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ACT Math

Everything you need to know to get a perfect SAT Math score.

Detailed SAT and ACT Strategy guide written by experienced SAT tutors to help you with your SAT Math Section

ACT Reading

Everything you need to know to get a perfect SAT Math score.

Detailed SAT and ACT Strategy guide written by experienced SAT tutors to help you with your SAT Reading Section

ACT English

Everything you need to know to get a perfect SAT Math score.

Detailed SAT and ACT Strategy guide written by experienced SAT tutors to help you with your SAT Writing Section

ACT Writing

Everything you need to know to get a perfect SAT Math score.

Detailed SAT and ACT Strategy guide written by experienced SAT tutors to help you with your SAT Essay Section

ACT Science

Everything you need to know to get a perfect SAT Math score.

Detailed SAT and ACT Strategy guide written by experienced ACT tutors to help you with your ACT Science Section

Free ACT Math Training

Intro to ACT Math

You’re allowed to use a calculator on Section 4 of the SAT, but remember to use it as a tool, not as a crutch.

Calculator Usage

The most common SAT Math Test mistakes students to make are “silly” mistakes. In this section, we’re going to focus on these kinds of mistakes and how to avoid them. Remember that if you make silly mistakes on the test, it doesn’t matter how “good” you are at math.

Avoiding Silly Mistakes

Some strategies are so powerful that they can singlehandedly increase your SAT Math Test score by more than 100 points. At AP Guru, we absolutely recommend students use these three strategies time and again.

ACT Math Strategies

The ACT Math Test contains one 60-minute section with 60 questions, and calculators are allowed on the ACT Math Test. If you excel in math, you will find the Math Test the most straightforward section of the ACT.

About ACT Math

Math fundamentals deal with number properties, their classifications and basic operations on numbers.

Number Properties

For some reason, the SAT is absolutely obsessed with percentage problems, and as a result, many students have trouble. The following set of formulas will help eradicate your trouble once and for all.

Percentage and Ratios

The beauty of inequalities on the SAT is that they allow you to do all of the same things that you can with equations:

Inequalities

Algebra

The ACT will probably contain two to three questions on each ACT test from a collection of additional topics. Even though none of the topics will not appear more than once on a test,collectively they could make a significant different to your ACT Math score.

Miscellaneous Topics

Linear equations are equations in which all variables have an exponent of 1 and whose graph is a line.

Linear Equations

A polynomial is an algebraic expression comprised of more than two terms, usually of like bases and different powers. Polynomials frequently include integer terms as well.

Polynomials

There are a few additional algebra topics often tested on the SAT. Expect each of the following to show up at least once on each SAT Math Test.

Miscellaneous Algebra

Geometry

Circles and Conics questions on the ACT are straightforward and formula driven. The following chapters will list all the formulas you need to know to answer the circle questions on the ACT Math section.

Circles and Conics

There are only a couple of Lines and Angles questions tested on the ACT Math section. The questions are usually easy and should not pose a challenge to you.

Lines and Angles

The ACT is absolutely obsessed with triangle-based problems, and as a result, the ACT Math section includes many questions on the ACT Math section. The following set of formulas will help eradicate your trouble once and for all.

Triangles

The word TRIGONOMETRY is Greek; tri means three, gon means angle and meter means to measure. Combining all these three words, we get, “three angle measure”. The logic behind this is that trigonometry involves the measurements inside a triangle, which has three angles.

Trigonometry

The polygons tested on the ACT are usually the following quadrilaterals: trapezoids, parallelograms, and special parallelograms, such as rhombuses, rectangles, and squares.

Polygons

SOLID GEOMETRY questions on the ACT Math section are some of the hardest questions you will see on the ACT Math section.

Solid Geometry

COORDINATE GEOMETRY is the study of geometry on a plane using a coordinate system. This plane is called a COORDINATE PLANE, which has scales of measurement along the x and y-axes.

Co-ordinate Geometry

Functions

The Absolute Value of a number is its distance from zero (on the number line). Thus, an absolute value is always positive. We indicate absolute value by putting two bars around the number.

Absolute Value

Students struggle with function based questions on the ACT. This chapter will give you all the information and solved examples you need to get the function questions correct

Functions

$The term quadratic comes from the Latin word quadratus meaning square because the variable gets squared (e.g., \(x^{2}\) ). It is also called an equation of degree 2 because of the 2 superscripts on the x.$

Quadratics

A TRANSFORMATION is a change of position or size of a figure. When we transform a figure, we create a new figure that is related to the original.

Graphing Functions

Problem Solving and Statistics

There are usually 1-2 questions on complex numbers on every ACT Test. If you know what complex numbers are, these questions are pretty straightforward.

Complex Numbers

About 35% of your total SAT Math Test will be made up of word problems. Though the actual math topics can vary, it is important to develop a consistent process for answering them.

Word Problems

PROBABILITY is the likelihood that something will happen. It is a number between 0 and 1 and can be written as a percent. When you asked about something's probability, you are asking, "How likely is it?" A larger number means there is a greater likelihood that the event will happen.

Probability

It's important to understand the graphs and charts often used in statistics based questions before we explain the core concepts tested on the SAT Math section.

Statistics

Free ACT Reading Course

The Basics

The SAT Reading Test is tough for a lot of students, and embodies a central complaint many people have about this test: How can you pick just one right answer to a question about a passage?

Basics of the Reading Test

Reading comprehension is question driven. To be successful, you need to be an active reader – quickly consuming a passage’s main ideas and then saving time to locate relevant information within the passage to answer detail-oriented test questions.

Big Picture Readers

The Strategies

For each passage, you have to be on the hunt for the primary purpose. However, you must first identify the topic of the passage. Knowing both will help you quickly rule out incorrect answers and narrow in on a solution.

The Main Idea

The single most important strategy to get the ACT Reading questions correct is to plagirize the answers from the passages itself

Plagiarism

We have learned concepts like actively reading through the text and predicting the answers, but the next most important concept on the SAT Reading Test is all about eliminating wrong answer choices.

Elimination is Key

Reading Strategies for the 99 percentile students to enable to get even the hardest ACT Reading questions and tackle the hard reading passages

Additional Reading Strategies

The Questions

If there is one question you are certain to see on the SAT, it is about the main idea of a passage. The main idea is nothing but the primary purpose of the passage.

Main Idea Questions

Tone and Function questions are some of the hardest questions on the ACT reading section. Here we tell you how to tackle the tone and function questions on the ACT Reading section.

Tone and Function Questions

Literal translation questions ask about the details of a passage. In contrast to your approach to general questions, to master literal translation problems, you will need to re-read and grasp details in the passage.

Literal Translation Questions

Vocabulary-in-context questions are usually among the most straightforward questions on the Reading Test, as well as some of the least time-consuming.

Vocabulary In Context Questions

Inference questions tend to be among the most challenging types of Reading Comprehension questions on the SAT. Instead of testing your understanding of what is in the text, inference questions test your understanding of what isn’t in the text.

Inference Questions

The Answers

The SAT test writers are amazingly skilled at writing tempting wrong answers, so it’s worth taking some time to understand the techniques they use to avoid falling for their traps.

Wrong Answer Choices

The further you go above the 95th percentile, the harder it becomes for the ACT to differentiate between who “gets it” and who “really, really gets it.” This chapter is about how they do that.

Advance Reading Comprehension

Free ACT English Training

Grammar Basics

The SAT Writing and Language Test is a passage-based test. There are four multi-paragraph passages and 44 questions to go with them. The makers of the SAT break this test down into two main sections: Usage and Mechanics and Rhetorical Skills.

The Strategies

Though sentence structures are rarely tested on the SAT, you will need to understand them to accurately answer comma-based questions.

Sentence Structures

Punctuations

The comma is widely used in writing and is the most commonly tested concept on the SAT Writing and Language Test. Therefore, it’s extremely important to understand how to correctly use commas and when to avoid them.

Comma Usage

Even though comma usage is the most prominent punctuation rule tested on the SAT, other punctuation such as semicolons, colons, dashes, and apostrophes are frequently tested as well.

Semicolons, Colons, Dashes, & Apostrophes

Modifiers are words, phrases or clauses used to describe something in a sentence. They are often tested on the SAT in the form of comma usage.

Modifiers

Verbs & Pronouns

The SAT Writing and Language Test repeatedly tests the proper usage of verb tenses. Knowing when to use different verb tenses and forms will be extremely beneficial to you on this part of the test.

Verbs

The ACT English section usually tests 4-5 questions on subject-verb agreement on every test. Here we tell you all you need to know about subject-verb agreements on the ACT.

Subject Verb Agreement

A pronoun can often be used as a substitute for a noun in a sentence. Anytime a pronoun is used in a passage, that pronoun must have a clear antecedent; that is, it must directly connect to a noun or pronoun that was mentioned before it.

Pronouns

Miscellaneous Grammar

Parallelism is a very strange concept. Unlike commas, semicolons, pronouns, tenses, etc., parallelism isn’t applied to just a single area of grammar – it spans all aspects of the English language.

Parallelism

There are many pesky little grammar rules that you’ll be tested on as part of the SAT. Therefore, it’s important to not just know these grammar rules, but also how test questions are structured .

Miscellaneous Grammar

At this point, you probably feel good about mastering all the grammar rules included in the Writing and Language Test. That’s great, however, combining sentences questions still stump most of our AP Guru students. These are the hardest questions that the SAT Test can throw at you.

Combining Sentences

Rhetorical Strategies

Concision works on one very basic principle: it is incorrect to use 10 words to express an idea you could express using 5.

Concision and Word Choice

Transitions are one of the most common and trickiest topics tested on the SAT Writing + Langauge and Language Test.

Transitions

Add or delete questions ask whether you should add or delete a sentence within a passage. Most questions will therefore require you to consider the context of the surrounding sentences and/or paragraphs.

Add or Delete Questions

These questions ask you to identify whether a particular sentence is correctly placed within a paragraph, or whether a particular paragraph is correctly placed within a passage.

Organization and Structure

Command of Evidence questions on the SAT asks you to determine how the writer of the passage can best achieve a particular outcome or purpose.

Command of Evidence

Free ACT Writing Training

The ACT essay is optional. You are given 40 minutes to write the essay. It is graded out of 12 points. Your score will show up next to your “36” score, but it won’t actually affect it in any way.

The ACT Essay - An Introduction

The ACT essay is one of the easiest component of the ACT that a student can master. This chapter will introduce a repeatable framework that will make essay writing easy

ACT Essay Template

The ACT essay heavily depends on examples to support your point. Here we give you a ready set of examples that you can use to support your points in your ACT Essay.

The Example Bank

We have discussed how to dissect the author’s essay and how to leverage it to write a perfect ACT essay. Now, it’s the time to help you write the essay better using varied sentence structures and correct grammar usage.

Effective Writing Toolkit

By know, you know that the ACT essay follows a predictable format, which means you can practice and prepare beforehand. Take a look at a sample ACT essay below and learn key steps and strategies to penning a high-scoring essay.

Sample ACT Essays

Free ACT Science Training

The Basics

The ACT Science section just tests your ability to understand what is important, to know what is not important, to move quickly and efficiently between questions, and to dismiss fatigue (it is the last section after all!).

The Basics of ACT Science

In the ACT science section, timing is everything and therefore we need to figure out the fastest and the easiest way to find an answer.

Speed is Everything

Directional cues are the key to answering almost every single question correctly on the ACT science section. Directional cues are the comparative words in any questions or answer choice that allow you to compare one option to another.

Directional Clues

Passage Types

Majority of the questions on the ACT Science section will just ask you to evaluate visuals and just relay information. To answer these questions, you need to read the graphs, tables, and/or scatterplots.

Data Representation Passages

Interpreting Experiments questions will give one interpretation of part of the passage and ask you whether that interpretation is true or not, using the data from the experiment.

Intepreting Experiments Passages

Every ACT science section contains one passage that looks more like a critical reading passage than a science passage. These are called conflicting viewpoint passages and require a different approach from those of other science questions.

Conflicting Viewpoints Passages

Science Strategies

You are fully capable of getting a perfect ACT science score. The only difference between a 36 and whatever you’re scoring is a collection of small errors.

Wrong Answer Types

In every section on the ACT, there are some questions that are more difficult than the others. Science is no different. Each of the ACT Science passage tends to have 1-2 hard questions that can appear at any point in the passage.

Hard ACT Questions

The ACT Science test may contain 1-2 questions based on outside knowledge. Often, that is the difference between a 32 and a 35 on the Science section!

Outside Knowledge