The best way to attack the ACT is to use an ACT study plan. With a study plan, you can manage your prep time more easily, figure out your weaknesses, and hone the skills you need to get the score you want on test day.
We give you four top-notch ACT plans to choose from, based on your ACT score goals. Before we take a look at those, though, let’s go over the benefits of having an ACT schedule and the steps needed to find the right ACT study plan for you.
What Are the Benefits of a Study Plan for ACT Prep?
Everyone studying for the ACT should start with a thorough study plan. But what are the benefits of having one?
For one, having an ACT study plan allows you to balance your prep time so that you’re spending enough time on the topics you need to study—but aren’t overworking yourself. For example, if I had four months to prep for the ACT, my plan would tell me how many hours to study per week as well as how I could arrange these hours to fit my schedule.
ACT plans are also highly adaptable. This means you can change your ACT schedule to better suit your study needs and work around any obligations you have. So if you’re struggling with math but have already completed your "ACT Math Review" day, you could spend some of your “ACT Reading Review” day reviewing more math concepts you need to know.
Finally, an ACT prep schedule can tell you whether you’re en route to hitting your goal score. A good study plan will tell you when to take ACT practice tests (starting with official ones) so that you can gauge your overall progress and pinpoint your weaknesses.
Clearly, there are many benefits of having an ACT study plan. But how can you find the right schedule for you?
Before you decide on an ACT schedule, you need to figure out where you’re currently scoring, what your goal score is, and how much prep time you’ll need. Below, we cover the five preliminary steps you must take to find the best ACT study plan for you.
The first step is to set an ACT goal score. This is the score most likely to get you admitted to all of the schools you’re applying to. You'll want to aim for this score on test day, but to do this you must prep accordingly (which we help you do in our study plans below!).
To set a goal score, look for the 25th and 75th percentile ACT scores for each of your schools. These scores represent the middle 50 percent, or average range, of scores of admitted applicants. Ideally, you’ll get an ACT score in at least the 75th percentile for your schools. This will mean you've scored higher than 75 percent of admitted applicants!
The easiest way to keep track of ACT score info for your schools is to make a chart (you can also download our pre-made chart). To find your schools’ ACT score info, go online and search for “[School Name] PrepScholar.” This will bring up links to our database. Click on the “Admission Requirements” page for your school.
Once you’ve gathered the 75th percentile scores for all of your schools and recorded them in your chart, look for the highest score. This will be your goal score, as it’s the one most likely to get you accepted to all of the schools you're applying to.
Let's say I applied to Notre Dame, the University of Michigan, Indiana University Bloomington, and Indiana State. In this case, my ACT goal score would be 34 (the highest 75th percentile score, for Notre Dame).
Next, it's time to get your baseline score. A baseline score is essentially your starting point in ACT prep—it’s the score you’d get right now on the ACT, without any prep.
To find your baseline, take an official ACT practice test. Official tests are the best resources to use for getting your baseline score since they’re by far the most realistic tests out there.
As you take your practice test, make sure to simulate real testing conditions as closely as possible: take the test in a quiet room, use an ACT-approved calculator, and abide by the official time limits on all sections.
When finished, use your test’s scoring guide to calculate your scaled scores. Your composite score (that is, the average of your four section scores) will be your baseline score. For example, if I got 32 on English, 25 on Math, 28 on Reading, and 30 on Science, my final ACT score would be 29 (since 28.75 rounds up!).
Now, it's time to use your baseline and goal scores to figure out roughly how many hours you’ll need to prep for the ACT.
The more points you need to improve by, the more hours you’ll need to study. In my examples above, my goal score was 34 and my baseline score was 29. This comes out to a 5-point improvement, equaling about 80 total hours of prep.
The most important point to remember is this: the more hours you need to study, the more time you should give yourself before test day. If you're planning to make large gains of 4 or more points, choose a test date that’s further out so that you have ample time to prep for the exam (and relax as needed!). I suggest prepping for three to six months, though you might need more or less time depending on how big of a point improvement you want to make.
Additionally, choose a test date that works well with your schedule. If you have tons of activities or commitments with little to no time to study, go with a test date at a different, more relaxed time to make your schedule less stressful for you.
Finally, if you’re a senior, make sure to take the ACT well before your college application deadlines. If your scores arrive after deadlines, your application could get disqualified, so always choose an early test date. Generally, seniors should be able to do the September and October test dates and possibly the December test date—but not anything later!
Before you begin your ACT prep schedule, spend time gathering high-quality study materials. Far and away, the best resources you can use are official ones (i.e., anything created by ACT, Inc.).
Official ACT practice tests: These free, full-length practice tests are the best out there and offer highly realistic ACT test-taking practice. Use these to check your progress and monitor your score improvement.
Official sample test questions: ACT, Inc., offers online batches of sample questions for each ACT section. This free resource comes with detailed answer explanations and is ideal for both general practice and drilling weaknesses.
The Official ACT Prep Guide: At about $25, this official ACT prep book offers three full-length practice tests, 400 practice questions, and test-day guidance. Just be aware that if you already have the 2016-17 version, the 2018 one is essentially the same. Additionally, all three practice tests share significant overlap with the free tests above, so you might want to get the third edition of the book instead (which comes with five unique tests).
You can also use high-quality, unofficial ACT resources to supplement your prep. Our guide to the best ACT prep books gives you our top recommendations for official and unofficial ACT prep books. Pro tip: always be pickier when buying unofficial ACT resources since many are low quality and don’t contain realistic practice questions.
Get your popcorn ready as we preview four Oscar-worthy ACT study plans!
You are now ready to pick an study plan for ACT prep! Below, we offer four study plans to choose from. Each one differs in intensity (how many hours you need to study per week) and length (how many months the program is).
Each plan also comes with suggested time frames to help you balance your prep. That said, you are free to tweak our plans so that you’re spending more or less time on certain topics and skills.
Remember, a good ACT study plan can adapt to fit your needs. If you’re struggling with Math and Science, for example, but are strong at Reading and English, you could (and should) focus more on honing your Math and Science skills. Just be sure you’re generally following your ACT schedule so that you’re not missing any critical practice, review, or progress checks.
This moderate study plan lasts three months and requires a total of 80 study hours, or about six and a half hours a week. With this plan, you’ll be able to raise your total ACT score by up to 6 points.
This is a great plan to use any time of the year but works best if you’re studying over the summer (to take the September or October ACT) and have more free time to dedicate to ACT prep.
First tip for your ACT Reading studies: don't remove your glasses!
For the first month, you’ll get to know the ACT, specifically the English and Reading sections.
1. Take an official practice test. To get your baseline score, take a full-length ACT test. Be sure to recreate real testing conditions as closely as possible—this means taking the test in a quiet room without interruptions.
2. Score your practice test and analyze your results. Your composite score will be your baseline score (the score you start with before beginning any test prep). You should also take some time to go over your results and see what questions you got right and wrong.
3. Learn the overall format of the ACT. Familiarize yourself with the basics of the ACT: what kind of content it tests, what kinds of questions it has, and how much time you’ll have on each section.
1. Learn the English test format. Understand what it tests and what types of passages you’ll need to edit.
2. Study all ACT grammar topics and punctuation rules. You’ll need to know all of the major English rules that can appear on the ACT, from pronouns to apostrophes.
3. Learn and practice the graf-by-graf reading strategy. This passage-reading strategy is by far the best one for ACT English. With this strategy, you'll read a passage one paragraph at a time and answer questions for each paragraph. Once you understand how this strategy works, practice it using realistic ACT English passages.
1. Learn the Reading test format. Understand how this section differs from the English section, what kinds of passages there are, and what sorts of questions you'll be answering.
2. Find the passage-reading strategy that works best for you. You’ll want to use a strategy that’s both quick and effective. To figure out which one you like most, test out a few different strategies using Reading practice tests. The strategy that gives you the highest score is the one you'll use in your prep and on test day.
3. Practice your chosen passage-reading strategy. Once you've decided on a strategy, continue practicing it using quality Reading practice tests.
1. Memorize common ACT vocabulary words. Our ACT vocabulary list contains 150 common words you should know for the exam.
2. Learn English and Reading strategies. Most importantly, practice the #1 critical rule for Reading so that you can know how to eliminate incorrect answer choices.
3. Practice strategies. Use official practice questions or high-quality, unofficial questions to test out the various English and Reading strategies you’ve learned.
On the ACT, you get to play the part of a scientist—but, sadly, do not get to work with red goo.
Now, you’ll move on to math and science topics. This month teaches you the format of the Math and Science sections and how to strategize for them.
1. Learn the Math test format. Get to know the basic structure of the section and what kinds of topics it tests.
2. Go over basic math concepts. Read our basic guide to integers followed by our advanced guide to integers. Then, learn about fractions and proportions.
2. Go over all other math topics—in particular, trigonometry.
3. Memorize all critical formulas. You won’t get any on test day, so definitely get these down pat!
1. Learn the Science test format. Understand what kinds of passages you’ll have and what the questions will look like.
2. Find the passage-reading strategy that works best for you. This strategy might be different from the ones you use for Reading and English. To find the right one for you, test out a few different strategies using Science practice tests. Whichever gives you the highest score is the one you'll use in your prep.
3. Practice your chosen reading strategy. Use high-quality Science practice tests to help you get used to reading scientific passages and answering questions.
1. Learn Math and Science strategies. For Math, the most important ones include plugging in numbers and plugging in answers. In addition, make sure you know what kind of science is on the ACT and how to read tables and graphs.
2. Practice strategies. Use high-quality practice questions to test out the Math and Science strategies you’ve learned.
3. Learn the Writing test format. If you're planning to take the ACT essay, you'll need to know what kind of essay you'll be writing, how much time you'll have for it on test day, and what kinds of prompts there are.
Now, it’s time to review everything you’ve learned and check your progress to make sure you’re on track to getting your goal score.
1. Take an official practice test. This will tell you how much your score has improved since your baseline test.
2. Score your test and determine your weaknesses. Look at the questions you got wrong and try to see whether there are any patterns in your mistakes. These will be the areas you’ll need to drill more in your prep.
1. Practice writing ACT essays using high-quality prompts. This way you'll get used to writing quickly and effectively. I suggest getting someone to score your responses so that you can figure out what skills you need to work on in order to produce more cogent essays.
2. Use high-quality practice questions to drill general weaknesses. For example, if you’re having problems solving algebra problems, spend more time reviewing algebraic concepts and practicing them as they appear on the ACT.
1. Take your third and final practice test. As always, take it in a quiet place and in one sitting to get an accurate reflection of your scoring ability.
2. Score your test and closely analyze your results. Are there any question types or topics you’re still getting wrong? What’s eating up your time and taking more energy than it needs to? Get a feel for what’s holding you back and then figure out how to fix your approach.
1. Continue reviewing concepts and strategies you want to work on. Use high-quality practice questions and resources to help you hone your skills. Just don’t overdo your prep at this point—it's OK to take some time to relax and mentally prepare yourself for the test!
This is another three-month program but of a much lower intensity. With this plan, you’ll study for a total of 40 hours, or just three and a half hours per week. At this rate, you'll gain up to 4 total points on the ACT.
This ACT schedule should work well for those prepping during the school year since it’s lighter and less demanding than the plan above. However, because you're only studying a handful of hours a week, you're limited in the number of points you can gain. Therefore, only choose this plan if you need to make small gains on test day.
Grammar is a key part of ACT English. And, uh, graminivorous is not.
During this first month, you’ll familiarize yourself with the ACT format and learn the basics of the English and Reading sections.
1. Take an official ACT practice test and score it. This week will slightly exceed your weekly time limit. You’ll spend about 3.5 hours on the test and a half hour scoring it. Remember to recreate real testing conditions to give yourself a more accurate indicator of where you’re currently scoring.
1. Analyze your results from your baseline test. A score doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about your ACT abilities, so take some time to analyze your practice test's results and see where your strengths and weaknesses lie.
2. Learn the format of the ACT. You must understand how the ACT tests concepts and sets up questions in order to do well on it. Specifically, you should know what's on the ACT, what its time limits are, and how it's scored.
1. Learn the English test format. Understand what kinds of passages you’ll see, how grammar questions are presented, and how many questions there are in total.
2. Study all ACT grammar topics and punctuation rules. Get down the most important grammar and rhetorical topics likely to appear on the ACT.
3. Learn and practice the graf-by-graf reading strategy. This strategy is the best one out there for the English section. You’ll read passages in paragraphs and answer questions for each paragraph.
1. Learn the Reading test format. Get to know the types of passages you'll read, what Reading questions look like, and how much time you'll have.
2. Practice the best passage-reading strategy for Reading: read the questions first and then skim the passage. This strategy is ideal for the ACT, as it teaches you to identify correct information fast. Always practice with high-quality Reading practice questions.
3. Memorize common ACT vocabulary words. Our list contains 150 ACT vocabulary words and their meanings for you to study.
The ACT assumes you know the basics of math and don't need to count on your fingers for everything.
This month focuses primarily on the fundamentals of the Math and Science sections.
1. Learn the Math test format. You should know what kind of math you’ll face on the ACT, how questions are worded, and approximately how much time you’ll have per question.
2. Go over basic math concepts. Read our basic guide to integers and our advanced guide. After, get started on reviewing the basics of fractions and proportions.
3. Memorize all critical ACT Math formulas. Oftentimes, an ACT Math problem can only be solved with a formula, so getting these down will help you get a great Math score.
3. Go over all other math topics. Trigonometry, for example, is a less commonly tested but still important topic you'll need to know for the ACT.
1. Learn the Science test format. Know what kinds of passages and questions you'll encounter on test day.
2. Practice the best passage-reading strategy for Science: read the questions first and then skim the passage. This is similar to the approach you’ll use for the Reading section. Be sure to use high-quality Science practice tests when practicing this method.
3. Review the science topics you’ll need to know for the ACT. Generally, you won't need any specialized knowledge to do well on ACT Science, but you should still be familiar with certain biology, chemistry, physics, and math concepts.
1. Take an official practice test and score it. As always, find a quiet place to take the test and take it all in one sitting. This will let you see how much you’ve improved since your baseline test.
Acing the ACT is all about strategizing.
To wrap up this ACT study plan, you’ll spend your last month learning key test-taking strategies, checking your progress, and reviewing topics you’re still struggling with.
1. Practice English and Reading strategies. Above all, be sure to practice the #1 critical rule for Reading, which teaches you how to eliminate incorrect answer choices.
2. Practice key Math and Science strategies, such as plugging in numbers and plugging in answers. For Science, practice reading tables and graphs.
1. Take your third and final practice test and score it. This will give you a last look at what kinds of weaknesses you still have and what topics or skills you should review more before test day.
1. Drill any weak spots you have. Use your third practice test's results to get a clearer picture of what areas you're still having trouble with. Then, practice these mistakes and test out strategies to help you overcome them.
1. Continue drilling any difficult concepts, skills, or strategies. Just be careful not to overdo it. This week isn't only for practicing but also for calming your nerves. So don’t study the day before the test or on test day—your brain will appreciate the break!
By the time you finish this next plan, it'll be spring!
Need more study time? This six-month ACT schedule offers you a more relaxed and balanced approach to test prep. With this plan, you’ll study a total of 150 hours, or six to six and a half hours a week, to improve your composite score by up to 9 points!
This plan is ideal for high-achieving sophomores wanting a head start on ACT prep. Ideally, you’ll take your first ACT in the fall of your junior year (in September or October), meaning you'd likely study the end of your sophomore year and over the summer.
Juniors, too, can use this plan for a spring or summer ACT. Since this schedule lets you spread out your prep across several months, you'll feel less overwhelmed by homework and ACT prep.
This high-intensity plan requires a lot of commitment to make it work. For this brief one-month program, you’ll study a total of 40 hours, or 10 hours a week, to get a maximum 4-point increase on the ACT. In truth, one month isn’t a particularly long time to prep for the ACT, but you can be successful if you're willing to put in the effort and stick to a regular schedule.
This ACT study plan works best if you don’t have a lot of activities or commitments going on and can therefore focus primarily on test prep. If you’re using this plan while in school, you’ll need to carve out study time during the week, as prepping for 10 hours every weekend is fairly difficult.
For more advice on how to study for the ACT in a month, check out our step-by-step guide.
1. Take an official practice test to get your baseline score. Find a quiet room with no distractions and time yourself using official time limits.
2. Score your test and analyze your results. Use your baseline test results to determine your weaknesses and look for any patterns in your mistakes.
3. Learn the overall ACT test format. Know how long the test is, what’s on it, and how it’s scored.
4. Learn the English test format. Get to know the kinds of questions and passages you'll encounter on test day.
5. Learn the Reading test format. Acquaint yourself with the different types of Reading passages and how questions are worded.
6. Learn the Math test format. Briefly review how the math section is set up, what kind of math you’ll need to know, and how much time you’ll have for this section and per question.
7. Learn the Science test format. Go over how long the section is, what kind of science it tests, and what role passages and data play.
1. Review the most important English grammar topics and punctuation rules. Knowing which grammar rules are most likely to be tested is key to doing well on English.
3. Memorize the most important ACT Math formulas. Many questions can only be solved with a formula, so knowing these guarantees you’ll have a better shot at getting a high Math score.
4. Practice reading graphs and tables for Science. Understand how data is presented in this section and what kinds of questions will be asked about it.
1. Practice your passage-reading strategies for English, Reading, and Science. The best one to use for English is the graf-by-graf method. For both Reading and Science, I recommend reading the questions first and then skimming the passage.
2. Learn and practice key strategies for all sections of the exam. The most important ones include plugging in numbers and plugging in answers for Math and the #1 critical rule for Reading.
3. Take and score a practice test to check your progress. Use the test to see how much you’ve improved since your baseline test, and look for any weaknesses you'll need to target in your final week of prep.
1. Review and practice difficult ACT topics and strategies. This is the time to zero in on your weaknesses so that you’ll feel more confident and make fewer mistakes on test day. Additionally, if you're taking the ACT with Writing, you can use some of this time to go over the format of the essay and practice answering prompts. Just don't study the day before or the day of the test—you need to give your brain a rest!
Which plan will lead you to victory?
Recap: What's the Best ACT Study Plan for You?
A good study plan for the ACT not only helps you reach your goal score but also fits easily into your schedule, changes to fit your study needs, and gives you ample confidence on test day.
Remember your commitments. Don’t choose a study plan or test date that’ll interfere with any major obligations or activities in your life. You should have plenty of time to dedicate to ACT prep, so choose a test date that’s got less going on around it.
Find a routine. You’ll get the most out of your ACT study plan by following a routine. This means you should try to prep on the same days and at the same times each week. In turn, you’ll be less likely to procrastinate and won't forget to study.
Customize your schedule. An ACT study plan should always adapt to fit your needs, so feel free to change up our plans to give yourself more or less time with certain topics. Just avoid completely skipping any major concepts or strategies!
Be confident. Last but not least, stay calm and go into the test optimistically. As long as you’ve followed your ACT study plan and targeted your weaknesses, you’re sure to get a great ACT score!
Good luck with your ACT studies!
Need more help preparing for the ACT? Read our guides to learn how long you should study for the ACT and how many times you should take it.
Aiming for a perfect ACT score? Our expert guide can show you what steps to take and what strategies to use to get that coveted 36 on test day.
Taking the SAT, too? Then get started today with one of our four SAT study plans!