SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

While the test-taking part of the ACT is strictly timed at 2 hours and 55 minutes, the actual time you'll spend in the testing room is longer due to breaks, check in, and other factors. This guide will take a closer look at how long the ACT is with breaks and the amount of time you can plan to spend at your testing center.

First, let's consider how long the exam itself is versus how long your whole test-taking experience will be.

Your ACT Composite Score is an important part of your college applications. In this guide, we show you how exactly to calculate your ACT Composite Score from each of your section scores. More importantly, we give you custom strategies on how to use your Composite Score to adapt your ACT prep. Read on...

If you’re beginning to study for the ACT, you’re probably wondering how the ACT is scored. Understanding the ACT scoring system can give you a huge leg up as you set goals and make a study plan.

Read on to learn how the ACT is scored, section by section, with official ACT scoring charts. We also include our five top strategies related to ACT scoring so you can use this information to your advantage.

In planning your ACT prep, you probably want to know how long you need to study. Is it weeks or months? Is it dozens of hours or hundreds?

The answer to these questions depends on a variety of factors, including your target score and how comfortable you already are with the test material. There’s no reason to torture yourself with endless studying if your scores are already in the right range for your top choice schools. On the other hand, if you're still pretty far away from the scores you want, you may have to work harder than you think.

In this guide, I'll show you how to figure out how much you need to improve, how many hours you need to spend to get there, and how you should build a study schedule before your next real ACT.

You got your SAT/ACT score back, and it isn't what you'd hoped it'd be. Even though the SAT and ACT are each just a few hours long, the score you get often counts for a third or more of college admissions and can therefore have a big impact on your future.

The fact that you're looking for solutions is a good first step. It's important, now more than ever, not to freak out and to instead calmly plan the best steps forward. In this article, we go over our top four tips for what to do with a low SAT or ACT score.

You do great in school, but you just can’t get that score you want on the ACT. If you're a great student but not as great a standardized test taker, don't worry: you aren't alone.

In this post, I'll let you know what ACT scores qualify as low, what message those scores send to admissions officers, and what you can do to improve your chances of getting into a good school.

Getting ready for the ACT exam goes beyond just reviewing trigonometry and grammar rules. Doing well on the ACT requires pacing and stamina so you can keep up your focus over hours of testing. So just how long is the ACT test? And how many questions do you have to answer per minute? Learn the ins and outs of ACT timing so you know how to maximize your time on the ACT. 

Planning and trying to reach your ACT target score can be stressful and frustrating. You got a 36 in Math on one test date and a 35 in Reading on another test date. Why can’t you just get all of your highest individual section scores on the same test date?

If you’re applying to colleges that superscore the ACT, you don’t have to worry about that. So what is an ACT superscore? And how do you calculate it? In this post, I’ll explain what superscoring means, how to create your own ACT superscore calculator, and how superscoring affects your test-prep strategy.

Are you taking the ACT? You're in good company! Barack Obama, Marilyn Monroe, and Steve Jobs all took the ACT, too, along with several other celebrities. We've compiled their scores so you can see how these successful people performed back when they were in high school.

We've also converted the SAT scores of famous people to the ACT scale so you get a sense of how their scores compare. Now if you ever run into Barack Obama, you'll have at least one conversation starter to fall back on...

Looking for some quick fixes to improve your ACT scores? Look no further. In this article, we give you several tips and tricks for the ACT so that you can get your best possible scores on every section.

Are you scoring in the 26-34 range on ACT Math? Do you want to raise that score as high as possible—to a perfect 36?

Getting to a 36 ACT Math score isn't easy. It'll require perfection. But with hard work and my strategies below, you'll be able to do it. I've scored 36 on Math on all my ACTs, and I know what it takes. Follow my advice, and you'll get a perfect score—or get very close.

Are you scoring between 26-34 on ACT Science? Do you want to raise that score as high as possible - to a perfect 36?

Getting to a 36 ACT Science score isn't easy. It'll require perfection. But with hard work and my strategies below, you'll be able to do it. I've consistently scored 36 on Science on my real ACTs, and I know what it takes. Follow my advice, and you'll get a perfect score - or very close.

Are you scoring in the 26–34 range on ACT English? Do you want to raise that score as high as possible—to a perfect 36?

Getting to a 36 ACT English score isn't easy. It'll require near perfection and mastery of both grammar rules and rhetorical skills. But with hard work and my ACT English strategies below, you'll be able to do it. I've consistently scored 36 on English on my real ACTs, and I know what it takes. Follow my advice, and you'll get a perfect score—or get very close.

Did your ACT scores seem way out of whack? Enough that you think there was an error in the scoring process? It’s possible to get your test rescored manually for a fee. 

Read on to find out why you might decide to use ACT Score Verification (also known as ACT Hand Scoring) and how you can order it.

Are you struggling with ACT Reading scores between 14 and 24? You're not alone—hundreds of thousands of students are scoring in this range. But many don't know the best ways to break out of this score range and score 26 or higher.

Here, we'll discuss how to improve your ACT Reading score effectively, and why it's so important to do so. Unlike other fluffy articles out there, I'm focusing on actionable strategies. Put these eight strategies to work, and I'm confident you'll be able to improve your ACT score.