all it cares about are the blackened bubbles on the answer sheet, and the wrong answers that they indicate.
Protect yourself against this terrifying possibility with careful bubbling. An easy way to prevent slips on the ACT answer sheet is to pay attention to the letters being bubbled. Odd-numbered answers are lettered A, B, C, D (except on the Math Test, where they are A, B, C, D, E), and even- numbered answers are lettered F, G, H, J (except on the Math Test, where they are F, G, H, J, K).
You may also want to try bubbling in groups (five at a time or a page at a time) rather than answering one by one. Circle the answers in the test booklet as you go through the page, and then transfer the answers over to the answer sheet as a group. This method should increase your speed and accuracy in filling out the answer sheet. To further increase your accuracy, say the question number and the answer in your head as you fill out the grid: “Number 24, F. Number 25, C. Number 26, J.”

14. 7. Always Guess When You Don’t Know the Answer
Don’t leave any blanks on your score sheet. The scoring computer will not know or care whether or not you “really” knew the answer.
Before guessing, eliminate one or two answers you know are wrong. This improves your odds from 25% to 50%.
With a chance at a right answer, about half of your guesses on the test will be correct, and your score will be about a 19, which is an average score on the ACT.
Use POE (process of elimination) to help isolate the answer. Using POE before guessing will help you get to that chance at a right answer.

15. Multiple Choice: You Already Have the Answers
When you look at any ACT multiple-choice question, the answer is already right there in front of you. Your job on each question is to find the right answer. Because the answer is right there, you have three methods you can use to try to determine the correct answer:
Think of the right answer before looking at answer choices.
Look through the answer choices and pick out the one that is correct.
Look at the answer choices and eliminate wrong answers until there’s only one answer left (POE).
If you have time, check your answers, but don’t over-question your answers or over-doubt yourself.

16. What the English ACT Tests
USAGE / MECHANICS ( %)
Punctuation (10-15%)
Grammar and usage (15-20%)
subject-verb agreement; pronoun agreement; verbs, adjectives, and adverbs
Sentence Structure (20-25%)
clauses and phrases; modifier placement; parallel structure; active voice
RHETORICAL SKILLS (40 – 55%)
Strategy (15-20%)
audience and purpose; relevance; adding and revising supporting material
Organization (10-15%)
order of ideas; effective opening, transitions, closing
Style (15-20%)
word choice; tone; effectiveness; economy: wordiness, redundancy, relevance

17. English ACT Testing Tips
Questions are not arranged in any particular order—not by difficulty or type of skill. So use your “NOW, LATER, or NEVER (guess)” strategy to pile up easy points.
Always read the answer options in context of the passage, pretending you are saying them out loud in order to “hear” what it sounds like. Often, the right choice will become clear to you when doing this.
There is blind guessing and strategic guessing: Try to use POE to be able to guess strategically and increase your odds (from 25% to 50%) of guessing correctly.

18. English ACT Testing Tips
When in doubt, take it out. Watch for the most concisely worded answer choice as the correct one. If you think something doesn’t belong or isn’t needed in a passage, it probably isn’t needed, so choose an answer that leaves it out. Watch for phrases such as “It goes without saying” or “Obviously”—If it goes without saying, then don’t say it. If it is obvious, then it isn’t necessary to say it. Choose answers that avoid anything redundant, not relevant, or wordy.
Make it make sense. Make sure that the answer you choose creates a sentence or paragraph that is logical. Think about connection words and whether they create a logical connection between ideas. Correct answers must be not only grammatically but logically correct.
Trust your eyes and EARS. Mistakes in grammar often sound bad to your ear. Mouth phrases in order to “hear” them in your mind. Don’t choose an answer that sounds “fancy”; choose the one that “sounds right.”

19. English ACT Testing Tips
Ignore irrelevant issues. It’s easy to waste time by considering possible problems that are side issues and not what the ACT question is testing you on.
Example:
. . . China was certainly one of the cradles F. NO CHANGE
of civilization. It’s obvious that, China has G. It’s obvious that China
a long history. As is the case with other has a long history.
Ancient cultures, the early history of H. Obviously, China has
China is lost in mythology History
J. OMIT the underlined
portion.
What is the correct answer?

20. English ACT Testing Tips
The answer is not G. That is the distraction option the ACT writers often include in their questions. Yes, the answer in G. corrects the misuse of the comma (It’s obvious that, China), but there’s a bigger issue here—namely, does the sentence belong in the passage at all?
If China has an ancient culture and was the cradle of civilization, it therefore has a long history, so the sentence is obvious and not necessary.
Redundancy (a “rhetorical” question) is the relevant issue to this test question, not punctuation. The sentence doesn’t even belong in the passage. Choice J (OMIT the underlined portion) is the correct answer.

21. English ACT Testing Tips
Some ACT English questions—about 20 of the 75—don’t follow the typical format of presenting you with an underlined portion and three possible revisions of it.
A nonstandard question is typically a rhetorical question and tests your skills of organization, style, and author’s purpose. These questions will ask you to determine the LEAST acceptable alternative for an underlined or noted passage. Or it might ask you which of the offered choices BEST accomplishes a specific goal—or all EXCEPT one of the alternatives.
These nonstandard questions usually require more time, as more thinking, careful reading, and weighing of options are required. They generally appear at the end of a set of 15 questions, but if encountered earlier, you might want to circle these as LATER questions and move on.

22. English ACT Testing Tips
Which answer is correct?
. . . Later, Pike fell while valiantly defending America in the War of He actually died near York (now called Toronto) . . .
40. Suppose the author considered adding the following sentence at this point:
“It goes without saying that this occurred after he discovered Pike’s Peak.”
Given the overall purpose of the passage, would this sentence be appropriate?
No, because the sentence adds
nothing to the meaning of the passage.
G. No, because the passage is not
concerned with Pike’s achievements.
H. Yes, because otherwise the sequence of
events would be unclear.
J Yes. Though the sentence is not needed,
the author recognizes this fact by using
the phrase “it goes without saying.”

23. The ACT Writing Assessment
 30 minutes: Persuasive writing (score is not added into the composite score)
 Essay Criteria
 Thesis/Main idea Express judgment by taking and stating a position.
Unity Maintain a focus on the topic throughout the essay.
Development Develop a position with logical reasoning and support ideas
Coherence Organize ideas in a clear and logical way.
Language Use language clearly and effectively according to the rules of standard
written English.
 Score Criteria
6 Essay demonstrates effective skill
5 Essay demonstrates competent skill
4 Essay demonstrates adequate skill
3 Essay demonstrates some developing skill
2 Essay demonstrates inconsistent or weak skill
1 Essay shows little or no skill

24. The Day of the Test
You must bring the following items to the test center on the day of the test:
Your admission ticket
Photo ID or a letter of identification
Unless a test proctor recognizes you, you will not be allowed in the test room without appropriate identification. We also suggest that you bring the following:
Number Two pencils
A calculator. You should bring the calculator you normally use (preferably with an extra battery). You don’t want to get stuck searching frantically for the right buttons on an unfamiliar calculator.
A watch. Your test room may not have a clock, or the clock may not be visible from where you’re sitting. Since the test proctors only call out the time five minutes before the end of each section, you have to rely on yourself to know how much time remains.
A snack, to keep up that energy.
Lucky clothes. Why not?