The ACT is one of the two main college readiness exams. Like they do with the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), admissions offices use your ACT score to help determine if you’re a good fit for their college or university.
Both tests are widely used, but recently, the ACT has become more popular than the SAT. Over two million students take the ACT every year, while about 1.7 million take the SAT. It’s easy to feel like all standardized tests are the same, but these tests measure two different things.
The SAT measures your ability to learn, and the ACT measures what you’ve already learned. They’re two completely different approaches to determining your “college readiness,” but both are well-respected, and most schools don’t have a preference for one or the other.
The ACT was developed by a college professor in response to his frustrations with the SAT, which at the time was the only means of gauging how prepared students were for college. As an educator, he felt it was far better to know that your students had the necessary prerequisite knowledge than to know how good they were at learning.
Tomato, to-mah-to, you’re taking the ACT. Here’s what you need to know about it.
Eligibility requirements: none
Length: three hours and 30 minutes
Sections: four required (English, math, reading, science), one optional (writing)
Number of questions: 215 (plus an essay prompt)
Types of questions: multiple choice, essay (writing section only)
Score range: 1–36
Cost: $46 without the writing section, $62.50 with the writing section
What does ACT stand for? ACT technically stands for American College Testing, but the test is administered by an organization of the same name, and they simply refer to it as the ACT.
The ACT tests you based on things you should learn by the end of your senior year of high school. We’ll tell you what to expect from each section and give you some tips, but first, here’s a tip that applies to every multiple choice section:
Never leave a question blank. You aren’t penalized for wrong answers, so even if you have absolutely no clue what the answer is, take a guess!
Length: 45 minutes
Number of questions: 75
The English section of the ACT will measure your mastery of the nuts and bolts of prose. Rather than asking you to retrieve information or think critically about a passage, you’ll examine individual phrases, sentences, or paragraphs.
The makers of the test say that the English section “measures your understanding of the conventions of standard English (punctuation, usage, and sentence structure), production of writing (topic development, organization, unity, and cohesion), and knowledge of language (word choice, style, and tone).”
There are several varieties of multiple choice questions, but they’re all based on passages. If a passage has underlined sections, some of the questions will ask you to improve those parts with one of the options provided. If none of the suggested changes improve the passage, you can choose “no change” (this is pretty common).
You may be asked to change a passage to create a specific effect, like building a stronger transition between two thoughts or rearranging sentences to form a more logical progression. You’ll also be asked about how particular changes might affect the passage, or what information a particular section provides.
According to national data from the ACT, this is the section most people score lowest on.
Tip: This test gives you the least amount of time per question, so don’t waste time on tough questions. Guess, and come back to them later if there’s time.If you don’t have extra time at the end, think about how many more questions you were able to get through! It’s sunk-cost economics at work.
Length: 60 minutes
Number of questions: 60
All of the questions of the math section of the ACT are solvable without a calculator. Still, using one could save you some precious time. Here’s how the makers of the test break down the questions:
You’ll need to know the basic terminology and formulas for basic high school math. Be sure to read how the ACT describes each math section.
The ACT has already done a huge favor for you: the questions in each section appear in order of difficulty, so the easiest ones come first. That doesn’t always mean they’ll be the easiest ones for you, so you’ll still want to skim ahead if you get stuck on one.
Tip: Before you start solving a problem, take a look at the possible answers. They may help you decide how to approach the problem.
Length: 35 minutes
Number of questions: 40
The reading section of the ACT contains four passages with 10 questions each. These are designed to test your reading comprehension, and the questions will ask you to summarize pieces of the passage, make inferences from the text, and identify key information. The bulk of the questions will be about the ideas and details in the passages.
The four passages come from the same four subjects every year, and they always appear in the following order:
According to national data from the ACT, this is the section people score highest on.
Tip: Answers on the reading section are deliberately trying to trick you. There may be multiple answers that look correct. Before you read the possible answers, try to answer the question for yourself when possible. Then it’ll be harder for those almost right answers to mislead you—because you’ll be looking for a specific answer.
Length: 35 minutes
Number of questions: 40
For the science section of the ACT, you won’t be expected to have advanced knowledge of any particular kind of science, but you will need a general understanding of these subjects:
The majority of this test involves interpreting data and working with experiment results. Like the reading and English sections of the ACT, science questions are based on a passage. You’ll have between four and seven questions per passage.
The passages you’ll work from will take these three formats:
Data representation questions will focus on tables and graphs, and they’ll test your ability to interpret scientific data.
Research summaries will focus on experiments, and you’ll be asked about the design of the experiment and the conclusions drawn from the results.
Conflicting viewpoints questions ask you to analyze and compare two hypotheses or views that are based on different premises or incomplete data.
Length: 40 minutes
Number of questions: one
The writing section is the only part of the test that doesn’t affect your composite score. (It is optional, after all.) The test will present three perspectives on an issue, and you’ll respond with an essay.
Regardless of the prompt, your essay will have the same three expectations:
It definitely won’t count against you if you don’t take the optional section of the ACT. So if you’re a terrible writer, that’s probably a good choice. However, since it doesn’t count towards your composite score, and it can provide the admissions office with a more personal representation of your academic capabilities, it’s a good idea to take it.
A big shiny ACT score can certainly make your college applications stand out, but people can only learn so much about you from a number. There’s no guarantee a college will use your ACT essay, but if you’re a good writer, this is a positive differentiator that not every applicant is going to have.
Personally, I’d recommend it.
On the ACT, you gain points for correct answers, and you don’t lose points for incorrect answers.
You’ll receive a separate score for each section of the ACT: English, math, reading, science, and writing (optional). Scores range from 1 to 36 on each section—with the exception of the writing section, where scores range from 2 to 12. These scores are averaged into your “composite score.”
Your score report will show your score and percentile in each section, plus two additional sections: your ACT score report.
You’ll be able to view your scores online about two weeks after the exam, and you’ll get your score report in the mail within 2-8 weeks.
While a perfect SAT score is 2,400, a perfect ACT score is just 36. But less than .1% of all ACT test-takers get a perfect score. So what’s a good ACT score?
The average ACT score is 21. But sitting smack dab in the middle isn’t going to make your application stand out. And for schools that want to build on their reputation for excellence, a mediocre score may not be good enough (unless you have an exceptional portfolio or something else to show off).
Unless a school explicitly states a minimum ACT score you need to be admitted, you have to look at the students who are actually accepted to determine a “good score.” Whatever schools you’re looking at, you can see the range of standardized test scores for students they’ve accepted. You can even compare the bottom 25% of accepted students and the top 75%. If the other pieces of your application are strong, you can probably get by with a lower score.
Ryan has a B.A. in English Literature from Western Washington University. If he could rewind and go to college all over again, he'd do it a little differently. For now, he's living vicariously through people like you by helping you find the best online schools for your field. View all posts by Ryan Nelson →
Does ACT cater for students with any form of learning disability? For instance this student is able to write ACT but would need special accommodation, like additional time, would such special accommodation be allowed for the ACT exam? This student has a condition called Impaired Processing Speed (IPS). An official report to that effect can always be forwarded to the relevant office of ACT when and if necessary. I kindly await your advice.
