How to Significantly Improve Your ACT Score: A Comprehensive Guide

Are you aiming to boost your ACT score? Whether you're targeting a 10-point increase or simply striving for a better score, this guide provides a structured approach to help you achieve your goals. This article has been updated for the new format of the ACT starting April 2025.

Understanding the ACT and Its Sections

Before diving into specific strategies, it's crucial to understand the ACT's structure and content. Familiarize yourself with the different sections and identify your strengths and weaknesses in each.

If you already took the ACT, your ACT Score Report provides you with an easy way to see the breakdown of each subject area and understand how to improve your ACT score. If you just took the ACT, you should drop everything you’re doing and see if you’re eligible to take advantage of the ACT’s Test Information Release, which gives you the entire test, your answers, and the answer key. Reviewing how you did on each question will provide you with a goldmine of information about how you do on test day.

Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses

The path to a higher ACT score isn't the same for everyone. The time and energy required to improve from a 19 to a 29 differs significantly from improving from a 26 to a 36. Test-takers scoring 26 or above typically have a strong grasp of the content, needing to focus on pacing, specific question types, and avoiding careless errors. If you're scoring below 26, a more substantial effort may be required.

To pinpoint your areas for improvement, ask yourself:

Which topics and question types are easy for me in each section?
Which topics and question types am I struggling with in each section?
Am I making common ACT mistakes in any of these sections?

Strategic Planning for ACT Improvement

Planning is essential for significant ACT score improvement. A well-structured plan ensures you focus your efforts effectively.

Setting Realistic Goals

The best way to prioritize your study time is to create measurable goals for each section you want to improve. Use your composite score goal to figure out how many additional points you need in each section. Then, translate that to the skills and topics you need to master to reach each subscore goal. Use your analysis of your strengths and weaknesses to identify the most-tested topic(s) or test-taking skills that you still need to master in each section. And once you achieve your initial goals, create new ones (then rinse and repeat)!

Time Management and Study Schedules

Although it’s possible to improve your ACT score in a week, achieving a 10-point increase requires a much longer timeline. You should give yourself a minimum of 6 weeks to prep before you take/retake the ACT. Once you have determined how long you have to prep, figure out which sections and specific topic areas will be your priorities.

Consider your target score ranges for each section and structure your study sessions accordingly. For instance, if you score a 32 on Math and a 25 on Reading, prioritize improving your Reading score. However, if you're applying to a math-intensive program, focus on achieving a perfect Math score first.

Motivation and Study Environment

Procrastination can hinder your ACT preparation. Understand what motivates you to study and incorporate it into your plan.

Staying Motivated

Realize early on that all your ACT planning and preparation would be for nothing if you are not guided by a deep understanding of what motivates you to actually study. Maybe internal motivation is what drives you and creating a study space with pictures of your dream school, for example, or reminders of your future ambitions would be enough to keep you focused. Or perhaps you need external motivators; in that case, you should consider asking your family for perks (I can attest that this worked for me!), getting a tutor, or finding a study buddy. You know yourself the best, so whatever motivates you-and you can find more examples in our collection of perfect ACT score stories-needs to be built into your ACT prep from the get-go.

Studying with Others

Whether or not you need external motivation, there are several reasons why you should consider prepping with a buddy or a group, at least for a portion of your study plan. You can pool together resources, like test prep books and notes from math class. Since the ACT is a high school content-based test, someone may find something in their class notes that applies to the ACT. You’ll be able to teach what you’ve learned to someone else, which is one of the best ways to solidify a concept in your mind. If you’re concerned about friends being too distracting, don’t be afraid to be selective about whom to study with. Think about people who are serious about the ACT and who have complementary skills to you, meaning that you all would gain something by learning from each other.

Utilizing Quality Test Prep Materials

The quality of your study materials significantly impacts your progress. Evaluate the effectiveness of your current resources.

Choosing the Right Resources

You can spend hundreds of hours on ACT prep, but if the materials are of poor quality, all that effort will be wasted. Take a moment to evaluate whether it is worthwhile to continue using the prep that you have used or are currently using. If you have experience with tutoring or a prep course, did you find it effective? Does your prep book have good reviews across the board? If you have been using free online materials, did you verify that they’re the best free prep out there?

In addition to ensuring that you have access to high-quality ACT prep, you want to make sure that the materials are well-suited for both your learning style and your wallet. If you think tutoring or ACT prep courses are too pricey but you’ll benefit from interactive lessons and one-on-one support. Regardless of the type of prep you choose, make sure that you don’t spread yourself too thin across too many options; finish the practice content provided by your primary resource before moving on to others. But do make sure that your prep includes some quality full-length practice ACTs taken under test-like conditions.

Read also: Beyond College: 1420 SAT Score

Effective Test-Taking Strategies

Mastering test-taking strategies can significantly improve your ACT score.

Understanding Every Question

Every time you complete an ACT question, whether on a practice test, a quiz, or after a lesson, you need to make sure you understand it 100%. The way to beat standardized tests like the ACT is to become very familiar with how they ask questions. If you’re taking practice tests, first make sure to answer every question before checking your answers. Then, review ALL questions: the ones you got wrong and the ones you got right. Sometimes, you may get the right answer on a fluke, so it’s always good to double back and make sure you understand what the question was asking and how to get to the right answer.

Analyzing Mistakes

Don’t look at the answer explanation right away. This process reveals in a much more hands-on way mistakes you may have been making, faulty reasoning you may have been using, or even knowledge that you may have had buried inside that was only able to come out on the second go. Compared to just passively reading the answer, actively re-engaging with the question helps you better internalize how to avoid careless mistakes, faulty reasoning, and lapses in knowledge for similar questions in the future. Think of it as building muscle memory!
Make sure to keep track of these questions in an error log, in which you note the question, the right answer, and why you got the question wrong. Having a digital tool like this can help you easily keep track of patterns in the types of questions you’re getting wrong and the errors you’ve been making as well as determine the strategies that will help you the most in a given section.

Pacing and Time Management

ACT pacing is about making the most out of the full amount of time you have to complete the ACT. If you find that you have extra time left over at the end of each section, slow down. Double-check answers for questions you were a little unsure about. Alternately, if you find that you have no time left at the end of a particular section and there are still questions left unanswered, you should take timed practice sections until you’re familiar with the pacing. As you can see, there is no time to waste. If you find yourself struggling with a question, make a guess, mark the question, and move on. You can come back to it later if you have time, but you don’t want to leave anything blank as the ACT doesn’t penalize you for wrong answers.

Avoiding Cramming

Cramming, or last-minute studying, is not a substitute for dedicated, long term studying. Your brain needs time and practice to form new connections and gain new knowledge. If you’re already strapped for time, the onus is on you to be as smart as possible about how you use your ACT prep time. Consider every minute as precious.

Optimizing Study Habits and Environment

Effective study habits and a conducive environment are crucial for maximizing your ACT prep.

Study Schedule and Environment

Whenever you’re able to, start studying two hours after waking up. This is when you are most alert and ready to learn. Speaking of your study place, go somewhere quiet where you aren’t distracted. It usually helps to leave the house so that you aren’t tempted by the kitchen, interrupted by a sibling making noise, etc. If you can’t leave the house, sit at a table-not on a couch or on your bed. Try to fit ACT prep into the nooks and crannies of your schedule. Commuting to the library or to school can be a good opportunity to prepare on the go with ACT prep apps.

Prioritizing Health and Well-being

Remember: the ACT is just one aspect of your college application, and you likely have other things to focus on alongside your ACT prep, like your GPA and extracurriculars. Do not, under any circumstances, neglect your mental and physical health. Healthy eating, exercising, and managing stress aren’t just good life choices-they’re scientifically proven to help improve test scores! Getting a good night’s sleep is particularly important. Sleep is when your brain replays the patterns that it has learned during the day. It is crucial that you don’t skimp on sleep if you want to remember what you have learned.

Simple Tips and Tricks for Test Day

Try out these simple tips and tricks to give yourself an edge on test day. When added to good, old fashioned studying, this advice can boost your confidence and help you achieve a higher score.

Music and Focus

Music is instrumental. Turn on your headphones to make all that time spent sitting still a little more pleasant. Stay away from anything that you can sing along to-every word you hear is a mental distraction. Try genres like: downtempo, instrumental hip-hop, post rock, videogame soundtracks, ambient, movie scores, classical, deep house.

Time Management Techniques

Pomodoro Technique. Work for 25 minutes without interruption and then take 5 to relax. Each 25-minute period = one “Pomodoro.” For every 4 Pomodoros, take a 15-minute break. This breaks down the daunting task of studying into approachable chunks. The Seinfeld X Technique. Jerry Seinfeld used to force himself to write jokes on a daily basis using these tools: a wall calendar and a big red marker. Each day that you do your task of studying, put an X over that date. The motivation to keep that chain of Xs going will help build a study habit. Don’t break the chain!

Exercise and Environment

Light Exercise. The key here is timing and intensity. Light intensity exercise while studying has proven to help most with retention and recall. Change of Scenery. In an experimental led by cognitive psychologist Robert Bjork, college students who reviewed vocabulary in two different rooms recalled 20% more words. Warning: avoid comfortable furniture! Beds, couches, and bean bag chairs are your enemies-you will get sleepy and distracted.

Diet and Mental State

Watch Cute Videos. Images of adorable animals can improve your ability to focus. They make tasks seem more approachable and make viewers more attentive. In a recent Japanese study, participants who viewed cute images improved their abilities to perform fine motor dexterity-based tasks. Eat Protein. Your brain communicates with itself with the help of amino acids, which come from the protein in your diet. Eating a breakfast full of protein will increase alertness and reduce levels of ghrelin (a hunger-stimulating hormone).

Test Day Checklist

Make a checklist. Preparing all of your necessary items beforehand is a good insurance policy against the unexpected. Include test center address, clothes, #2 pencils, calculator, watch, snacks. Don’t Bother Cramming.

Strategies for ACT Science

The ACT Science section requires a specific approach. Unlike other sections, it's less about recalling scientific knowledge and more about interpreting data and understanding experimental design.

Understanding the ACT Science Section

ACT Science stands out as the most structured and predictable section on the ACT. The ACT Science section has 40 questions on it. If you're aiming for a 26, on this test you need to get just 30 questions correct. Also, keep in mind that you'll be able to GUESS on a lot of questions. So here's an example. Let's say you know how to solve just 27 questions for sure. You guess on the remaining 13, and get 4 of them right by chance. In essence, you only need to answer 2/3 of all questions right.

Skimming Passages Effectively

A common mistake people make is to try too hard to understand the passage in its entirety. Trying to understand the entire passage is a HUGE waste of time because most of the passage isn’t going to have a question asked about it. Skim the passage and understand the passage at a very high level. That’s it.

Mastering Graph and Chart Interpretation

By far the most important single skill on ACT Science is knowing how to read graphs and charts. Often, the graph will be in a totally unfamiliar subject you've never learned about. The ACT does this on purpose so that students with advanced science knowledge don't have a huge advantage on the test. Skim the intro text. Often the passage will tell you literally "Figure 2 is about X" and this is a big head start. Read the axes. What does the x-axis represent, and what changes as you move from left to right? What does the y-axis represent, and what changes as you move from bottom to top? Understand the general shape of the graph. Where is it going up or down? If there are multiple lines shown, how do they differ?

Targeting Weaknesses in ACT Science

To get the biggest score improvement, you need to understand where your greatest weaknesses are. Why is focusing on your weaknesses so hard to do? Diagnosing your weaknesses requires a lot of analysis and discipline. To do this right, you need to categorize every practice question you do by skill, score how many questions you get right on each skill, and figure out which skills are best to work on. You should be eating your cabbage by working on weaknesses, which takes a lot more mental energy and is unpleasant since you keep making mistakes.

Categorize every practice question you take by skill, especially for practice tests. Keep track of how many questions you got right and wrong in each skill. Identify the skills you're missing the most number of questions in. Don't just focus on the % correct - what really matters is how many more points you can get by mastering that skill. Find the best resources to train your weakness. You need a way to 1) learn the underlying skills, 2) find practice questions to keep drilling that skill.

Time Management in ACT Science

ACT Science has tough time pressure. You only have 35 minutes to get through 7 passages and 40 questions. Furthermore, unlike ACT Math, the questions and passages aren't arranged in difficulty. Spend no more than 1.5 minutes reading each passage. This takes 10.5 minutes away from 35 minutes. Spend no more than 30 seconds trying to answer each question. This takes away another 20 minutes. If you get stuck on a question and have no idea how to solve it, MOVE ON. See a question that you have constant trouble with? As you practice, it might help to have a timer by your side.

General ACT Test-Taking Tips

These simple strategies are tailor-made for the ACT and come from our proven test-cracking methods. Following these tips are some of the best ways to improve your ACT Score.

Working Questions Out of Order

Instead of working questions in order, ask yourself whether a question is a Do Now, Later, or Never. NOW: Does a question look okay? Do you know how to do it? LATER: Will this question take a long time to work? Leave it and come back to it later. NEVER: Know the topics that are your worst, and learn the signs that flash danger. Don’t waste time on questions you should never do.

Guessing Strategically

There is no penalty for wrong answers on the ACT, so you should never leave any blanks on your answer sheet. When you guess on Never questions, pick your favorite two-letter combo of answers and stick with it. For example, always choose A/F or C/H. If you’re consistent, you’re more likely to pick up points.

Eliminating Wrong Answers

Multiple-choice tests offer one great advantage: They provide the correct answer right there on the page. Forget the right answer-find the wrong ones.

Efficiently Bubbling Answers

Work a page at a time on English and Math and a passage at a time on Reading and Science. Circle your answers right on the booklet. Then, transfer a page’s worth of answers to the answer sheet at one time.

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