My name is Oliver McCully, and I’m currently a junior at Poland Seminary. With my senior year and college applications rapidly approaching, the ACT has been at the forefront of my academic worries. I have completed three tests and have two more scheduled for the future. I am writing this article to provide my Top 5 best test taking tips for the standardized ACT.

1. Sleep – This is the biggest thing I stress for the ACT. Frantically studying the night before will provide little to no benefit to your score. Instead, try to sleep at least 7-8 hours and wake yourself up with a nice breakfast. Testing on a full stomach is a complete game changer. Also, be sure to have a good snack for the intermission of the testing period.
2. Stay Positive – The ACT may be daunting, but it’s no super villain. Clear your mind and have confidence during your test. Being open-minded and positive will only make the process less stressful. I try to “embrace the suck” when I’m challenged with a certain difficult topic. This boosts my productivity and time management during the test.
3. Read Every Response Choice Carefully – The ACT loves to trick their test takers into choosing a specific answer. They will provide you with multiple correct options, but one will be considered as a better option compared to the rest: this goes for mainly the English and Reading sections. The Mathematics and Science sections will try their hardest to confuse you too. Often the same digits will be used in each answer choice, but the order and signs used will differ. Read slowly and carefully and pick the best option.
4. Pace Is Everything – Maintaining a steady pace is the key to completing every prompt on the ACT. Consider the amount of questions in comparison to the time allotted. For example, in the English section, there are 75 questions with 45 minutes to complete them. This translates to about 36 seconds per question. Some questions will require more time than others, so try to move as quickly and efficiently as possible. Questions that have you stumped should either be saved for later, or you should give it your best guess and continue on.
5. Check Your Responses – Any extra time upon completion of your test section should be utilized to double check any unsure responses and or extra questions. If you track time well, you should be able to finish with a couple minutes to spare. Although you may feel burned out after finishing a section, it is no time to relax. Use every sliver of time you have to put back into your test. This will maximize your chances of success.