ACT Practice Tests - Practice Answering Easier Question First

As you take ACT practice tests, you have a golden opportunity to practice your test taking strategies. One common strategy is to skip the harder questions and answer the easier questions first. This will help maximize the questions that you work on during the test. However, you must be careful! Do this wrong and you'll blow that whole test section. Here are some tips take make sure you do this right.

When skipping over hard questions, make absolutely sure that you are marking the answer on the answer sheet that corresponds to the questions you are answering. Since you aren't answering them in order, you will also be skipping answers on the answer sheet. An easy way to remember to do this is to silently repeat in your mind the question number and answer from the test booklet and then repeat the question number and answer as you mark your answer in the correct place on the answer sheet. For example, if the answer you have chosen for question 16 is D, then silently say "16-D" when you finish the problem and then "16-D" as you find the right place on the answer sheet to mark you answer. This helps focus your mind on marking the answer in the right place.
It can be hard to remember which questions you need to go back and do if you are skipping the first time through. Circle the question number for each question you skip. This makes it very easy to go back and find ones that you still need to do. If you finish one of the problems that you circled, put an 'X' through that number so that you know you have finished that question. Doing these two things will make it easy for you to find and answer that ones you skipped the first time.

The ACT is composed of very specific numbers of different types of questions. Learn to recognize the different questions types. Then you will be able to quickly decide whether it is the type of question that you do well on and should answer first, or one that is harder and that you should leave until later.

Remember that your goal is to answer as many questions correctly as possible. ACT practice tests are a great place to practice your test taking strategies, particularly the strategy of answering the easier questions first.

When skipping over hard questions, make absolutely sure that you are marking the answer on the answer sheet that corresponds to the questions you are answering. Since you aren't answering them in order, you will also be skipping answers on the answer sheet. An easy way to remember to do this is to silently repeat in your mind the question number and answer from the test booklet and then repeat the question number and answer as you mark your answer in the correct place on the answer sheet. For example, if the answer you have chosen for question 16 is D, then silently say "16-D" when you finish the problem and then "16-D" as you find the right place on the answer sheet to mark you answer. This helps focus your mind on marking the answer in the right place.
It can be hard to remember which questions you need to go back and do if you are skipping the first time through. Circle the question number for each question you skip. This makes it very easy to go back and find ones that you still need to do. If you finish one of the problems that you circled, put an 'X' through that number so that you know you have finished that question. Doing these two things will make it easy for you to find and answer that ones you skipped the first time.
The ACT is composed of very specific numbers of different types of questions. Learn to recognize the different questions types. Then you will be able to quickly decide whether it is the type of question that you do well on and should answer first, or one that is harder and that you should leave until later.

Remember that your goal is to answer as many questions correctly as possible. ACT practice tests are a great place to practice your test taking strategies, particularly the strategy of answering the easier questions first.