The more familiar I am with something, the easier it is to handle. When I do something for the first time, I’m usually anxious and uneasy, but the more I do something, the better I am at it. When I take a test, I want to do my best. Being unprepared doesn’t help. That anxious and uneasy feeling causes stress; I become so worried about how much time I have left to finish that my mind can go blank or I can make careless mistakes. If you’re like me, preparing will help your stress levels and will help you perform better when taking the ACT.

I recently took a mock ACT to help prepare myself for taking the real ACT. A mock ACT is a practice test that is identical to an actual ACT, but the score is not recorded. It really helped me get a better understanding of how the test works.

When you take a test, do you do better when you know what to expect? I’ve found it’s good practice to see what I know and what I don’t know, so when it comes time to take the real test I understand what I should study and work on to do my best. Whether you prepare yourself by taking practice tests or receiving tutoring, familiarizing yourself with the structure and general content of the test will only be beneficial. What’s nice about the practice ACT I took was that the woman who proctored the test gave us advice and helpful hints beforehand. I hope that you will gain some helpful strategies from what I learned.

First off, the test is set up into 4 different timed sections. Sometimes it seemed like I wouldn’t be able to finish. In my opinion, the great thing about the ACT is that, unlike the SAT, it’s a straightforward test, no tricks. All the questions are multiple choice. If I didn’t understand some questions, I just bubbled in an answer that seemed like the best choice. Remember — on the ACT, you don’t get penalized for wrong answers, so guessing won’t hurt.

Each section of the ACT seemed to include both easy and hard questions, but don’t rush through the easy problems making careless mistakes. Pace yourself. Some suggest flagging the harder questions and going back to them if you have the time.

These days it seems like all language is abbreviated and proper grammar has been forgotten — but not on the ACT. The first section is all about knowing grammar and sentence structure, so if you know those two items then you’re golden; if not, you may want to review.

Know your math! The ACT math section includes a lot of algebra and geometry, angles and so forth.

The 3rd section is reading passages and then answering the questions. I found that the best way to tackle this portion was to read the passages I found most interesting first. This way I could complete the passages and questions because I had a better understanding of them.

In ACT’s science section, you read a passage, sometimes with charts and graphs, and then answer questions based on that information. Of course, it does help to have a solid science curriculum.

If you are aware of what’s on the test, it makes you more comfortable and makes it a lot easier. The only thing I felt I had difficulty with was completing each section within the time frame. You just have to prepare yourself and pace yourself; practice makes perfect!