What to Know if You Are Taking Your ACT Tomorrow

Hey there, test takers! If youre taking the ACT tomorrow, congrats! Youre about to clear a big hurdle on your way to college. If its after midnight, give this post a quick skim and go off to bed—a good nights sleep is the best thing you can do for yourself right now. If its early in the day, first of all, why arent you in school? Second of all, youll want to focus on two things today: test logistics and test content. Test Logistics First things first. Get there by 8:00 AM. Usually late to things? You know who you are—aim to get to the test center by 7:45 in that case. If youre late, you probably wont be let in. The test will start at 8:30 AM or thereabouts, but theres all that nitty-gritty checking in, finding a seat, and bubbling in your name to get out of the way first, so get there on time. Make sure you know where your test center is. Its a good idea to do a test drive to make sure you know how long it takes to get there (or at least Google Map it). Know what youll need! Go read Kristins awesome ACT Tips for Test Day and follow them. To the letter! Test Content Yes, but Rachel! I can just hear you saying. How can I bring my score up ten points by tomorrow? You probably cant. Not unless youve put the work in already. Sorry! You might consider registering for the next test date, just in case you dont like your score and you still want to boost it. But if you want to grab a few extra points RIGHT THIS MOMENT, there are some things you should keep in mind: weve got some great tips for smooth sailing on test day. Major points: dont leave any questions blank—the ACT doesnt take points off for wrong answers, so if youve got no clue, pick your favorite letter and go for it. Try to eliminate at least one answer choice beforehand (theres often one that will seem super wrong to you, but not always) to up your odds of getting the question right. If you often run short on time—or even if you dont—skim the section youre supposed to be working on (but only that section!) and pick out the questions in areas you know youre awesome at. Work on these first. (Almost) guaranteed points! Just make sure you bubble them in the right number on your answer sheet—thats one of the worst ways to lose points. A Final Word Before you get your eye hours of shut-eye, read about common ACT test day mistakes. And then? Take a few deep breaths and get your beauty sleep. Youre as ready as youll ever be, and youve done all you can do at this point to maximize your chances of success tomorrow. Click here for an ACT Test Day Checklist!