What Is The ACT? A Complete Guide

Students should take the night before the test off to rest and relax a bit before the big exam. We typically recommend that students do a little review the day before, but it should be cut off by around 4 p.m. If you haven’t learned it by then, it likely won’t be terribly helpful.

Sleep and hydration are two of the most important considerations the night before the test. Your brain will be much more effective on test day if you regulate your sleep three to five days before, but better late than never. Similarly, staying hydrated leading into the test and during it will help students remain focused for a greater length of time.

The other things that should be done no later than the night before is completing a dry run to the testing center [if it’s not held at your high school], printing your ACT ticket and putting everything you’ll be taking to the ACT to the test site in one place.

Traffic on Saturday mornings is usually less than during the week, but don’t make a false assumption, especially when it can cost you so much. Plan to arrive to the testing site 20-30 minutes early, even if you’re testing at your own school because you never know when you might encounter something you didn’t expect – like a 5K run or a community fund raiser.

Before you head out the door, be sure you have your ACT Ticket, a valid photo ID, your [ACT exam-permitted calculator], some No. 2 pencils with good erasers (no mechanical pencils or ink pens), a snack and a bottle of water.

An analog watch can be handy too, but each testing room will have a clock, so it’s not necessary. You’ll also want to make sure your phone is turned off. And if you have a digital watch, make sure it’s set to silent, as any electronic noises coming from your device could get you kicked out of the exam.

Always use the process of elimination to try to give yourself a greater chance of getting the question correct if you need to guess. If you truly have no idea how to do a question, cut it loose and keep moving. Don’t stress too much or let it consume too much of your time.

You can star it in your test booklet and plan to come back later — that’s if you have extra time at the end. For these skips, you should always bubble-in a letter on your Scantron in case you don’t have time to return. This will also prevent you from getting off a letter.

First off, get rid of the negative self-talk. So many students make themselves more nervous, by saying negative things about themselves. Any time a negative thought pops in your head, flip it around and remind yourself that you’ve prepared the best you can and that you’re capable and confident in your abilities. Mindfully turning the negative into a positive can be a powerful thing.

Along the same lines, it’s easy to add undue pressure on yourself, so remind yourself frequently that catastrophic thinking isn’t going to help. If you need to, ask yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

With over 3,000 colleges across the country, you’re going to find a great fit for you no matter what. So, there’s no reason to stress. Just do your best and stay as focused as you can on what’s important: remaining focused on the one question in front of you, before moving on to the next.

Another thing that can help is to direct your nervousness to something else, whether it’s chewing — not chomping — gum, sucking on a hard candy, or having something small and meaningful in your pocket or in your bag next to you.