In a few months, Lincoln-Way East, along with many other schools, will be taking the ACT test as required by the State of Illinois. Lincoln-Way East will be taking their ACT test on April 16th! Even though the date seems so far away, students should still prepare themselves for the test as certain colleges will be looking at your test scores. It’s always best to impress the college you are looking to applying to!
Some students may wonder why did Lincoln-Way switch the graduation requirement from being students taking the SAT standardized test to now the ACT standardized test? Well, the answer lies in the State of Illinois who has countless acts like the Every Child Succeeds Act which requires all students to take a standardized test. The ISBE used to have a contract with College board which allowed them to make the SAT standardized test required for all students in Illinois to take. Recently, the contract expired which led to the decision to switch to the ACT standardized test.
But most students here at Lincoln-Way East were preparing for the SAT test with the PSATs, so what’s the difference between the SAT and ACT? The SAT is only two sections, English and Math, with a total of around 47 questions for each section. Even though there are only two sections and around 47 questions, the SAT focuses more on harder questions that you need to take your time reading and understanding for you to get right. However, the ACT is split between 4 different sections, along with an optional essay, the different sections being in order- English, Math, Reading, Science, and the optional essay. Each part has you answer a great number of questions in a small amount of time. For example, the Math portion has 60 questions and is 60 minutes long. Even though there’s so many questions and such little time to answer, the questions are easier to answer compared to the more complex questions from the SAT. The English section is 45 minutes and 60 questions, the Math section is 60 minutes and 60 questions, the Reading is 35 minutes and 40 questions, and the Science is 35 minutes and 40 questions.
Here are some tips for each section to help you out while taking the test!
English: Instead of reading the entire passage, just skim it. Don’t worry too much about what the passage is about because most of the questions are grammar fixes and flow of the sentence. About 25% of the answers are NO CHANGE and typically the answer that’s less wordy is the most correct when it’s asking you to change to a better sentence option or description. English is the easiest to study for and is the quickest to change your score on, so if you just want to focus on studying for a specific part of the test, the best option would be to study for English.
Math: The first few math questions are very easy, but soon it gets harder. If you can’t solve it quickly, skip it and move on. After you are done, go back to all the questions you missed so you can answer them. You are also allowed to use the DESMOS graphing calculator on the ACT, meaning you are able to plug in full equations into the program. However, you do not know how to use DESMOS when taking the test, don’t waste your time trying to figure it out because you will waste time. Instead, learn how it works before taking the test so you can optimize your time.
Reading: Skim what the questions will ask before you read the passage, so you have an idea to what to look out for while reading. If there is a “right there” question that can easily be answered, answer it while reading to save you time. If you are having trouble reading the passage or keep re-reading the same part over, use your pencil and follow the words so you can see what you have read so far and to keep track of where you are at. It also wouldn’t hurt to read the one to two sentences above the passage telling you what it is about so you can get more of an idea of what to look out for while reading the passage. The Reading portion is near the end of the test and most people will be tired of taking the seemingly endless test and want to give up. Instead of giving up, try and reset your attention by fixing your posture or breathing.
Science: A lot of the passages can be confusing as they talk about a lot of scientific concepts that you may not know about, but what the passage is about isn’t important. Most of the questions are just asking for specific data points rather than asking what the concept means, so try and look for specific data points that the graphs give you. Answer every question even if you do not know the answer because a lot of the questions are designed to confuse you while reading and you may want to focus on that specific question. There will also be unnecessary data graphs that are there to confuse you as well. Just look for the question you need to find in the graph and don’t look at unnecessary information.
Online there a multiple practice tests for the ACT that people can take so they can be prepared for the test. The school also provides free study sessions after school on certain days, so look out for those if you want extra help. The ACT might seem far away right now, but it will be approaching fast, so it is best to stay ahead of the game and investigate some resources and study for the ACT!
