Introduction to Top 10 ACT® Math Strategies
Knowing how to take the ACT® is just as important as knowing what’s on the ACT®. Proper test-taking tips and techniques can make the difference between a low ACT® score and a perfect ACT® score of 36.
This ACT® study guide will give you the top 10 ACT® Math strategies you need in order to push your score over the edge.
The first three strategies apply to preparing for the exam. We’ll answer the following questions:
- The SAT® provides a formula sheet during the exam. What should I know about the ACT® formula sheet?
- What do I need to know about graphs?
- What’s the best way to cram the day before the exam?
The last seven strategies will teach you how to take the test like a pro. These tips will answer the following questions:
- How much time should I spend on each question?
- In what order should I complete the ACT® Math questions?
- When should I use a calculator?
- Why are word problems so hard to understand, and how can I master them?
- What’s the best way to guess?
- How can I check my answers?
- How can I finish the exam as quickly as possible?
If you’re ready to get a 36 on the ACT® Math exam, then keep reading!
Before the exam:
1. Don’t Rely on a Formula Sheet.
Unlike the SAT®, the ACT® does not provide a formula sheet, so you will have to memorize all of the formulas you may need.
At first, this may seem like a disadvantage, but it’s not – by keeping the formulas in your head, you’ll be able to access them much more quickly than if you had to keep flipping back and forth to a separate page.
Plus, in order to retain the formulas, you’ll have to keep practicing with them. By the time you get to the exam, you’ll be so used to doing similar problems that you won’t break a sweat.
So, which formulas do you need to know? We cover many of them in our post, 9 Must-Know ACT® Math Topics.
But it’s not enough to learn a few formulas off a sheet. Do practice tests – a lot of them. Look over past exams. Whenever you come across a concept that you don’t know, look up the corresponding formulas and write them down on a separate sheet of paper. By keeping a running list, you’ll ensure that you remember to study all of the relevant formulas. Before the exam, make sure you know every line on that sheet.
2. Become a Graphing Expert.
It’s not enough to simply know a list of formulas, such as the distance formula or the midpoint formula – you also need to know how to apply formulas to graphs.
Sometimes the ACT® exam won’t give you a list of points to plug into an equation. It will give you a graph with one of the points, and you’ll have to use the graph to calculate the other points before you even tackle what the problem is really asking for!
When you’re studying, make sure to spend extra time reviewing and practicing with graphs. Concepts that seem simple in straightforward questions can be more complicated when you’re working in a different format.
If you’re going to use a calculator on the exam, make sure you know how to use its graphing capabilities. Do you know how to graph functions, choose a proper window, and draw circles?
Similarly, make sure that you know how to correctly read data from tables.
3. Get Plenty of Rest and Relaxation Before the Exam.
On one hand, it doesn’t make sense. Shouldn’t you use every available moment that you have to study, especially the night before the exam? Why sleep when you could use the extra eight hours to cram last-minute formulas, take an extra ACT® practice test (or four), and learn all three hundred functions on your TI-84?
But if you do this, then you’ll show up to the ACT® exam groggy and unable to think straight. Some students have been so tired that they’ve fallen asleep during the exam!
Use the afternoon before the ACT® to brush up on the trickiest formulas that you always forget, but spend no more than an hour on that. Make sure you have your ID and any materials you’ll need for the exam. Then relax! Watch your favorite movie. Take a bubble bath. Go straight to bed. Give your brain as much rest as possible so that you’ll be refreshed the next morning.
4. Manage Your Time Wisely – Use the 10/20/30 Rule.
With only 60 minutes for 60 questions, there’s not a minute to spare on the ACT® Math exam, so budget your time wisely.
How should you budget your time? It may seem obvious – 60 minutes for 60 questions equals 1 minute per question, right? However, some questions are more complicated than others and will require more time. How can you ensure that you have enough time to finish all of the questions and even double-check your answers?
As a general rule, the first 20 questions are easy, the next 20 are intermediate, and the last 20 are difficult. Estimate spending about 30 seconds on each easy question, 1 minute on each intermediate question, and 1 minute 30 seconds on each difficult question. In total, that means 10 minutes on the first third, 20 minutes on the next third, and 30 on the last third.
5. Do the Exam Twice and Save Difficult Questions for Last.
Take two passes over your ACT® Math exam. On the first pass, complete all of the easy questions and the questions you feel fairly certain about. Although the questions are arranged in general order of difficulty, you may find an earlier question more difficult than a later question – that’s okay. If a question looks too difficult, circle it and spend 1 minute 30 seconds on it during the second pass.
On the second pass, complete all of the questions that you find more difficult.
If you find a question particularly difficult but you’re fairly certain that you have the correct answer, put a box around it. If you’re unsure of your answer, put a star beside it. We’ll come back to these questions in Tip #9.
6. Don’t Always Use a Calculator.
A calculator isn’t a magical device that will automatically give you the right answer to every question, so you don’t need to use it on every question. In fact, you’ll have a better chance of getting certain questions done quickly and correctly if you don’t use a calculator. Remember, the ACT® is constructed specifically so that students who don’t have calculators can still get a perfect score.
For basic operations, such as multiplying or dividing by 5 or 10, it’s probably faster for you to perform the operation in your head.
Similarly, if you’re working with radicands or fractions, don’t immediately jump to your calculator. First, check to see what format the answer choices are in, because your calculator will automatically convert radicands and fractions into decimals. If the answer choices don’t require you to convert into decimals, then it might be easier to work the problem by hand instead of converting back and forth on your calculator.
And don’t forget the basic rule of computers, GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out. That means that a calculator is only as accurate as the information you put into it. If you mistype a number, you’re going to get the wrong answer. So double-check that you’ve entered everything correctly before you hit “ENTER.” It will take a few extra seconds to double-check, but it’s worth it.
7. Annotate the Word Problems.
What’s complicated, full of hidden formulas, and requires extra concentration?
If you said “ACT® Math word problems,” then you are correct.
The good news is that every word problem usually boils down to a simple formula. The tricky part is setting up that formula correctly.
Read the word problem through once, underlining terms you find important. You might also find it helpful to draw pictures or diagrams to help you understand the question.
Next, write down all of the formulas you think you’ll need. Write them down without filling them in first.
Finally, plug the information from the word problem into those formulas and solve.
We look at word problems more in-depth in How to Get a 36 on ACT® Math: The Ultimate Guide.
8. Eliminate as Many Answers as You can Before You Guess.
You might not know what the right answer is, but you can usually tell what the right answer is not.
There are four ways to eliminate incorrect answers.
- Look for the odd man out. The answer choice that is completely unlike the others – such as the only negative number when all the other answer choices are positive, or the only fraction when all of the other answer choices are decimals – is usually incorrect. If you cross this answer out, then you increase your odds of guessing the correct answer by at least 20%.
- Look for round numbers. The ACT® is designed so that people without calculators can still get a perfect score, so when in doubt, look for numbers that are easier to work with, such as multiples of 5 or 10.
- Round up. If you’re pressed for time and don’t have time to work out a question completely, round the numbers to those you can work with in your head. Having an approximated answer will help you eliminate answer choices that are off-base.
- Pick a guessing letter. If you’re guessing blindly, pick one letter and stick to it for the whole exam. Statistically, you will get 20% of these questions correct. That’s a higher chance than if you guess randomly.
9. Don’t Recheck All of Your Answers.
In an ideal situation, you would have time to do every ACT® Math problem twice in order to ensure you haven’t made any mistakes. However, because you’re under a strict time limit, you won’t have time to redo every single answer. Instead, you’ll have to check your answers efficiently.
Efficiently doesn’t necessarily mean “as fast as possible.” It means “quickly yet carefully.”
Do you remember Tip #5? When taking the test, remember to put a box around the questions you find difficult but whose answers you’re sure of, and put a star next to questions whose answers you’re unsure of.
When checking your answers, make sure you’ve bubbled in the correct bubble for all of your answers. This should be your first priority, because one skipped bubble could throw the rest of your answers off.
Next, redo the starred questions from scratch to see if you find an answer that you’re more sure of.
Finally, if time permits, rework the boxed questions to make sure that you arrive at the same solution you did the first time.
10. Don’t Finish Early.
If you finish before the 60 minutes are up, don’t pat yourself on the back. Check your work. Make sure you’ve bubbled in everything correctly.
Don’t rush to finish. If you’re working carefully, you probably shouldn’t have more than 5-10 minutes to spare. It’s better to work slowly and carefully, making fewer mistakes, than to rush through the test and make a lot of errors that you don’t even notice.
If you do find yourself with a lot of extra time, spend that time checking your work, especially on the difficult problems and the problems you’re unsure of. Why were you unsure of them? Work them from scratch, or work them backward from your answer to see if you arrive at the question.
The only exception is questions that you guessed on. You could return to these questions to agonize over whether you made the right 50/50 choice, but it’s often better to trust your gut instinct, unless you discover something new about the question that radically changes your answer.
If you keep these 10 ACT® Math strategies in mind, then you’re well on your way to getting a 36 on the ACT® Math exam! Use these strategies to study effectively and to take the ACT® Math exam like a pro. Good luck!
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