Studying for the ACT Test

The best way of studying for the ACT test is surprising to most people, because studying the test material more is usually not the answer. The answer is not simply doing more practice tests either.

The key to studying for the ACT test is realizing that the majority of what is on the test is the material you have been mastering all throughout high school, and although a review is in order, the highest scores are gotten by the students who are good test takers.

Test taking skills are crucial, because knowing the material is not nearly enough. The ACT test is timed and everyone who has taken it will tell you that time management is the key. If you can't get all the questions answered in time, it really doesn't matter how much you know.

There are a few time management strategies that are commonly accepted but very, very wrong. The most popular "strategy" involves rushing through the early questions on the Math test because those are supposedly the easiest and you need to save time for the questions that are at the end. This is a horrible strategy.

The best way to study for the Math portion of the ACT test, for instance, is to master the "easy" questions so that you can quickly solve them and have more time for the harder ones. That means studying the "easy" stuff like pre-algebra and basic geometry. Most students get hung up on studying trigonometry, but there are only four trig questions on the whole Math test.

Remember that studying for the ACT test means learning test taking skills that will help you not only with the ACT, but all throughout college as well. Get an affordable, strategic ACT prep course that teaches these skills and you will be on your way to your best possible score.

How to Study for the ACT Test

Sometimes the most valuable ACT test tips are the ones that are the most simple. While many students knock themselves out studying for the ACT test, the ones who get the best scores are the ones who work smart instead of just working hard.

So here are three tips to study for the ACT test:

1) Don't study for longer than 30 minutes at a time. Marathon study sessions just burn you out and are NOT an effective way to retain information. Study for a half hour and then take a 20 minute break.

You'll retain just as much as if you studied for the whole 50 minutes, AND you'll be fresh to study another cycle right away.

2) Don't just keep taking practice tests over and over. Take one practice test and analyze what TYPE of questions you got wrong and then practice answering that type of question until you are able to get them right quickly.

3) Figure out if you are a verbal, visual or kinesthetic learner. Do you remember things best by hearing them (verbal) or seeing them (visual). Or do you fidget a lot and need examples and stories to make things stick in your brain?

Whichever of these applies to you, change your study habits, locations and even study partners to fit them. Don't try to force yourself to study in a way that is not effective for you.

So remember the most important ACT test tip of all. Work hard, but don't JUST work hard; work smart as well!