ACT (American College Testing) is an entrance exam in America and Canada for Undergraduate courses. It came to the forefront in November 1959 by the University of Lowa.
By the research of ACT itself in 2003, it was observed that there was a relationship between a student’s ACT composite exam score and their probability of getting a degree in college. This speaks about the profoundness of the examination.
This exam is one of the competitive exams that analyze student’s various capabilities ranging from written, verbal, and others. It is an exam for all international students.
The test includes five sections, each from English, Maths, Science, Reading, and Writing. The time duration is 45 minutes for English, 60 minutes for Maths, 35 minutes for reading, 35 minutes for Science and Writing has 40 minutes which is however optional.
Before we move on towards our larger goal of scoring a high ACT exam score, let us look at the basic components that the exam seeks for:
- English section majorly focuses on grammar and its usage besides analyzing the rhetorical skills. The strategy of skimming can be widely used initially. And also choosing the most concise answers.
- Maths section majorly covers Algebra, Geometry, and Trigonometry. The level of questions further is also raised. We should be able to recognize graphs well, Graph study can give us clues to the most logical answers.
- Reading test analyses student’s knowledge through Prose and Passages given which ask students to derive meaning from various questions, thus checking their accuracy and smartness. The portions include Prose, Social Science, Humanities, and Natural Sciences. The skimming strategy can be used again here.
- Science test also puts forward passages before students which are in the format of Conflicting viewpoints, Data Representation, and the Research summary.
Writing test gives students a choice to write on the various essays given, this test although is optional but is considered by many colleges as integral to the overall analysis of the student’s knowledge.
Here having a strong Introduction and Conclusion can work well. Scoring 30+ in ACT exams is possible as long as a student is willing to put his/her full efforts and dedication into the preparation of the same. The strategies for the same are many.
Firstly, a concrete timetable has to be made, which has a fixed time for studying and the time has to be divided for all subjects since this exam does not allow us to miss out any portion, doing well in all portions is key to success.
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The second thing would be to assemble/collect essential study material for all papers, the requirements can be found on the ACT website too.
The material should be of a standard that would help to crack ACT. This should further head a student towards practicing previous papers and taking mock tests for same, one of the major websites that give students access for these exams is ACT.org.
By taking these tests a student will start analyzing for himself/herself the areas of improvement and at the same time the mistakes. Mistakes should not be ignored rather resolve whatever hinders so that it gives us a command over what we are doing.
Practicing will also improve our time management. We have to use time judiciously by giving fixed time to all papers. This strategy also includes how we should tackle those questions that we cannot answer.
Also, we have to keep in mind that we do not take only paper tests but also computer-based tests since the formality for the same is new and not that easy, so practicing similar papers before can be of great help.
In every portion, while studying and practicing, we can assess the stuff that is of great importance so this means we should note down points, for the work to be easy for us.
One of the important tips is that as much as possible we should first eliminate the wrong answers, which again depends upon how in-depth knowledge we have of the question that is being asked about.
This tells us that while reading we have to be extra cautious about not missing any point so that we get a command over that topic.
Also attempting your command area first can help in time-saving later on. After we are done with our answers, if we have time, we should re-check our answers because that would give us more confidence in what we have done.
At last, even if we do not crack ACT exams, we are still on the benefit side.
This is because it generates competitive struggle among students, enables us to do wisely manage time, helps us to figure out our areas of improvement in various fields, and also familiarizes us with exam patterns.
All these qualities lead to the formation of a strong candidate who unlike others has not to restart from the beginning with things rather just brush up and go ahead with whatever ACT exams prepared him/her for and attain that high ACT exam score they want.
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