How to Use the ACT Website

ACT Website Resources It’s pretty nuts how many students don’t take full advantage of the free resources on the official ACT website. Granted there’s some stuff on there you are probably not totally interested in, but there’s some gold as well. Lucky ducks, we’ve made you this complete guide to the sections of the ACT Student website you absolutely MUST check out before your ACT test. ACT Student Registration First of all, we are going to assume you have already visited the site to register for the test (unless your parents did if for you). But if you have no recollection of ever doing so, or you aren’t yet ready to register for the test, you should make sure you are signed up for an account. Even if you don’t have a test date yet, you can sign up for reminders about upcoming ACT test dates. This is also where you will access your ACT scores when they come out. You’ll find the sign-up screen on the main page: actstudent.org. Official ACT Practice Questions The most important page on the official ACT website is where you can access official retired ACT questions for practice. You can find these by going under the â€Å"Test Prep† tab at the top of the main page and clicking â€Å"Sample questions† or by clicking here. There’s a handful of practice questions for each section of the test along with answers and explanations. ACT Writing Test Sample Student Essays This is gold. Nothing can help you figure out where your writing stands according to the standards of the ACT like looking at sample student essays and the scores they received. You can find the sample student essays by linking from the â€Å"Sample Questions† page listed above or directly by clicking here. ACT Test Descriptions If you are brand new to the ACT, these brief test descriptions can quickly clue you into what you are in for on the test. The overview chart will give you your timing for each section. Then click on each subject name for the basics on what that section entails. ACT Calculator Information Did you know using a TI-89 is the most common reason why students are dismissed from the test center? You would if you had checked out the ACT’s page on calculator policies. Do yourself a favor and make sure yours is allowed. While you’re at it, check out the ACT’s test day checklist to make sure you are set with everything you need for test day, but we’ve got a more comprehensive one for you here. A Free Full-Length ACT Practice Test The holy grail. Do not miss the Preparing for the ACT guide, which includes a downloadable PDF practice test. It’s on the middle of the Test Prep page. College Planning Checklist Although you may have gone to the ACT website with the goal of gaining very specific information on the ACT, the ACT website also has some decent, albeit general, college planning resources. The College Planning Checklist is my favorite resource on the page. It breaks down the college planning process year by year from freshmen to senior year. Career Planning The career planning resources on the ACT’s website are a little sparse, but a pretty cool resource is the World-of-Work graphic. Your ACT score report will suggest areas to explore based on your test results, but I say, to heck with that, follow your dreams and click around to potential fields that interest you. You’ll see tons of different jobs with descriptions and information on salary and projected growth in the field along with the education level they require. Pretty nifty. The vast majority of students only head to the ACT student website for the logistics: registering, checking scores, and finding out what to bring. But there’s some great free resources here too that go a long way in your ACT test prep, so don’t miss out on the good stuff!