ACT is a prerequisite test organized by ACT (Non-Profit Organization) and has to be taken by every student who aspires to do his graduation in foreign universities. ACT is a paper, as well as a computer-based test, that has now become mandatory to apply for the universities abroad. The score of a student averaging between 1 and 36 signifies their ‘College Readiness’.  

The ACT paper has four mandatory sections that cover English, Mathematics, Science, and Reading. Apart from these four sections, they also have an optional writing section included in the paper. The entire paper of ACT is MCQ based, and the best part is that there is no negative marking.

Now, when a student aspires to join a university abroad for their undergraduate studies, scoring high in the ACT exam becomes important. When the importance of the exam increases, the level of stress and anxiety that surrounds the student increases too. And these conditions affect the student on the exam day as well and result in the low scoring in the test. So, here are a few tips on how to prepare and score well in the ACT exam.

• Time management is the most basic thing that the student has to focus on while preparing as well as attempting the exam, since there are a lot many questions that have to be answered in a very short duration of time, with utmost accuracy.
• While preparing, an exam-oriented study is a must as too deep knowledge of the subjects is not required, but your basics of high school must be clear.
• Practice a lot of questions related to Math and English daily.
• Regularly take mock tests, to know the level of your preparation.
• On the exam day while attempting the questions you should take care of the pace with which you solve questions, to attempt all the questions in the given strain of time.
• Strategies such as solving the easy questions first and then giving time to the difficult questions should be adopted in the exam.
• While attempting the mathematics section of the paper, avoid the use of a calculator as much as possible, and try to solve each question stepwise.
• Don’t only depend upon the calculation, while attempting the questions, try to be reasonable and practical with your answers.
• Don’t spend too much time on a single question.
• Attempt all the questions, as the paper doesn’t have any negative marking.
• To enhance your English section score, one should work on their comprehension and content grasping skills, and for these, the student should inculcate a habit of reading newspapers and books.
• Deep knowledge of the grammatical and technical aspects of the English language is a must.
• Take care of the 3 R’s to score high in the reading section of the ACT that is- READ, REFER & RE-READ.
  • READ the paragraphs and the related questions carefully.
  • While attempting a question, REFER to the context/paragraph again to avoid chances of error.
  • In case of doubt or not finding the expected answer, RE-READ the paragraph.
• Last but not the least, be a smart champ while attempting the questions because at times it’s not only the correct option that’s required but also it has to be the best option to be the right answer.

So, ACT is just another exam just like the SAT, whose scores matter while applying to the universities abroad. Students should refer to platforms like UniRely that provide guidance and mentor them to score well in the ACT. So, score well and fulfill your dreams!