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    ACT Advanced: Targeted Prep & Practice for the Hardest ACT Question Types
    ACT Advanced: Targeted Prep & Practice for the Hardest ACT Question Types
    ACT Advanced: Targeted Prep & Practice for the Hardest ACT Question Types
    Ebook676 pages5 hours

    ACT Advanced: Targeted Prep & Practice for the Hardest ACT Question Types

    By The Princeton Review

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    About this ebook

    ADVANCE YOUR ACT SCORE TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

    Have a strong ACT score but looking to push your performance even further? The Princeton Review is here for you! ACT Advanced is your go-to guide for the extra-challenging topics that other books don't cover. Offering exclusive tips and strategies, this book guides you through the most difficult questions you'll find on the ACT.

    Inside you'll:
    • Learn advanced strategies to ace all five sections of the test: English, Math, Reading, and Science (in the book), as well as Writing (available online)
    • Master the complex content needed to help score higher
    • Test your readiness with drills covering the exam's toughest concepts
    • Access a full-length practice ACT online
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House Children's Books
    Release dateOct 26, 2021
    ISBN9780525571834
    ACT Advanced: Targeted Prep & Practice for the Hardest ACT Question Types

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      Book preview

      ACT Advanced - The Princeton Review

      Part I

      Orientation

      1 Introduction to the ACT

      2 Strategy

      3 Score Goals

      Chapter 1

      Introduction to the ACT

      The pursuit of a perfect or near-perfect ACT score is an impressive goal. Achieving that goal requires a thorough command of the material and strategies specific to the ACT. To begin your quest, know everything you can about the test. This chapter presents an overview of the ACT, advice about when to take it, and how to report your scores.

      WELCOME

      So you think you can dance, ahem, score a 34 or better? We’re all for it. The Princeton Review supports all students who want to do their best. We’ve written this book specifically for students who are in a position to score at the very highest levels. We believe that to achieve a perfect or near-perfect score, you have to know as much as possible about the test itself. Even more, however, you need to know about yourself as a test-taker.

      You may already be familiar with many of the basic facts about the ACT, but even if you think you are, we encourage you to read through the following to be sure you know every single thing you can about the test you’re going to conquer.

      FUN FACTS ABOUT THE ACT

      All of the content review and strategies we teach in the following chapters are based on the specific structure and format of the ACT. Before you can beat this test, you have to know how it’s built.

      Structure

      The ACT consists of four multiple-choice, timed tests: English, Math, Reading, and Science, always given in that order. The ACT Plus Writing also includes an essay, with the Writing Test given after the Science Test. (ACT calls them tests, but we may also use the term sections in this book to avoid confusion.)

      Scoring

      You’ll earn one ACT score (1 to 36) on each test (English, Math, Reading, Science) and a composite ACT score, which is an average of these four tests. Usually, when people ask about your score, they’re referring to your composite ACT score. The composite score falls between 1 and 36. The national average is about 21.

      If, for example, you scored 31 on the English, 30 on the Math, 29 on the Reading, and 30 on the Science, your composite ACT score would be 30.

      Students receive subscores in English, Math, and Reading that range between 1 and 18. These scores provide you with more detail about your performance, but they are not actually used by colleges or universities.

      The ACT includes an optional essay, known as the Writing Test. Visit ACT.org for detailed information about how your ACT Writing Test will be scored. The Writing Test is scored on a scale of 1–36, but this score won’t be factored into your composite. This is not to say that the Writing Test is unimportant, but rather that the Writing Test is not quite as important as the other four sections in your dogged pursuit of a 36 composite.

      It’s All About the Composite

      Whether you look at your score online or wait to get it in the mail, the biggest number on the page is always the composite. While admissions’ offices will certainly see the individual scores of all five tests (and their subscores), schools will use the composite to evaluate your application, and that’s why, in the end, it’s the only one that matters.

      The composite is an average. When you’re shooting for a 34 or higher, you need the best performance from both your strengths and weaknesses. You can’t neglect your strengths and focus all your time on your weaknesses. In Chapter 3, we’ll discuss in more detail how to think about the scores on the four multiple-choice tests and how to set your goals for your score.

      Use your best subjects to lift the composite as high as possible. Don’t let your weakest subjects pull the composite down.

      The higher your strongest scores, the less pressure on your weaker scores. While you can’t afford for your weaknesses to drag the composite too far down, it’s easier to earn a perfect score on your best subjects than it is to earn a perfect score on your weakest subjects.

      Thus, when you divide your time among the four subjects, focus as much time and effort on your strengths—if not more—as you spend on your weaknesses.

      Content

      At the beginning of each part of this book, we’ll thoroughly review the content and strategies you need for each test. Here is an overview of each test.

      English Test

      The English Test consists of five passages, accompanied by 14–16 questions per passage and four answer choices per question. Some words or phrases are underlined in the passage, and the accompanying questions ask whether the underlined portion is correct as written or whether one of the three alternatives listed would be better. The questions test conventions of usage mechanics (grammar, punctuation, sentence structure) and rhetorical skills. Other questions are marked by a boxed number embedded in the passage and ask about overall organization and style.

      Math Test

      The Math Test features 60 questions with five answer choices per question. The easier questions tend to come in the first 20 questions, but the test-writers can mix in easy, medium, and difficult problems throughout. The bulk of the difficult questions are found in the last 15–20 questions. Content is drawn from pre-algebra, elementary algebra, intermediate algebra, plane geometry, coordinate geometry, and trigonometry.

      Answer Choices

      Odd-numbered questions come with answers that are A/B/C/D (A–E on Math), and even-numbered questions come with answers that are F/G/H/J (F–K on Math). ACT designed the letter choices to alternate to help students avoid making mistakes while bubbling in their answers.

      Reading Test

      The Reading Test consists of four passages, accompanied by 10 questions per passage and four answer choices per question. The passages always appear in the same order: literary narrative, social science, humanities, and natural science. Within the four categories, ACT selects excerpts from books and articles to create one long or two shorter passages.

      Science Test

      The Science Test consists of six or seven passages, a total of 40 questions, and four answer choices per question. The number of questions per passage will vary, but it is usually 5, 6, or 7 questions. The order of the passages varies from test to test. Most passages are accompanied by figures, such as charts, tables, and graphs. The content is drawn from biology, chemistry, physics, and the Earth/space sciences (astronomy, geology, and meteorology). As on the Reading Test, at least one of these passages will consist of two different passages and will require students to compare and contrast to a certain extent.

      Writing Test

      The Writing Test consists of one essay designed to measure your writing skills. The prompt defines an issue and presents three perspectives on that issue, and you must write an essay that offers your analysis of the three perspectives while generating your own. The Writing Test has four subscores and a single subject-level score, each ranging from 2–12. Two readers score each essay on the four subscore areas on a scale of 1 to 6, those subscores are added for each area for a result between 2 and 12, and then the four subscores are averaged and rounded for the final Writing Test score. The score from the Writing Test is not included in the ACT composite score, but it will be part of your ELA subscore (an average of your English, Reading, and Writing scores).

      The Writing Test is optional. Not all schools require it, but some do. Check with the schools on your list to see if they require you to submit a Writing Test score, and if any of them do, take the Writing Test.

      THE ACT SCHEDULE

      In the United States, Canada, and U.S. Territories, the ACT is offered seven times a year: September, October, December, February, April, June, and July. The February and July tests are not offered in international locations or in New York. Some states offer an ACT as part of their state-mandated testing. For students who live in those states, the state-mandated test offers an additional testing opportunity, and you can use the score from the state test for college admissions.

      Your Schedule

      Take the ACT when your schedule best allows. Many high-scorers take their first ACT in the fall of their junior year. If you have more commitments in the fall from sports, plays, or clubs, then plan to take your first ACT in the winter or spring.

      Many counselors advise waiting to take the ACT until spring because students may be unfamiliar with some advanced math concepts before then. Students in an honors track for math, however, will have covered all of the content by the end of sophomore year at the latest. Even if you aren’t in honors-track math, there are likely only 3–4 questions that will be unfamiliar to you, and those questions won’t pull your score down if you bank all the others.

      Most students end up taking the ACT two or three times. We recommend that you find a 3–4 month window in your schedule that covers at least 2 ACT tests. Prep first, take a test, and then continue prepping as needed for a second or third test. This way, you can be finished with the ACT in a relatively short period of time.

      REGISTERING FOR THE ACT

      Go to ACTstudent.org and create your free ACT Web Account. You will start at this portal to view test dates, fees, and registration deadlines. You can research the requirements and processes to apply for extended time or other accommodations. You will also start at ACTstudent.org to access your account to register, view your scores, and order score reports.

      You must register yourself for any national test date. For state-mandated ACT administrations, most schools register their students for that exam only.

      The fastest way to register is online, through your ACT Web Account. You can also obtain a registration packet at your high-school guidance office.

      Bookmark ACTstudent.org. Check the site for the latest information about fees. The ACT Plus Writing costs more than the ACT (No Writing), but ACT also offers a fee waiver service. While you can choose four schools to send a score report to at no charge, there are fees for score reports sent to additional schools.

      Registration Tips

      You have options about ACT’s survey, score reports, and copies of your test. We have recommendations on each.

      ACT Survey

      The registration process includes ACT’s survey on your grades and interests, but you are not required to answer these questions. To save time, you can provide only the required information, which is marked by an asterisk.

      Score Reports

      When you register, do not supply the codes for any schools on your application list. Wait until you are happy with your score and no longer plan to take the ACT before you choose the scores to send to your schools. Any extra fees are worth this flexibility.

      Test Information Release

      If you take your first—or second—ACT on a date that offers the Test Information Release, choose this option when you register. Six to eight weeks after the test, you’ll receive a copy of the test and your answers. This service costs an additional fee and is available only on certain test dates. You can order the Test Information Release up to three months after the test date, but it’s easier to order it at the time you register. It’s a great tool to help you prepare for your next ACT, as you’ll be able to review all of your answers, right and wrong.

      Through the 2020–2021 school year, the Test Information Release program has been offered for the December, April, and June tests. ACT may offer this program for different test dates in the future. Check ACTstudent.org when you register.

      How Many Times Should You Take the ACT?

      We would be thrilled if you review the content in this book, take the ACT for the first time, and earn the 34 or better you seek. But if you don’t hit your target score on your first ACT, take it again. In fact, we recommend that you enter the process planning to take the ACT two or three times. Nerves and anxiety can be unpredictable catalysts, and for many students, the first experience can seem harder than what you’ve seen in practice. Perception is reality, so we won’t waste your time explaining that it only seems harder and different. That’s why we recommend you take your first test after a solid prep period but with enough time after that to take another test or two should you need it.

      If you have scored 34+ in practice but not on a real test after your third try, take it again. We don’t recommend going into the process planning to take the test every time it’s offered, but we do support a goal of trying to achieve on a real test what you’ve done in practice. By April of your senior year, you won’t care how many times you took the ACT.

      Maximum ACT Administrations

      For security reasons, ACT will not let you take the exam more than 12 times. But we certainly hope no one is dismayed by this restriction. There are certainly better things to do with your time on a Saturday morning, and we don’t believe any college will consider taking the ACT an extracurricular activity.

      But before you take the test again, evaluate what has suppressed your composite. If your composite has stayed flat because some scores have improved while others have fallen, then take more full-length ACT practice tests in one sitting. Take the practice tests in an environment as similar to a proctored test as possible. Take it outside of your house, such as in a library or empty classroom (but not a noisy coffeeshop). Time yourself, including the break, exactly as a real proctor would.

      If one or two scores are stuck and are bringing your composite down, consider what you will do differently before taking the test again. Dedicate yourself to trying new strategies that you first thought you didn’t need.

      Score Choice, Super Composite, and Deletion

      Our goal for you is to have one ACT official score report with a 34 or better, but that is not the only way to apply. Know your options about score choice, the super composite, and deletion of a score.

      Score Choice and the Super Composite

      We recommended above that you do not send your scores until you have taken your last ACT and are ready to apply. Choose your best composite score to send to your schools. ACT will send only the score reports you choose, and they do not currently provide a Super Composite, an average composed of your best performance on each test from multiple administrations. However, many schools—and the common application—do super score. The common app asks you to report your best score, and test date, for each individual test and then has you calculate your super composite. Submit all of your score reports that support the super composite.

      If you have a super composite of 34 or better from two or three tests, we recommend sending all the score reports, even to schools that do not explicitly ask for a super composite. In the worst-case scenario, the school will take only your top score. If you have one score report with a composite better than all your rest, and super scoring will not yield a higher score, we recommend sending only your highest score.

      Coming Soon(ish): More Scoring Options

      In 2020, ACT announced that students would soon have an option to get an official super-score report or to take individual section retests after their first full-length exam. However, this was postponed due to COVID-19. Check act.org for the latest news.

      Deletion and Full Disclosure

      Some schools require you to submit every ACT score regardless of super scoring. We trust that if these schools ask for every score report, they are looking for improvement and will use only your best scores.

      You do have an option to delete scores from a particular test date. You must request in writing that ACT delete the test date from your records. Send your requests to the following address:

      ACT Institutional Services

      P.O. Box 168

      Iowa City, IA 52243-0168

      USA

      We recommend this option only if you take a test and score well below your scores and you know you’re applying to schools that require that you release all scores. For all other schools, you can send only the score reports you want them to see.

      Do Your Research

      Use The Princeton Review’s Best 387 Schools to find out which schools require a release of all scores

      HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE ACT

      The following chapters cover the most advanced content and strategies for the English, Math, Reading, and Science Tests. Also, the advanced strategies for the Writing Test can be found online in your Student Tools. You can find the basic strategies and content in our title ACT Prep if you need those. For this book, review all the chapters, even in the subjects that you already believe are your strengths. We want to make sure you’re thoroughly prepared, and we’ll risk boring you a tad to cover content you may know. But we won’t waste your time. All of the content and strategies we cover are necessary.

      As we noted above, the easiest path to your best score is to maximize your strengths. Find every point that you can from your strengths even as you acquire new skills and strategies to improve your weaknesses.

      Some chapters include skill-reinforcement drills, and every part is followed by additional drills in that subject. Take a practice test after you’ve completed all the chapters.

      Practice, Practice, Practice

      To achieve a perfect or near-perfect ACT score, you have to practice as much as possible. For additional materials, we recommend you practice with real ACT tests as much as possible and use Princeton Review practice tests to supplement.

      ACT publishes The Official ACT Prep Guide, which we think is well worth the price for the five real tests it contains (make sure you buy the latest edition). There may also be additional tests that ACT makes available for purchase, even if some are offered only to schools. Check to see if your school offers these extra tests for practice. In addition, in the registration bulletin and at ACT.org/aap/pdf/Preparing-for-the-ACT.pdf, ACT publishes a free practice ACT.

      For more practice materials, The Princeton Review publishes 1,523 ACT Practice Questions, which includes six tests’ worth of material. We also publish additional practice tests in ACT Prep. We also recommend contacting your local Princeton Review office to investigate free practice test dates and follow-up sessions. Visit PrincetonReview.com for more information.

      TEST-TAKER, KNOW THYSELF

      To earn a perfect or near-perfect score on the ACT, it’s not enough to know everything about the test. You also need to know yourself. Identify your own strengths and weaknesses. Stop trying to make yourself something you’re not. You do not need to be a master of English, Math, Reading, or Science to earn a top score on the ACT. You do need to be a master test-taker. Stop the part of your brain that wants to do the question the right way. All that matters is that you get it right. How you get the question right doesn’t matter. So, don’t waste time trying to make yourself into the math or reading genius you thought you needed to be.

      Read more in the next chapter about the overall strategies, and read through all the chapters in the individual subjects that follow. Be willing to tweak what you already do well, and be willing to try entirely new approaches for what you don’t do well.

      Summary

      The ACT is always given in the same order: English, Math, Reading, Science, Writing.

      Sign up for the ACT Plus Writing Test.

      Set aside a few months in your schedule to allow for consistent ACT prep until you get your goal score.

      Order the Test Information Release if it’s available for your test date.

      Plan to take the ACT 2–3 times.

      Take the ACT again if you do not achieve the best score you’ve hit in practice.

      Know your options about score choice, super composite, and deleting a score.

      Practice on real ACTs as much as possible.

      Use Princeton Review practice materials to supplement your practice.

      Chapter 2

      Strategy

      To earn a perfect or near-perfect ACT score, you need strategies specific to the ACT. In this chapter, we’ll provide an overview of the universal strategies. Each test on the ACT demands a specific approach, and even the most universal strategies vary in their applications. In Parts II through V, we’ll discuss these strategies in greater detail customized to English, Math, Reading, and Science. Part VI discusses the Writing section and can be found in your Student Tools.

      THE BASIC APPROACH

      The ACT is significantly different from the tests you take in school, and, therefore, you need to approach it differently. The Princeton Review’s strategies are not arbitrary. They have been honed to perfection, based specifically on the ACT.

      Enemy #1: Time

      Consider the structure of the ACT as we outlined in Chapter 1. The Math Test consists of 60 questions to answer in 60 minutes. That’s just one minute per question, and that’s as good as it gets. The English, Reading, and Science Tests all leave you with less than a minute per question. How often do you take a test in school with a minute or less per question? If you do at all, it’s maybe on a multiple-choice quiz but probably not on a major exam or final. Time is your enemy on the ACT, and you have to use it wisely and be aware of how that time pressure can bring out your worst instincts as a test-taker.

      Enemy #2: Yourself

      There is something particularly evil about tests like the ACT and SAT. The skills you’ve been rewarded for throughout your academic year can easily work against you on the ACT. You’ve been taught since birth to follow directions, go in order, and finish everything. But treating the ACT the same way you would a school test won’t necessarily earn you a perfect or near-perfect score.

      On the other hand, treating the ACT as a scary, alien beast can leave our brains blank and useless and can incite irrational, self-defeating behavior. When we pick up a #2 pencil, all of us tend to leave our common sense at the door. Test nerves and anxieties can make you misread a question, commit a careless error, see something that isn’t there, blind you to what is there, talk you into a bad answer, and worst of all, convince you to waste time on a question that you should approach strategically.

      Work Smarter, Not Harder

      When you’re already answering almost every question right, it can be difficult to change your approach. But to answer every question right, you have to do something different. You can’t just work harder. Instead, you have to work smarter. Know what isn’t working. Be open-minded about changing your approach. Know what to tweak and what to replace wholesale. Know when to abandon one approach and try another.

      The following is an introduction to the general strategies to use on the ACT. In Parts II through V in the book and Part VI online, we’ll discuss how these strategies are customized for each test on the ACT.

      ACT STRATEGIES

      Personal Order of Difficulty (POOD)

      If time may run out before you finish a section, would you rather it run out on the hardest questions or the easiest? Of course, you want it to run out on the ones you are less likely to get right.

      You can easily fall into the trap of spending too much time on the hardest problems and either never getting to or rushing through the easiest. You shouldn’t work in the order ACT provides just because it’s in that order. Instead, find your own Personal Order of Difficulty (POOD).

      The Best Way to Bubble In

      Work a page at a time, circling your answers right on the booklet. Transfer one page’s worth of answers to the bubble sheet at one time. It’s better to stay focused on working questions rather than disrupt your concentration to find where you left off on the bubble sheet. You’ll be more accurate at both tasks. Do not wait to the end, however, to transfer all the answers of that test to your bubble sheet. Go a page at a time on English and Math, and a passage at a time on Reading and Science.

      Make smart decisions quickly for good reasons as you move through each test.

      Now

      Does a question look fairly straightforward? Do you know how to do it? Do it Now.

      Later

      Will this question take a long time to work? Leave it and come back to it Later. Circle the question number for easy reference to return.

      Never

      If you’re trying for a perfect or near-perfect score, there may be no questions that fall into the Never category for you. But even one random guess may not hurt your score, particularly if it saves you time to spend on Now and Later questions you can definitely answer correctly.

      Pacing

      The ACT may be designed for you to run out of time, but you can’t rush through it as fast as possible. All you’ll do is make careless errors on easy questions that you should get right and spend way too much time on difficult ones that you’re unlikely to answer correctly. Let your Personal Order of Difficulty (POOD) help determine your pacing. Go slowly enough to answer all the Now questions correctly, but quickly enough to get to the number of Later questions that you need to reach your goal score.

      In Chapter 3, we’ll teach you how to identify the number of questions you need to reach your goal score. You’ll practice your pacing in practice tests, going slowly enough to avoid careless errors and quickly enough to reach your goal scores.

      Letter of the Day (LOTD)

      Never leave any blanks on the ACT. If you have no time to try a question, make sure you bubble in an answer on your bubble sheet. When you guess on Never questions, pick your favorite two-letter combo of answers and stick with it for the entire test—don’t choose a different letter for every section. For example, always choose A/F or C/H. If you’re consistent, you’re statistically more likely to pick up more points.

      Process of Elimination (POE)

      Multiple-choice tests offer one great advantage: they provide the correct answer right there on the page. Of course, the correct answer is hidden amid three or four incorrect answers. However, it’s often easier to spot the wrong answers than it is to identify the right ones, particularly when you apply a smart Process of Elimination (POE).

      POE works differently on each test on the ACT, but it’s a powerful strategy on all of them. For some question types, you’ll always use POE rather than waste time trying to figure out the answer on your own. For other questions, you’ll use POE when you’re stuck. ACT hides the correct answer among wrong ones, but when you cross off just one or two wrong answers, the correct answer can become more obvious, sometimes jumping right off the page.

      Use Your Pencil

      You own the test booklet, and you should write where and when it helps you. Use your pencil to literally cross off wrong answers on the page.

      POOD, Pacing, and POE all work together to help you nail as many questions as possible.

      BE RUTHLESS

      The worst mistake a test-taker can make is to throw good time at bad questions. You read a question, don’t understand it, so read it again. And again. If you stare at it really hard, you know you’re going to just see it. And you can’t move on, because really, after spending all that time it would be a waste not to keep at it, right?

      Wrong. You can’t let one tough question drag you down, and you can’t let your worst instincts tempt you into self-defeating behavior. Instead, the surest way to earn a perfect or near-perfect ACT score is to follow our advice.

      Use the techniques and strategies in the chapters to work efficiently and accurately through all your Now and Later questions.

      Know when to move on. Use POE, and guess from what’s left.

      If you have any Never questions, use your LOTD.

      In Parts II through V, you’ll learn how POOD, Now/Later/Never, and POE work on each test. In Chapter 3, we’ll discuss in greater detail how to use your Pacing to hit your target scores.

      ACT HIGH-SCORER MYTHS, BUSTED

      At the Princeton Review, we’ve worked with thousands of students who are aiming for a top ACT score, so we’ve witnessed all the mistakes they’ve made in their prep. Let’s look at how typical high-scoring students approach the quest for near perfect ACT scores.

      These students go through the test quickly and in the order the questions are given. After all, it’s pretty easy! They don’t write much on the test, since most math problems can be done only on the calculator or using mental math, and for the rest of the test they can just look at the answers and choose the correct one, right? Then, they make a bunch of careless mistakes, but these students dismisses them because, after all, those questions should have been easy. They take a full practice test every day for a week, thinking that more time spent doing ACT problems will result in a higher score. However, they don’t take the time to learn ACT-specific strategies (instead doing everything the way it is taught in school) or to review why they missed the questions that were incorrect. They might eventually see some progress, but probably not before running out of practice materials!

      These students have a completely wrong idea about how to effectively and efficiently boost their scores. Let’s bust some myths that this example illustrates:

      MYTH: If I need to answer all or almost all the questions on the test to get my goal score, it doesn’t matter if I make the effort to find and answer the easier questions first.

      BUSTED: It is always worth the small amount of time it takes to find easier questions to answer first. Say you are working the Reading section and you often miss a couple of questions on the Literary Narrative passage but never on the Natural Science passage. By starting with the Natural Science passage, you will build up points and confidence right away. When you get to the Literary narrative passage later on (probably working it last), you will not only have a good sense of how you are doing, but you will also know exactly how much time you have left for the passage that is hardest for you. If you don’t have much time left, you can be sure to work only the easiest questions on the final passage and use your LOTD on any you don’t get to. If, however, you have plenty of time, you can really work that last passage, confident that you’ve already gotten all the other questions on the section completed.

      POOD!

      Using your Personal Order of Difficulty (POOD) means skipping questions that are harder or more time-consuming for you, at least initially. For more on this topic, see this page.

      MYTH: If I move quickly through a section, I can save a few minutes at the end to check my work.

      BUSTED: This is not a smart strategy. If you hurry through the section, you are likely to make careless errors on some questions you know how to do. Also, once you get to the end, you’ve already chosen an answer for the questions, so it will be difficult to

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