In our continuing series of tips leading up to the June ACT, some thoughts on the math section, and particularly the issue of time.  Many students tell us they feel rushed in the math section because they have so many questions (60) and only 60 minutes.  Many students report they hurry in early parts of the test to make sure they finish all 60 questions.  As students later find out, this can be a very costly strategy!

Every question on the ACT math section counts equally, and they deduct NO points for guessing.  If a student answered only the first 40 questions correctly, that student would earn a score of 24 on the math section.  For students who struggle with Algebra II, moving more slowly and carefully through the first 40 questions (which focus on Pre-Algebra, Algebra I and Geometry) is a much better strategy.  In this way, the student can maximize her chance at answering correctly the questions she should know, without increasing the risk of careless errors. 

Bottom line…go into the math section with a strategy.  If you are weak in math, you want to focus on the first 40 questions.  If you are stronger in math, decide how many questions beyond 40 you can answer in the 60 minutes without rushing and making careless mistakes.  And remember, you should guess at the end by bubbling in the same letter for all your blanks – you can only pick up more points!

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 10th, 2008 at 11:49 am and is filed under College Entrance Exams, For Parents, For Students, Test Preparation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.