Taking the ACT

The ACT is a national college admissions examination that measures college readiness, similar to the SAT. All four year colleges in the U.S. accept the ACT.

The Difference Between the SAT and the ACT

Some students who find that they perform poorly on the SAT may find that they do better on the ACT. ACT, Inc. (the makers of the test) states that the ACT is an achievement test, measuring what the student has learned in school, while the SAT is more of an aptitude test. Another difference is that the SAT reduces your score for wrong answers (which can penalize you for guessing), while the ACT grades only based on the number of correct answers.

How to Register for the ACT

The ACT is administered by ACT, Inc. There are specific dates that the ACT is offered every year, and you must register for ACT testing by mail or online prior to the test date. You can take the ACT as many times as you like, although research shows that taking the test more than twice probably won’t improve your scores. It costs $32 every time you take the ACT test without the optional writing section, and $47 with the writing section included. Register on-time and try not to change your test center to avoid additional fees.

How to Prepare for the ACT

There are many ways that you can prepare for the ACT, depending on your schedule and your learning style. Here are some ACT preparation tips:

1. Check out your local bookstore for ACT workbooks. Some workbooks will walk you through the format of the test and let you take practice versions of the test and score them. The makers of the ACT offer paid online tutorials and an official test prep book.
2. Some high schools offer courses on the ACT, either as a for-credit course or an after school program. Check with your guidance or career counselor to see what ACT programs your high school offers.
3. There are paid ACT preparation courses from Kaplan, the Princeton Review and other organizations that you can sign up for online or in your local community.
4. There are free practice test questions available online for the ACT test that you can take and review your score.

Sections on the ACT

The ACT consists of 215 questions from the following subjects:

• Mathematics
• English
• Reading
• Science
• Optional Writing Section – see if your target schools require you to take the writing section of the test

We suggest you use the links above to get detailed information from the ACT, Inc. about each section of the test and how it is scored.

Your ACT Scores

Reporting your ACT scores to colleges can be a very stressful activity, especially before you know your scores. You can send up to 4 scores for free when you register to take the ACT, and you can change your mind about sending the scores within a few days of taking the test.

It’s important to know that every college has their own score-use practice. [Some colleges will allow you to report your best ACT scores; some will want to see all your scores. If you are trying to get in to a competitive institution, or your scores are at the bottom of (or below) the required admissions criteria, it’s especially important to know the school’s score-use policy. If you don’t want to report any of your ACT scores to schools until you see how you did, you’ll have to incur score reporting fees.

Note that if you ask the ACT to report scores to a college, they will not average your scores from different test dates. ACT will only report your scores from the test date you requested.