Everything you're wondering about ACT prep.

The student's math level lightly affects the ideal starting time.

If your student is taking math above Algebra 2 during junior year, they can get started as early as the summer before junior year. The earliest I've recommended a student take the exam is spring of sophomore year.

If your student is taking Algebra 2 or below during junior year, I still recommend taking their first test sometime in the fall of junior year to maximize flexibility. The math score is only one-third of the composite score, and Algebra 2 is not the majority of the math covered on the ACT. Therefore, I don't think it's worth delaying the timeline purely due to their math track.

1. Students are already familiar enough with the ACT through school practice tests that they aren't going in completely unprepared.

2. Establishing a baseline with little official preparation can alleviate psychological stress, letting students get used to test-day intangibles with little pressure.

3. A full round of preparation without an official baseline can be dangerous. Practice scores sometimes differ from official test-day scores, so expectations often outweigh reality. Also, without knowing what to expect on test day, students may experience more stress, especially with the weight of having prepared for the last 8-10 weeks on their shoulders.

"Let's go in, do our best, and see how it goes" is a good mantra. Some students may exceed expectations, which is great. Others may not perform as expected, but at least the baseline is established, which is often a source of motivation.

I prefer that students don’t treat the test day as anything sacred. Plan to take the test multiple times: most students perform better the 2nd or 3rd time.View test-taking as a journey, not a destination. Doing so will help keep the student in a positive frame of mind.

Contrary to popular belief, the ACT and SAT are not curved. They undergo equating, where the scale is predetermined before the test to equate difficulty across dates. Difficulty tends to vary between sections, but stays fairly consistent within a test.

Test difficulty is always accounted for in the scale and the students taking the test have no bearing on the scale. So don’t worry if your “smart friends” are taking this one; it will not affect the score that you get.

Yes. A 2016 ACT study shows 45% of students retest, and their average score was 2.9 points higher than single-test counterparts. Taking it at least 2–3 times is generally smart. After that, you're more likely to have hit a ceiling, though changing your prep method can sometimes help you break through.

For almost every case, no. The highest composite score is used for scholarships and admissions. A few select schools require submitting all test scores (current list here), which isn't very long, and even most schools on that list give the most weight to the highest score submitted.

If you're still nervous, here's a little-known bonus fact: you can actually delete ACT scores from your testing profile! Never worry about any one individual test date performance again.

A superscore is when a student's best section scores from multiple sittings are combined into one score.

Section	Test Date 1	Test Date 2	Superscore
English	24	26	26
Math	24	27	27
Reading	24	20	24
Composite	24	24	26

Superscoring leads to higher composite scores, further reinforcing the importance of taking the test multiple times.

Most colleges superscore, but not all do. Of this list of 400+ universities, roughly 80% superscore. It's safe to assume superscoring is applicable early in your college search, but as your list gets clearer, make sure you're checking each school's specific policy.

It's wise to at least take a practice test of each. Occasionally, students score higher on one or the other, which can influence which exam to prioritize.

However, most students will find they score similarly on each test, in which case I highly recommend focusing on the ACT. I think the ACT is easier to improve on than the SAT for reasons I will expand on below. Only with a substantially higher SAT score (25%+) do I recommend focusing on the SAT.

See the ACT/SAT concordance tool to convert scores for comparison.

Criteria	Enhanced ACT	SAT
College Preference	Essentially the same	Essentially the same
Timing	Quicker~57 sec per question	Slower~78 sec per question
Length	More questions (131)2h + 5 min	Less questions (98)2hr + 15 min
Format	Paper (plz don't choose digital)	Digital Only (as of Mar 2024)
Structure	Static	Adaptive
Availability of Material	Basically unlimited official practice tests	Limited to 6 official practice tests
Score Reports	Questions/answers are available for 3–4 test dates per school year	Questions/answers will never be available again

There used to be a geographic bias up until the mid-2000s (coastal colleges preferring the SAT, midwest colleges preferring the ACT). Nowadays both exams are accepted and viewed equally by all U.S. colleges.

It's true that students have more time per question on the SAT:

ACT	SAT	% difference
57 seconds per question	78 seconds per question	27% less time for ACT

However, the error in comparing time like this is assuming every question takes the same amount of time. For anyone who has ever taken a test, we know that the hard questions take substantially longer than the easy questions. Therefore, since the SAT questions are harder overall, the extra time may not even help.

In my experience, students running out of time on the ACT will also run out of time on the SAT. However, since the ACT questions are easier overall, it's much easier to learn tricks to go quicker than on the SAT.

All this being said, if you are scoring 25% higher on the SAT, you may prefer that test, and that's fine! Just be wary of making a decision purely based on the time per question.

True, the ACT has a dedicated science section and the SAT doesn't. But in practice, ACT science is an easier version of the reading section requiring almost no traditional science knowledge: mostly graphs, tables, and charts. The SAT tests the same data interpretation within its reading passages.

This is even less important now that the ACT science section is optional.

It's true that math counts for more of the SAT score than the ACT (1/2 vs 1/3). But SAT reading is more challenging due to its comprehension focus versus the ACT's fact-finding focus. Students who struggle with reading should actually prioritize the ACT. SAT math is also generally more rigorous, so students who excel at math will often score higher on ACT math.

7 times a year nationally, on Saturday dates in Feb, Apr, Jun, Jul, Sep, Oct, and Dec. See the official ACT registration page for exact dates. Kansas/Missouri also pays for a free test for all juniors in the state, usually Feb–Apr.

See the ACT fees page for current pricing. Note: I generally don't recommend taking the writing section or the science section, as most schools don't care about those sections. Please see FAQs below for more details.

Register an account on the official ACT website and follow directions to register for a test date. The early deadline is generally 5 weeks prior to each test date; the late deadline is generally 2.5 weeks prior to each test date. Your student may already have an account through school linked to their student ID.

A photo upload is required by midnight the Friday prior to your test. I recommend doing this at registration so you don't forget. Missing this deadline cancels your registration and forfeits your fee.

Always register for the ACT on paper if you can. The ACT is designed to be taken on paper. The digital version takes longer to write out math work, involves too much scrolling on reading/science, and makes elimination harder despite the provided tool. You'll also generally find more testing sites available for paper.

Generally the second Tuesday after the test date. The exception is "equating" tests (usually in October) which take a bit longer. See the ACT scores page for official timeframes.

No. The ACT only releases answers on My Answer Key (MAK) dates: Oct, Apr, Jun, and sometimes Dec. It costs extra to get the MAK, but it's worth it, especially later in the test prep process if practice test scores aren't matching with real test day scores.

I generally don’t recommend taking the writing section. Most schools don’t care whether you submit a writing score or not. It also doesn’t affect your 1–36 composite score and is scored separately.

In short, you most likely will not need a science score. Most colleges are not requiring it, even if your student is planning to choose a STEM major. Similar to writing, it also doesn’t affect your 1–36 composite score and is scored separately.

Two situations you should pay attention to:

1) Look at your student’s top schools and make sure they don’t require or recommend the test. This list is a good starting point but double check requirements on each school’s website. Notable schools that recommend science include Duke and Georgetown.

2) Look at your student’s top schools and see if they are looking at the science score if it helps the student. Vanderbilt has one of the clearest policies on science that I use as a reference point. Even for schools in this category, I’d be unlikely to recommend a student take science unless we have a clear weakness in another section that is proving stubborn to improve.