ACT Math Prep: Small Tips & Tricks for Defeating the ACT Math Section
You’ve probably heard someone say that there are tips and tricks that can help you raise your ACT score. While it may sound mysterious and secretive, it’s really not. There’s no simple trick to help you get a 36 on any section of the ACT, but there are some small things you can incorporate into your overall testing strategy that could give you time to attempt more questions and help you answer more questions correctly.
The ACT math section can be intimidating and frustrating. This is mainly due to the intense time constraint of this section. You have only 60 minutes to complete a math section made up of 60 questions. That means you have one minute for each question on the exam. The math section tests students on concepts that are mainly covered in high school statistics, algebra, geometry, algebra II, and trigonometry courses. Many students will not have reviewed these concepts in quite some time when they begin their ACT test prep, so the first step to combatting the ACT math section is to brush up on the concepts tested. You can do this by completing practice tests or working through sample problems on the ACT website. Once you’re able to consistently work through the majority of the types of questions and topics that show up in the math section, it’s time to think about overall ACT math strategy to help you be effective with the time constraint. Assess whether your testing pace on this section is appropriate for the time constraint, and go from there to determine what other strategies and tips and tricks you should keep in mind to help you move quickly through the problems.
Before you start to think about what tips and tricks you should make sure to remember on test day, make sure you have a solid big-picture strategy in place that’s going to help you do your best on test day. Once you’ve identified what big-picture ACT math strategies work well to help you attempt as many questions as possible and answer them correctly as consistently as possible, it’s time to consider what other tips and tricks could help you boost your ACT math score even higher. We encourage students to use trial-and-error to determine which of the tips and tricks below (if any) work well for you as you work through the ACT math section.
Tips and tricks that can help anyone increase their ACT math score:
Don’t rely 100% on your calculator—but don’t rely 100% on your brain either
You are allowed to use a permitted calculator on the entire ACT math section. But just because you’re allowed to have a calculator doesn’t mean you should always use it. There are times when a calculator will come in handy because it can complete complex mathematical equations very quickly that would take you a long time to work through. In contrast, there will be times that it will be easier and faster for you to draw a picture, make a table, or simply do long-hand math or mental math than take the time to plug all sorts of information into your calculator.
It’s easy to get sucked into your calculator and rely too much on its help. Here are some rules of thumb for when it might be smart to rely on your calculator:
When to use your calculator:
To double-check your answers
To complete complex math that your brain cannot do as mental math
To work through complicated problems that will take you a long time to do by hand
Anytime that it will be faster to use your calculator than to work through by hand
It’s VERY important to double-check your answers as often as possible on the math section. The reason for this is that the ACT is not kind with their answer options - every WRONG answer is the answer you will arrive at if you do something wrong while working through the problem. Because of this, it’s REALLY easy to miss easy questions because of small mistakes. Oftentimes, students will complete all of the work correctly but make one small error and end up choosing the wrong answer. Eliminating small errors is critical for making sure you reach your full potential score. By double-checking your answers with your calculator, both on questions that you complete via mental math and those that you use your calculator on originally, you should be able to avoid any accidental errors on questions that you know how to work through.
2. Read ALL questions carefully
The ACT has a way of wording math questions so they seem more complex and confusing than they actually are, and it can be unclear what you’re meant to do. It’s important to start by dissecting and interpreting the question carefully before you go on to actually complete any math. Questions may seem obscure at first, but, upon working through the question slowly, they may actually become really simple.
Here is an example:
This question is really just instructing you to solve for x, although the way the question is not worded as concisely.
On the same note, don’t get ahead of yourself and assume what the question wants you to do. This is a trap that the ACT creators know that students fall into. You see a picture of a circle with a square around it, and you’re instantly thinking that you need to find the area of something. But that may not be what you’re supposed to do. The question may ask you to find the area of the square without the circle, or the perimeter of the square, or myriad other things. NEVER start to work through a problem without first working through the question. Slow down and understand the question so that you spend time looking for the correct thing.
3. There’s (almost) always more than one way to get to the right answer
A beautiful thing about the ACT math section is that you’re not required to show any of your work. Unlike your math tests and homework in your high school classes, you’re not being tested on HOW you complete math problems; you’re simply being tested on if you can answer them correctly.
That being so, there is usually going to be more than one way to get to the correct answer on any of the questions in the ACT math section. Take a look at the example problem below:
This question asks you to determine the seventh number in a geometric sequence. You’re given the first four numbers of the sequence. This is a question that shows up early in an ACT test, so it’s not meant to be too difficult, but there are still a few different ways that you could go about this question. You could set up an equation, using variable n. You could draw out seven slots and reason through the pattern, multiplying each succeeding slot by -3, or you could assess your answer options and try to work through the problem backwards. There are likely other ways to work through this question as well. It’s all a matter of what makes the most sense in your head, what method will allow you to work through the problem quickly, and how certain you are to get to the correct answer.
If you arrive at a question that you feel you could comfortably work through a few different ways, consider which way will be the fastest and which will give you the highest probability of arriving at the correct answer.
4. Leverage your answer options
Going off of point #3, another useful tool for the ACT math section is actually to use your answer options to help guide you to the correct answer. What do I mean by this? Take a look at the problem below. I could work through this problem using simple algebra, first adding 11 to each side and then squaring and dividing by 2. That would be the “correct” way to get to the right answer. OR I could actually plug in each of the five answer options as x and test them. Only one of the answer options should give the correct answer of 1 when plugged in for x.
It’s very possible that sometimes it may be faster to plug in answer options than to actually work through a problem. Additionally, if you aren’t sure how to go about working through a problem, you may be able to use your answer options to help guide you. There may be a question that you don’t know how to work through, but that you can plug the answer options in for. There’s no “right” or “wrong” way to arrive at the correct answer. It’s helpful to remember that working through questions backwards is a tool you’ll have available to you.
5. Don’t read story problems over and over and over…
There are going to be plenty of problems on the ACT math section that will tell you about Sally and the cookies she’s baking, or Jose and the circular tablecloth he wants to make, or something of the sort. To be blunt, you don’t have time to think about Sally or Jose, and their stories ARE NOT important. Rather than spending time rereading story problems over and over, do yourself a favor and pull out the important information that you will need to work through the answer the FIRST TIME you read the question.
The question above is pretty long. You can see how you could easily spend way too much time reading through the question over and over if you keep having to go back and remind yourself of the information you need. Instead of making yourself reread, be proactive and move the important information from the question over to your work area. For this question, I would jot out the numbers, maybe make a chart to show small figurines vs large figurines. Anything that I can do to keep myself from having to spend any more time reading than necessary will help my pace. Remember that every second counts.
6. Use your workspace
Only half of the page in the math section will contain questions. The other half is meant for you to use to work through the problems. Make sure to actually use this space.
This tip is directly correlated with tip #1 - don’t rely on your calculator. Students can get really sucked into their calculators and never bother to actually write anything down in the workspace. But, you know what? It’s easy to lose track of your train of thought or forget what step you’re on when you’re simply plugging things into your calculator one after the other. MANY problems will be better and more easily worked through if you take a second to draw yourself a picture, make yourself a chart, scribble down the important info from a story problem, etc. You get the point.
7. Process of Elimination
The ACT math section (just like all the other sections) is multiple choice. Use this to your advantage. This is a huge tip that you can use to your aid across any section of the ACT. You’re allowed to write all over your test booklet, so actually CROSS OUT wrong answers as you eliminate them. This will help you focus on the remaining answer options and give you a better means of making an educated guess if that’s what it comes down to. This is MOST important in the ACT math section because this is the only section of the test where you have FIVE answer options instead of just four. That means you have a 20% chance of guessing correctly. By even eliminating one wrong answer to a question, you change your odds to 25% of guessing a correct answer. If you can eliminate three wrong answers, you’re now giving yourself a 50% chance of guessing correctly. Those odds are a lot better than if you don’t try to eliminate any wrong answers.
8. Skip anything that’s difficult or that’s taking you too long
This is another Golden Rule for the ACT as a whole: Use your time wisely. You NEVER want to spend too much time on any single question in any of the sections. I know it can be really infuriating to be faced with a question that you know you remember learning in school, but you just can’t seem to remember the right equation or the right rule. You sit there and rack your brain, determined that you’re going to remember and get the question right. This is like a death sentence: before you know if, you’ve spent 6 minutes on one problem, and you still haven’t remembered what you’re trying to remember… That’s 6 precious minutes that could have been spent tackling 4 or 5 or 6 (or more!) other problems. Remember that every single question is worth the same amount of points: pick and choose your battles wisely so that you can work through as many questions as possible. NEVER hesitate to skip something that you think is going to be difficult or that you think will take you a long time to complete. The best case scenario will be that you have time left over at the end of the test to return to the questions you skipped and attempt them at that time. If not, you’ve been smart to use your time on questions that you found to be easier and more straightforward than those that would have slowed you down more.
There you have it: ACT math tips and tricks to help you reach your goal score.
The ACT math section can be pretty intimidating, especially if you don’t know what to expect. Most students are not used to being tested on how quickly they can complete math problems, but with practice and increased familiarity and lots of repetition and practice, this is a section that anyone can do well on.
Good luck, and happy studying!
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