Welcome to the Math ACT Section!
Timing:
With recent updates for a digital ACT, the amount of questions have differed. The paper version will have 60 questions for 60 minutes. The new digital version will have around 45 questions with 50 minutes. Although you will have more time on the digital, I have found the questions to be slightly more difficult compared to the paper version.
30-20-10
This leaves around a minute to a minute and a half per question. My trick was to break down these questions into 30-20-10. The first 30 will be composed of easy Algebra and computations. The second set of 20 has harder concepts like Geometry, Statistics, and Graph Analyzation. The last 10 will be the hardest questions like modeling, complex Algebraic theorems, and some area word problems. Don't panic though! Each subjects difficulty differs from person to person. Splitting up these "sets" makes it easier to become less overwhelmed by the sheer amount of problems.
Each 30-20-10 should take 20 minutes each. The first 30 should be a breeze as these can take less than a minute each. The next 20 is a minute each because it make take more time to analyze. The last 10 are the tough ones that will require more than a minute to solve.Â
Additionally if you don't the answer, it is okay! Just skip the question and move on. It is better to guess than to miss easy questions due to a time loss.
The Math section is composed of 3 main "Units":
Preparing for Higher Math
Integrating Essential Skills
Modeling
I will be using the October 2024 Digital ACT as the model for this analysis. There was 33 problems in Preparing for Higher Math, 8 problems in Integrating Essential Skills, and 15 problems in Modeling. Therefore, 56 problems and 60 minutes.
Preparing for Higher Math (~59% of Exam)
This is broken down into 5 different subjects:
Number & Quantity (~5 Questions)
Algebra (~8 Questions)
Functions (~7 Questions)
Geometry (~8 Questions)
Statistics & Probability (~5 Questions)