Resources For Students & Parents Top 15 ACT Tips to Ace the Test Share Flipboard Email Print Getty Images For Students & Parents Test Prep Strategies & Studying Registration Study Skills SAT ACT The GRE The LSAT TOEFL & TOEIC Certifications Homework Help Private Schools College Admissions College Life Graduate School Business School Law School Distance Learning View More by Kelly Roell Updated March 12, 2018 ACT got you down? Scared pantsless about what’s in store for you when you drag yourself into the testing center for this multiple-choice exam? Well, button it up. The following ACT tips are going to get you a better ACT score. So memorize these bad boys, okay?No cheat sheets are allowed.Top 15 ACT TipsAnswer Every QuestionYes, even the hard ones. You won’t be penalized for guessing like you would if you were taking the old SAT test. For the record, the Redesigned SAT exam, which was first administered in March 2016, doesn't penalize for wrong answers anymore, either.Use POE Before GuessingPOE is process of elimination. Each question will have at least one answer that’s way out there. Physically cross off that answer so you won’t be tempted to use it, and you’ll up your odds of guessing correctly. Then go back and see if you can cross off at least one more.Start EasyAnswer all of the easy questions first, then move on to the difficult ones. The longer, more difficult questions aren't worth any more points than the easier questions. So get all the points you can as fast as you can.Memorize the DirectionsDuring the test, you won’t get extra time to read the directions, so if you take five minutes to figure out what to do, that’s five fewer minutes you’ll have to get points.Don’t DoodleOn the answer sheet, that is. The ACT is graded by a machine; if your chicken scratch interferes with the reading mechanism, you could miss out on points. Keep the sheet of ovals as clean as is possible.Erase CompletelyBring two erasers: one for the heavy-duty erasing you may need to do and another clean eraser to fix up your ovals completely. You don’t want erasure marks mucking up your answers and causing you to lose points.Pace YourselfOn some test sections, you’ll have a little less than 30 seconds to answer each question, so keep that in mind. Don’t spend three minutes staring off into space or rereading a longer passage; stay focused.Bring a WatchArchaic, yes, what with your cell phone and all, but since you won’t be able to have your cell phone with you, bring a watch. There’s no guarantee you’ll be testing in a room with a working clock.Reconsider the ObviousIf an answer seems too easy, it may just be. Be sure to read every answer choice and select the best possible answer. The obvious choice may be a distracter.Don’t Second-GuessIf you marked B for question 18, there was probably a good reason for it, so don’t go back and change it, unless you've found information in a later part of the test to disprove your original theory. Statistics prove that your first guess is usually the best one.Come Back to ToughiesIf you’re stuck between two answer choices, circle the question and come back to it with fresh eyes after you’ve answered the other questions. Remember, you have to pace yourself.Cross-Check OvalsEvery five questions or so, double-check your answer sheet to make sure you haven’t skipped an oval. There’s nothing worse than getting to the end of a test and realizing you missed filling in an oval somewhere and having to erase everything. Bring Your Own CalculatorThe test center will not provide you with one, so bring an approved calculator for easier math work. (All the questions can be answered without one, but bring one anyway.)Outline Before WritingIf you’re taking the essay, be sure to take five out of the 40 minutes and plan before you write. It isn’t a waste of time; the scorers are looking for well-organized essays. The best way to get one is to plan ahead with either an outline or graphic organizer.PracticeYou’ve heard it before, but it’s really the truth. Buy an ACT prep book, and answer every single question in it. You’ll gain confidence and a lot of extra points by doing so.These 15 tips may just be lifesavers when you’re taking the ACT, so be sure to follow them all. citecite this article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Roell, Kelly. "Top 15 ACT Tips to Ace the Test." ThoughtCo, Mar. 12, 2018, thoughtco.com/top-act-tips-3212037. Roell, Kelly. (2018, March 12). Top 15 ACT Tips to Ace the Test. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/top-act-tips-3212037 Roell, Kelly. "Top 15 ACT Tips to Ace the Test." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/top-act-tips-3212037 (accessed April 25, 2018). copy citation Continue Reading