Are you looking to get a perfect score on the ACT® Math Section? In this blog, we share five actual tips you can do in order to improve your score. We won’t be able to fit everything in this blog but for the full scoop check out our very own ACT® math books on Amazon.com! We also have an online course for the ACT®, The Best ACT® Prep Course Ever, that includes over 100 hours of prep material and digital copies of all the information found in our books paired with walk through videos of each chapter.
Tip 1 – Nerd out in math
Join any geeky math club at school. It is one thing to get every question right and it is another thing to become a math ninja — where you are able to slay any problem you come across in several different ways. If you have the opportunity take AMC 10/12 and participate in events like the AIME, Math Olympiad, and the Mathletics. Joining the nerdy math club will make prepping for the ACT® easier as you will learn to become a math ninja.
Tip 2 – Gear up your calculator to save precious minutes
When it comes to getting a perfect math score on the ACT®, it is not all about what you know how to do. A lot of it is how quickly you can move so if you get thrown a curve ball, you have time to deal with it. Making sure your calculator is ready for the test can save you valuable seconds on the exam. You can put only certain programming in your calculator so make sure to look up ACT®’s calculator program rules at ACT.org. We here at SupertutorTV do offer a set of calculator programs that adhere to ACT® rules and are available FREE in this blog post.
Tip 3 – Don’t neglect the need for speed
People often forget they need to take the ACT® math section in an allotted amount of time. Speeding up is often about going over things you think you already know but finding a better way to do them. One way to do this is to take a Diagnostics Test. Take a real ACT® (which some can be found at supertutortv.com/resources) to identify content you struggle with. Time yourself with your phone and use the lap function to see how much you spent per question and identify the questions that are taking you the longest then strategize to improve your time. Figure out many ways to do one problem so you won’t get stuck and to optimize your speed. Also be sure to listen to other voices – be it math books, courses, tutors, and even fellow students.
Tip 4 – Drill down content that needs work
Whenever you want to improve on the ACT®, especially if you’re scoring anything below a 33, make sure you have the content down. If you’re close to a 36, let’s say you scored a 34, you don’t really work on content. But for those others, take a Diagnostics Test and go through to make a list of what type of questions you’re missing then cover all those areas. The ACT® is like a final exam of every math class in high school (except calculus) so brush up or learn new topics you haven’t learned yet. Note: The New ACT® includes 10 probability and statistics questions per test. This includes averages, arrangements, probability, and counting so make sure you learn these topics and find resources that are going to teach you. We recommend taking practice tests from 2014 to now, to take tests with these types of problems.
Tip 5 – Practice the hard ones
It is helpful to do complete practice tests (we have a mock proctor video available here) but focus on only the math section if your goal is to get a perfect score in the section. Focus on the last 10 questions of the section, as those are often times the most difficult and will get you most prepared for whatever you face on test day.
