What is ACT?

The results of the ACT entrance exam are the primary factor that most colleges and universities use when making admissions choices. The ACT test is made to evaluate a high school student’s readiness for college and to provide universities with a single, comparable piece of information to use in evaluating all applicants. College admissions officers will compare your standardized test results to your high school GPA, courses you took, letters of recommendation from instructors or mentors, extracurricular activities, admissions interviews, and personal essays. The importance of ACT scores in the college admissions process varies from school to institution. Overall, the higher your ACT scores, the more options you will have for attending and financing college.

Here is the list of the top 5 US colleges that accepts ACT Score

ACT Exam Structure

ACT Exam is conducted seven times a year, in February, April, June, July, September, October, and December. There are 215 multiple-choice questions on the ACT exam (MCQs). The ACT exam consists of four sections: English, Math, Reading, and Science. The 30- to 40-minute writing assignment for the optional Writing section specifies a topic and requests two points of view on it. This portion of the test is ungraded.

Here’s the step-by-step approach to registering for the ACT

ACT Coursework

Candidates for the ACT must be familiar with the whole ACT exam syllabus in order to prepare for the test and avoid being unprepared adequately.

English

The ACT exam’s first section is English. There will be 75 MCQs from five passages in this section. The questions are built around a broad and comprehensive understanding of the passages.

Mathematics 

The ACT exam allows you to use a simple calculator for this portion. The complete primary mathematics curriculum for classes 11 and 12 will be covered.

Reading

A total of four lengthy paragraphs representing four different genres will be included in the ACT reading test. It will come from categories like written English, the arts, social science, and natural science. The greatest advice for passing this section is to finish the simple portions first and then devote focus on the challenging ones.

Science

There will be seven texts and 40 multiple-choice questions in the science part. Earth science, chemistry, physics, and biology will be covered.

Tips to solve word choice questions

On the Writing and English parts of the SAT and ACT, word choice problems rank among the trickier ones. In word choice questions, you must read a sentence or phrase and select the word that fits best in the light of the context. For a few reasons, these questions may be challenging. First off, they almost always provide at least two options for answers that are basically similar and challenging to decide between. Second, they might possibly contain words from an unknown vocabulary.

Sometimes, when faced with challenging word choice problems, test takers become paralyzed or take too long to respond. Use the below mentioned best practices to stay away from this trap.

Decide on the outcome

Rarely do word choice questions have one obvious right answer. In contrast, two or more solution options will typically appear plausible at first. You might not be able to quickly determine which answer is right if you leap to the response options and begin inserting them into the phrase. In fact, if you really wanted to, you could probably argue for each and every answer option. This is due to the fact that, if you ignore the context, every answer option is intended to sound tempting. Instead, try hiding those challenging answer options and rereading the passage. Say the first word that comes to mind when you reach the part that is underlined. (Really, on this one, go with your gut!)

Take note of the tone

Remember to consider the tone of the piece as a whole in addition to guessing which word belongs in the sentence. While some paragraphs will be objective and analytical, others might be stronger arguments or even more enjoyable. The right response will always reflect the passage’s overall mood. Correct responses frequently have a more formal tone, as opposed to erroneous ones, which typically use colloquial or casual language.

Ignore words you don’t know

You may come across one or two words from time to time that you are truly unfamiliar with. If this occurs, try not to panic! These terms are purposefully used in the examinations to terrify you and force you to take more time. Be prepared to overlook all unknown words in order to avoid falling into this trap. Even if you don’t know all the words, you’ll frequently be able to still come up with the right response. The best thing to do is guess and continue if vocabulary does, sometimes, impede you from moving on. Even though word choice problems only account for a small fraction of your final grade, wasting time trying to solve them.

Keep your language moderate and reasonable

The reading and grammar portions of the ACT and SAT often follow this norm. Avoid choosing answer options using strong language or “fancy” terms unless you have obvious justification in the passage. These options may seem alluring, but they are frequently deceptive and designed to tempt you to select the incorrect response. There is nearly always a more straightforward answer option with the same meaning.

Being too wordy is typically not a good idea

Grammar clarity is valued on the ACT and SAT, therefore the right answers typically make their points in the fewest feasible words. This is not a recommendation to only select the shortest response; rather, keep an eye out for answer choices that are redundant or repetitious.

Watch carefully for words that become misconstrued easily

There are numerous words in the English language that have the same sound but different meanings. Some of these terms are homophones, while others are just words that can be confused easily. If your vocabulary isn’t very great, you can have trouble answering questions about words that are frequently misunderstood. To study and practice these terms, you can find a worksheet here.

For unprepared test takers who do not predict their own words first or who allow foreign jargon to intimidate them, word choice questions can be a real pain in the neck. You can, however, breeze through these questions without even breaking a sweat if you follow your gut and don’t obsess over unfamiliar terms.

The suggestions listed above are merely guidelines. Contact our specialists here if you have any specific questions. In any manner that we can, we’re pleased to assist.