ACT Exam Guide: Registration, Exam Pattern, and Strategies for Success

Every year, high school students worldwide take the ACT exam to admission undergraduate study programs from abroad in the USA and Canada mainly are the best countries to study abroad. It is similar to SAT, which is the most common exam undertaken by students for admission. The only difference is that SAT evaluates students’ verbal and quantitative reasoning, whereas the ACT evaluates students’ knowledge of core academic subjects such as Maths, English, Science, and Reading. The only similarity between ACT and SAT is that both have an optional writing section for which extra time is provided at the end of the paper. Often a high American College Testing score can help to get scholarships for abroad study for Indian students. However, this can vary for each university and UG courses abroad. ACT is conducted six times in a year in India. The exam takes place between month of September and July. However, most Indian students prefer to take the ACT during June or July since they have summer vacation during that period, and they get plenty of time to prepare for the exam.

ACT Exam Registration Process Guide

The ACT is open for every student who wants to apply for undergraduate courses abroad. The only limitation is that the student must be above 13 years. Unlike in the US, where students can apply for ACT both through website and email;in India, students get only one option which is to apply online through the official website. Note: Students are required to apply for the ACT at least two or three months of their chosen date. If any student registers after the deadline, they have to pay a late registration charge of an additional $21. Candidates applying for the American College Testing are required to register at www.actstudent.org, where they will be asked to fill in basic information about themselves. Once you are done with the registration, you will have to pay for the exam and choose the preferred date and test centre for the examination. The registration fee of ACT without an optional writing exam is $34 currently; however, if you want to give the optional writing exam, you need to pay $49.5. On top of that, you will have to pay an additional $10 for each college you want to send your scorecard to, other than the four prior selected colleges. If you are taking ACT without writing, then the time period for the result is about two weeks. However, if you have also given ACT writing, then additional two weeks will be required in order to evaluate the report. Only after your writing score arrive with the general ACT score then only you can send your scorecard to the selected colleges (if you have chooses an optional writing test)

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ACT Exam Pattern

The standard ACT exam consists of 4 sections, English, Maths, Science, and Reading, and the total duration of the exam is 2 hours 55 minutes with 215 multiple-choice questions. Each section is evaluated on a scale from 1 to 36, and an average is taken of all the sections in order to calculate the final score. The end score will also be scale between 1 to 36. If you enrolled for the optional essay writing section, then an additional 40 minute time will be given to you after the completion of the standard ACT exam. You should keep in mind that the score of the writing section is given separately and does not combine with the standard American College Testing score. Let’s briefly discuss each section of the ACT.

1. English

The American College Testing English test consists of 75 multiple-choice questions that must be finished in 45 minutes. Usage/Mechanics questions and Rhetorical Skills questions are the two categories of the ACT English section.

2. Math

The ACT Math test has 60 questions that must be solved in the allotted period of 60 minutes. All of the math questions are multiple-choice, having five-options in each question. Pre-algebra, basic algebra, intermediate algebra, coordinate geometry, plane geometry, and trigonometry are the six areas of math that most students have studied by the completion of their 11th-grade year in order to perform well in the math section.

3. Reading

The reading section of ACT has 35 minutes in which students have two answers to 40 questions. These questions are divided into the passages of four sections: natural sciences, humanities, prose fiction, and social studies. A series of multiple-choice questions follow each section. In sections with two short paragraphs, there will be some questions that involve both of the writings in the section. The question in the reading section is further divided into two categories: reasoning questions and referring questions. Reasoning questions require the student to conclude the information provided within the passage, whereas the referring question will ask about the information given in the passage.

4. Science

The science section of the ACT contains 40 questions that students have to solve in 35 minutes. The test is made up of multiple science sections, each focusing on one of the following topic areas: biology, chemistry, earth/space sciences, and physics. Data Representation, Research Summaries, and Conflicting Viewpoints are the three forms used to display each passage.

5. Writing

Three distinct viewpoints on various current topics are presented to test-takers through essay prompts. Students must evaluate the value of each view, express their own opinions on the current topic, and relate their viewpoints to the perspectives offered. Students’ essays may agree or disagree with the claims in the essay question in part or in whole.

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