ACT Flashcard Review

The American College Test (ACT) is the counterpart of the SAT Reasoning Test. ACT, Inc. stresses that its widely-used college admission test puts more emphasis on what the student has actually learned from the early grades through high school graduation, rather than on aptitudes. The ACT is a prerequisite for admission to many colleges and universities around the country. While the test is administered in all 50 states, the ACT has been more prominent in Midwestern states and the Southeast, and is common also in the state of Texas. The ACT is currently gaining wider popularity in the East.

The ACT is an approximately 4-hour test broken down into different allocated time slots for English, Math, Reading, and Science. The largest block of time (60 minutes) is allowed for the Math section, with 45 minutes allowed for English and 35 minutes allowed for both Reading and Science. In recognition of the fact that American colleges have in recent years put more emphasis on student writing skills, ACT has an optional 30-minute writing test that can be sent to schools requiring that examination. An increasing number of schools demand the writing test.

The ACT consists of 215 questions in the content areas of English, Math, Reading, and Science; this excludes the Writing exam, which is in the form of an essay. The Reading and Science sections consist of 40 questions; the Math section consists of 60 questions; and the English section consists of 75 questions.

Just as with the SAT, students may take the test more than once. Most students take the test once in their junior year of high school, and then again during their senior year. Statistics show that the multiple test-taking strategy works to the student's benefit, since more than half of multiple test-takers improve their total score. Slightly less than a quarter of students experience no change in their test scores. A small percentage of composite scores actually decline.

As in many other testing programs, ACT scores are based on the number of questions answered correctly. Since there is no penalty for wrong answers, it is best to answer every question, even when in doubt about the answer. Raw scores are converted to composite scores. Upon completion of the test, the student is given a report showing national percentile ranking and other data.