By Doann Tran

With the ACT rapidly approaching on April 23, Juniors are filled with anticipation as they’re counting down the days to take this college admissions test.

For those who don’t know what the ACT is, it’s basically a standardized test that tests in four subjects; math, english, science, and writing. Altogether, it consists of 215 multiple choice questions in a three hour and thirty minutes portion. Students can also choose to take the writing essay section which takes another half hour to complete. The ACT is scored based on the number of correct answers with no penalty for guessing. Your overall score ranges from a one to a 36; 36 being a perfect score.

In fact, more than half the states in the United States require that students take the ACT in their high school years. One of them being Colorado. More and more states are continuing to adopt this requirement as it ensures skillful college planning and academic achievement.

The ACT helps you plan for your future, helps colleges find you, and you get to choose which scores to send to colleges after you take it. The difference between that ACT and SAT is that the ACT is an achievement test, measuring what a student has learned in school. The SAT is more of an aptitude test, testing reasoning and verbal abilities.

To achieve a successful score, there are many ways to prepare you for the upcoming battle. Here are eight ways to study: Study for the ACT early (and not the day before, that’ll get you nowhere), get a baseline score (take a practice ACT test without studying, see what you get, and know how much you need to improve), learn the ACT basics (what the test consists of), create a study schedule (put time aside to study), take practice tests (you can get them from your local library or book store, Princeton, College Board, Kaplan), and to be accountable (to get a tutor, go to an ACT test prep class, or create study sessions with your peers).

Good luck and stay determined until the very end!