This is for students who have studied and are prepared and in good shape to take the ACT. If you are looking for a video on how to cram for the ACT in one night, you can check that out here.
A common myth is that the night before the ACT, the best thing to do is to not study and relax. While it’s great to be calm the night before and get a full night’s rest, it’s just as important to brush up on your ACT skills. Think of it this way: have you ever not studied for a final exam the night before? It makes sense to study the night before so the information is fresh in your brain.
Here are the three things you should do the night before the ACT:
Pack
(For a more detailed video on what to pack for the ACT, click here!) Put all your stuff together the night before to avoid being late (they won’t let you into the test center if you’re late!). Bring lots of sharpened pencils, your admissions ticket, your ID, an approved calculator (a list of approved and prohibited calculators is in the detailed packing video), erasers, and a watch (not your Apple Watch!). In addition, because of COVID-19, you should also pack a mask, gloves, hand sanitizer, and sanitation wipes.
Super Review
This is how to review effectively the night before the ACT: take out the pile of all your old practice tests. Go over every mistake you made. If you kept a notebook of all your ACT mistakes, go over that as well. The three things to keep in mind: why did I make this mistake (didn’t understand the question, pacing problem, etc.), what kind of mistake was it (math, reading, grammar, etc.), and how do I get this type of question right tomorrow.
Pacing
The biggest blindside students experience on the real ACT is they get there and they don’t come in with an effective pacing strategy. So the night before, go over how much time you will spend on each section or on each question and pay attention to the time on the real exam. Our advice: spend 8.75 minutes on reading passages and for the math section, 20 minutes on the first 30 questions, 20 minutes on the next 20 questions, and 20 minutes on the last 10 questions.
The most important tip to remember for pacing is to always push yourself and keep moving through the test.
Brush Up on Specific Skills
Go over certain rules that can be easy to forget. If your weakness is the math section, review your exponent rules or matrix algebra. If the English section is your Achilles heel, go over comma rules.
If you have the time, run through an entire section of your weakest area. Don’t do a full test (unless you have time). But you can do the section that is your weak point the night before.
You Got This!
The ACT is just one tiny day in a lifetime of awesomeness and success. Your future is bright. You got this!
