does the act test have an essay

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Are you taking the ACT with Writing? No need to stress! The ACT essay follows a predictable format, which means you can practice and prepare beforehand. Take a look at a sample ACT writing prompt and learn five key steps to penning a high-scoring essay.

Keep in mind: The ACT writing essay is optional. Currently, only 27 colleges and universities require the ACT with Writing. You can see the complete list here . If there is any chance that you might apply to one of those schools, you should register for the ACT with Writing. Not sure where you will apply? You should strongly consider signing up for the essay and keep your options open.

ACT with Writing: Sample Prompt

This example writing prompt comes straight from our book ACT Prep :

Education and the Workplace

Many colleges and universities have cut their humanities departments, and high schools have started to shift their attention much more definitively toward STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and away from ELA (English, Language Arts). Representatives from both school boards and government organizations suggest that the move toward STEM is necessary in helping students to participate in a meaningful way in the American workplace. Given the urgency of this debate for the future of education and society as a whole, it is worth examining the potential consequences of this shift in how students are educated in the United States.

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the shift in American education.


ELA programs should be emphasized over STEM programs. Education is not merely a means to employment: ELA education helps students to live more meaningful lives. In addition, an exclusively STEM-based program cannot help but limit students’ creativity and lead them to overemphasize the importance of money and other tangible gains.	ELA programs should be eradicated entirely, except to establish the basic literacy necessary to engage in the hard sciences, mathematics, and business. Reading and writing are activities that are best saved for the leisure of students who enjoy them.	ELA and STEM programs should always be in equal balance with one another. Both are necessary to providing a student with a well-rounded education. Moreover, equal emphasis will allow the fullest possible exposure to many subjects before students choose their majors and careers

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on the issue of how schools should balance STEM and ELA subjects. In your essay, be sure to:

analyze and evaluate the perspectives given
state and develop your own perspective on the issue
explain the relationship between your perspective and those given

Your perspective may be in full agreement with any of the others, in partial agreement, or wholly different. Whatever the case, support your ideas with logical reasoning and detailed, persuasive examples.

How to Write the ACT Essay

Your job is to write an essay in which you take some sort of position on the prompt, all while assessing the three perspectives provided in the boxes. Find a way to anchor your essay with a unique perspective of your own that can be defended and debated, and you are already in the upper echelon of scorers.

Step 1: Work the Prompt

What in the prompt requires you to weigh in? Why is this issue still the subject of debate and not a done deal?

Step 2: Work the Perspectives

Typically, the three perspectives will be split: one for , one against , and one in the middle . Your goal in Step 2 is to figure out where each perspective stands and then identify at least one shortcoming of each perspective. For the example above, ask yourself:

What does each perspective consider?
What does each perspective overlook?

Step 3: Generate Your Own Perspective

Now it's time to come up with your own perspective! If you merely restate one of the three given perspectives, you won’t be able to get into the highest scoring ranges. You’ll draw from each of the perspectives, and you may side with one of them, but your perspective should have something unique about it.

Step 4: Put It All Together

Now that you have your ideas in order, here's a blueprint for how to organize the ACT essay. This blueprint works no matter what your prompt is.

Step 5: (If There's Time): Proofread

Spend one or two minutes on proofreading your essay if you have time. You’re looking for big, glaring errors. If you find one, erase it completely or cross it out neatly. Though neatness doesn’t necessarily affect your grade, it does make for a happy grader.

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Writing Test Scores

Section 1 - 5 of 30

Writing Sample Essays

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Everything You Need to Know About ACT Writing

student smiling at laptop with headphones on while writing in notebook

The ACT Writing test, or essay section, tests your ability to read different perspectives on a topic and present your own opinion in writing. It’s the optional last section of the exam, meaning that you don’t have to take it if you don’t want to–although there are many colleges and universities that require or recommend it for admissions. Here’s what you need to know about ACT Writing in a nutshell!

What is the ACT Writing section?

Here are the need-to-know facts about the ACT Writing section :

It’s a 40-minute test to complete with pencil and paper
You’ll get one essay prompt about a debatable topic and three different perspectives on it
evaluate the three different perspectives
present your own perspective (which may agree in part or in full with any of the provided viewpoints)
explain the relationship between your viewpoint and the provided ones.

Do I have to take ACT Writing?

Nope! It’s not a required part of the exam. You can think of it as an add-on that, yes, also costs a little bit more. But whether the test requires the essay and whether colleges do are two separate issues. While you can submit the ACT without writing to many colleges and universities, others (including most super-competitive colleges) will ask you for it. Because the list of which colleges require ACT writing is constantly changing, it’s best to check with the individual schools you’re thinking of applying to before you register.

With that said, some students do take the exam before they know where they’ll be applying to college. So in this case, is it better to do the ACT test with or without writing? If you’re really uncertain, take it with writing. This will ensure that you don’t have to go back to the test center because you’ve decided to apply to a college that does require it in a few months! Yes, it requires some extra prep–but it’s worth it to keep your options open.

How does ACT Writing scoring work?

If you’ve been prepping for the ACT overall, you’re probably very (overly?) familiar with the 1-36 scoring scale by now. But this isn’t how the ACT essay is scored! Because it’s not a multiple-choice section, the essay has its own unique scoring. Take a look!

Liam got a 35 on the ACT. Get a higher ACT score with Magoosh.

How ACT Writing Is Scored

The writing portion of the ACT is scored by two graders, each of whom will assign you a writing score of 1 to 6 on four different writing “domains.” These domains include:

Ideas and Analysis: does your thesis statement and writing examine the implications of the issue with clarity and nuance?
Development and Support: do you use well-developed and specific examples to support your thesis?
Organization: does your essay have a strong structure and a logical flow?
Language Use and Conventions: do you use correct grammar, word usage, mechanics, punctuation, and sentence structures?

Your total points added up between these two graders are converted from these domain scores to a scaled score of 2 to 12, which is the final score you will see on your score report.

Getting Your ACT Writing Scores

So you’ve done it! You sat down, you wrote your essay…now what? When will ACT Writing scores be available? Well, you’ll get your multiple-choice scores in around two weeks, and you’ll get your ACT Writing scores (and full score report) about two weeks after that. So anticipate waiting around a month to get the total view of how you did on the ACT essay.

Can ACT Writing hurt your score?

No! Not, that is, if you’re talking about the composite ACT score on the 1-36 scale. This is an average of your 1-36 scores in each of the four multiple-choice sections (Reading, Math, English, and Science). It doesn’t take your essay score into account. In other words–does the ACT writing score affect composite scores? It doesn’t.

With that said, the essay score will affect your ELA subscore on the exam. (You can see what this looks like on a score report here .) But colleges and universities are far more interested in your sectional and composite scores.

What essay score is good?

Generally, an 8+ is an excellent ACT Writing score , but it depends on where you’re applying. Ivy-League-bound students should aim for 9 or above !

Can ACT Writing be superscored?

Nope! The ACT superscore is a way of combining your highest multiple-choice scores from different sections and different test dates to give you the highest possible combination. But it only affects your composite score . Because the essay isn’t part of your composite score, it’s not part of the superscore, either.

What happens if I mess up on the writing section?

If you’re wondering if you can cancel the section after they’ve taken it, unfortunately, the answer is no. Once you’ve written the essay, your score will appear on your score report. But if you change your mind about taking the writing section of the ACT, you can cancel it before you get into the testing room.

If you feel that you didn’t do your best, or you get a lower score than you’d like, can you retake ACT Writing? Definitely! But for the moment, ACT sectional retesting is on hold—and it may or may not include the ACT writing test being taken separately. To retake ACT Writing, in other words, you’ll need to retake the entire exam…for now.

How to Improve Your Writing Score

So how do you boost your ACT essay score? Take a look at these tips!

✅ Practice planning and writing essays on practice ACT essay prompts. Although writing full essays (preferably as part of ACT practice tests ) is the best practice, ten-minute outlining sessions in which you plan out your essay (like you will do on the test) can go a long way in helping you learn how to quickly generate and organize your ideas.

✅ If grammar is not your strong suit, check out our post on ACT grammar rules . Not only will this help you improve your grammar for the ACT essay, but it also will help you with the ACT English section !

✅ Share your writing with the strong writers you know and get feedback from them. Have them score your practice essays using the ACT rubric .

✅ Review the sample essays on actstudent.org so that you can get a sense of what kinds of essays get which scores. This can be incredibly helpful!

✅ Learn about current events and form your own opinions on them. Engage in lively debates with your friends and family so that you can practice supporting your opinions and anticipating opposing arguments!

Want even more? Read Your Magical Guide to Scoring a Perfect 12 on the ACT Essay , which will guide you through all the basics (if you’re a beginner) and how to improve your score (if you’ve already taken the test). There, you will find lots more writing tips and strategies that will help you show the ACT Writing test who’s boss. Happy Studying!

Rachel is a Magoosh Content Creator. She writes and updates content on our High School and GRE Blogs to ensure students are equipped with the best information during their test prep journey. As a test-prep instructor for more than five years in there different countries, Rachel has helped students around the world prepare for various standardized tests, including the SAT, ACT, TOEFL, GRE, and GMAT, and she is one of the authors of our Magoosh ACT Prep Book . Rachel has a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature from Brown University, an MA in Cinematography from the Université de Paris VII, and a Ph.D. in Film Studies from University College London. For over a decade, Rachel has honed her craft as a fiction and memoir writer and public speaker. Her novel, THE BALLERINAS , is forthcoming in December 2021 from St. Martin’s Press , while her memoir, GRADUATES IN WONDERLAND , co-written with Jessica Pan, was published in 2014 by Penguin Random House. Her work has appeared in over a dozen online and print publications, including Vanity Fair Hollywood. When she isn’t strategically stringing words together at Magoosh, you can find Rachel riding horses or with her nose in a book. Join her on Twitter , Instagram , or Facebook !

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ACT Essay Template and Sample

Act essay template.

¶1: Introductory Paragraph

Introductory statement

¶2: First Body Paragraph

Describe your thesis
Provide 1st example/reasoning: include specific, relevant information

¶3: Second Body Paragraph

Continue supporting your thesis
Provide 2nd example/reasoning: include specific, relevant information

If you are running out of time, don’t write a 2nd body paragraph. Instead, take the time to write a thorough 3rd body paragraph and a clear conclusion paragraph.

¶4: Third Body Paragraph

Explain how your thesis compares and contrasts with Perspectives One, Two, and/or Three
Strengths/Weaknesses of the perspective(s)
Insights offered / Insights not considered
Persuasive / Not persuasive
Example or reasoning: provide specific, relevant information

¶5: Conclusion Paragraph

Recap your thesis
Recap how your thesis compares and contrasts with Perspectives One, Two, and/or Three

Sample Prompt

Bilingual Accreditation

While the most common language in the United States is English, it’s certainly not the only language in which Americans communicate. In fact, bilingual fluency is highly desirable in many professions, including business, education, and medicine. In an effort to ready students for success in their future careers, some high schools may consider instituting programs that would offer bilingual accreditation to students who successfully complete a significant portion of their schooling in a language other than English. Because bilingual certification is not a necessary component of traditional education, should schools be expected to explore this option for interested students? As American high schools aim to remain competitive as measured by increasingly rigorous international education standards, innovative programs such as bilingual certification may prove to be essential.

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each discusses relevant aspects of offering bilingual accreditation.

Perspective One: Schools should encourage bilingual fluency but should not be expected to offer special classes or programs. School administrators need to work on strengthening the existing curriculum rather than overcomplicating instruction by attempting to incorporate additional programs that do not reinforce traditional education.

Perspective Two: Offering bilingual accreditation weakens the core of high school curriculum. A large enough portion of the student population already struggles to maintain passing grades when taught in English, and adding other languages would likely add to that number.

Perspective Three: Bilingual accreditation should be offered, but it needs to be thoughtfully implemented. Courses taught in languages other than English need to be carefully selected to ensure that this program does not affect the integrity of the high school diploma.

Sample Essay Using the Prompt

Essay outline.

Thesis: Schools should offer bilingual accreditation as long as courses offered in languages other than English are carefully selected.

¶2: First body paragraph

Describe your thesis: All classes need to be carefully selected so scheduling bilingual offerings is not an additional burden for school administrators.
Provide first example/reasoning: include specific, relevant information— Even if core classes are given in two languages, all students still study the core curriculum and preserve the integrity of the diploma.

¶3: Second Body Paragraph

Continue supporting your thesis: Offering bilingual accreditation provides an opportunity for schools to offer non-traditional classes for all students .
Provide second example/reasoning: include specific, relevant information— Every dollar spent to accommodate bilingual education should be matched with equal funding for other types of educational enrichment such as STEM training and career-oriented electives.

¶4: Third Body Paragraph

Explain how your thesis compares and contrasts with Perspectives One, Two, and/or Three: The first perspective argues that schools should encourage bilingual fluency but not add any bilingual classes, which is in direct contrast to Perspective Three.
Strengths/Weaknesses of the perspective(s): Perspective One doesn’t take into account that making the existing curriculum better often means adding additional classes, which bilingual accreditation would accomplish.
Persuasive / Not persuasive: The argument simply says that these classes would only be for interested students, so it doesn’t affect everyone.
Example or Reasoning: provide specific, relevant information— Most of the world uses English as a second language, and many people speak at least two languages, so to stay competitive, U.S. students should also be fluent in two languages.
Recap your thesis: I fully support perspective three because it opens up possibilities for all students without denying anyone a full high school curriculum leading to a meaningful diploma.
Recap how your thesis compares and contrasts with Perspectives One, Two, and/or Three: Recognizing the benefits of being bilingual, and making bilingual courses available but optional, is the best of both worlds.

Final Essay

In today’s world where international education standards are very high and the U.S. needs to remain competitive, educators are looking for ways to enhance high school curriculum. One way is offering classes in languages other than English. Some people think that schools should provide enough education in a different language for students to be certified as bilingual. Others think this will weaken the curriculum. Still others think the accreditation should be offered but carefully administered so that graduation from that school would indicate the completed high school curriculum, and this is the option I agree with. I would further argue that schools should not only carefully implement bilingual programs to suit students who want to become fluent in two languages, but also provide supplemental non- traditional courses for students pursuing their entire education in English.

The third perspective posits that while students should be given the opportunity to learn in other languages and be accredited as bilingual, the courses given need to be carefully selected. In reality, all classes need to be carefully selected so this is not a problem for bilingual classes. And if the classes selected were all optional, not required, it would not affect students who still want to learn everything in English. Since core classes might be given in two languages, and students select which one they want, all students still study the core curriculum and preserve the integrity of the diploma. Schools have always taught languages in high school so a French or Spanish course taught as a bilingual class makes perfect sense. Bilingual classes are also advantageous for students who do well and want to challenge themselves. So a French literature class can be taught in French while students read in French also.

As schools work to accommodate students who wish to pursue a bilingual education, administrators must keep in mind that students who do not want an additional bilingual accreditation should still have every opportunity to excel as they work toward their high school diplomas. Every dollar spent to accommodate bilingual education should be matched with equal funding for other types of educational enrichment such as STEM training and career-oriented electives. That way, every student can benefit from classes that go beyond traditional education, whether the classes concentrate on language, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or future careers. Given the rigorous demands of the current job climate, students will greatly benefit from any additional marketable skills that they can acquire during their high school careers.

The first perspective argues that schools should encourage bilingual fluency but not add any bilingual classes, which is in direct contrast to my position. Instead, the school administrators should make the existing curriculum better so that traditional education is really good. Certainly a high school curriculum should be as good as it can be and we should always be looking for ways to make it better. That often means adding new courses. For instance, computer courses didn’t exist a few years ago, but they are in schools now because it’s important for people to be able to use computers. It’s the same thing with bilingual courses. Most of the world uses English as a second language, and many people speak at least two languages. So it’s only right that to stay competitive, U.S. students should also be fluent in two languages; this is particularly important in careers that require international work. Also, the argument simply says that these classes would only be for interested students, so it doesn’t affect everyone. And finally, how can the schools encourage bilingual fluency if they don’t provide a place for students to practice another language?

Being bilingual in a world with international interaction can’t help but be useful. I fully support perspective three because it opens up possibilities for all students without denying anyone a full high school curriculum leading to a meaningful diploma. Recognizing the benefits of being bilingual, and making bilingual courses available but optional, is the best of both worlds. Expanding courses offered in a curriculum is always better than restricting them, especially when they serve such an important need as the ability to communicate with others in their own language.

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Should You Take the ACT With or Without Writing?

Whatever the format, the ACT contains the same sections: English, math, reading, and science. However, there’s one optional section that not all students are required to take: writing.

So, should you take the ACT with or without writing?

This is common question among those considering how to prepare for the ACT. In this post, we’ll detail the differences between the two, things to consider when deciding which ACT version to take, then ultimately answer this question: should you take the ACT with or without the writing portion?

Why is there a writing section in the ACT?

What does the act writing section entail, section difficulty, key things to consider when considering the act writing section, will the act writing section affect my score, so… should you take the act writing section.

First, let’s take a look at what this entire section covers.

Historically, the ACT added the writing section just after the SAT did in 2005. It did this so it can offer similar academic measurements as the SAT. The SAT included a writing test for it in 2005.

However, the ACT did not require the writing portion simply to copy the SAT — it was included mainly to measure students’ reasoning and argumentative abilities through writing. It also gives schools better insight into whether or not a candidate’s writing skills can be on par with college-level writing.

That said, ACT evaluators will base your writing score on four domain scores. According to ACT.org , these areas are as follows:

Ideas and Analysis — your ability to generate ideas relevant to the situation and critically consider the multiple perspectives provided; your understanding of the issue given and application to the audience for which you’re writing for
Development and Support — your ability to discuss and explain ideas, then formulating a sound argument from these; your ability to prove your point through examples so the reader can understand your perspective
Organization — your ability to organize ideas with clarity and purpose; you will be expected to create a seamless flow of ideas that will effectively guide the reader from start to finish
Language Use and Conventions — your ability to deliver arguments through effective use of written language; your proficiency in grammar, word choices, syntax, and writing structure, all while considering the tone, voice, and overall message delivery

ACT writing is an optional 40-minute essay test after the multiple-choice sections. In this test area, you will be given a prompt about an issue, along with three different perspectives to substantiate it. You would first read the prompt and perspectives, then create a perspective of your own through an argumentative essay. The one you’ll write must tie closely with the other three provided — it can either support the existing perspectives or be an entirely new one.

Factoring in the domain scores we’ve mentioned above, here’s how to structure a powerful argumentative essay for the ACT’s writing portion:

Introduction. Your introductory paragraph is crucial because it should be able to grab your reader’s attention. In this section, establish the subject and include background information to support it. End your introductory paragraph with a thesis statement, which will include the perspective you’ll choose to defend.
Supporting Paragraphs. After your introduction, proceed to writing your supporting paragraphs. There should be at least three paragraphs that have one focused topic within it. Be sure to not only write strong supporting statements, but also specific examples and evidence to back your argument. Pro tip: identify your focused topics prior to writing your essay. This ensures that your ideas are clear and organized.
Counter argument. Identify at least 1 alternate perspective and discuss why some readers might agree with it. Then, refute this alternate perspective — this shows the reader that you are knowledgeable about opposing viewpoints even if you don’t agree with these.
Conclusion. Wrap up your essay by writing a clear and concise conclusion. Most importantly, remember this: DO NOT introduce any new ideas or claims in your essay. Instead, do a quick recap by reiterating your essay’s general idea, then restate your thesis as your closing piece.

The ACT writing portion tests the writing skills you’ve acquired from your high school English courses. As mentioned earlier, this section will measure your analytical writing skills, reasoning abilities, and knowledge on contemporary issues — all under the pressure of a 40-minute time limit.

In the context of student learning, amber+ prioritizes holistic student growth, offering a comprehensive student learning service that includes opportunities like discounted courses. This support aids in developing essential skills, such as writing, providing students the opportunity to enhance practical abilities alongside academic excellence and experiential learning.

The topics usually revolve around modern American life and culture, so we strongly advise you to read up a lot on those things. Otherwise, you might find it hard to come up with ideas to support your argument.

More recent ACT writing topics include the effects of digitalization on face-to-face communication, arts in education, the safety of genetically modified food for consumption, and many others. Regardless of the topic, we recommend brushing up on your writing skills, particularly writing foundations (i.e., grammar, thought organization).

One obvious deciding factor in taking the ACT with writing or without is whether or not your chosen school requires it.

When the SAT Essay exam was discontinued in June 2021, most schools that offered ACT writing changed their policies about it. As a result, about two-thirds of schools don’t look at writing scores anymore; however, there are still those institutions that require it — top-tier schools like UC Berkeley and UCLA included.

It’s still best to verify if your dream school requires it. Or you can try looking it up online — simply type in “[name of school] ACT writing requirements” and check the results.

Regardless, taking the ACT with writing can make your college admission stand out especially if you’re planning to apply for an English, Writing, or Humanities major, or the college you want to get into has competitive admissions. The writing test complements the English and reading sections really well, so if you’re aiming for a higher score, we suggest taking the ACT with the writing portion.

While the writing section is optional and most schools don’t really give it weight, it’s not to say that it won’t be an effective way of measuring your communication and language skills.

A competitive ACT writing score indicates you have solid reasoning capabilities. Additionally, it showcases your ability to analyze and present arguments under time pressure. The writing section also gives you the opportunity to showcase how well you logically defend points of view. So, that’s a plus for you, especially as your writing score can boost your overall English language score one way or the other.

The simple answer is this: if your chosen school requires it, then go for it! Additionally, if you’re applying to competitive colleges (like the Ivy League or other top ranking schools), you should also take the writing.

You most probably have to take ACT writing for better chances of getting into your preferred college if it’s a standard requirement; the major you picked is English- or Writing-focused; or you just want to achieve a stellar score to make your application shine. If so, then you’d need excellent practice essay materials and a reliable ACT prep c o urse to get you going. Who knows, you just might be one essay away from getting into your dream college!

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College Reality Check

ACT: All You Need to Know to Pass the Test

Formerly standing for American College Test, the ACT is a college entrance exam that high school students usually take in their junior year in preparation for the college application season.

The ACT is a standardized test used by some postsecondary institutions as an entrance exam. It is designed to measure a student’s college readiness, which is necessary for academic success in the pursuit of a bachelor’s degree. The ACT is administered to around 1.3 million high school teens every year.

If you are a high schooler who is preparing for your college career, continue reading this post.

Is the ACT Important for College Admissions?

When applying to colleges with a test-required admissions policy, the ACT serves as one of those college admissions tests.

As a matter of fact, it may still be a good idea to take it when applying to test-optional colleges as test scores sometimes serve as a tie-breaker between 2 equally promising applicants or increase the appeal of an otherwise mediocre application.

The only time the ACT is critical in the college admissions process is if the high school teener is planning on applying to test-required colleges where the submission of test scores is mandatory.

Do You Have to Take the ACT?

Taking the ACT is a must if students are attending high schools where sitting for the said standardized test score is a requirement for graduation. Students who are applying to test-required colleges must also take the ACT or the SAT. Otherwise, it’s up to the high schooler completely whether or not he will register for the ACT.

As far as applying to test-optional colleges goes, college-bound students should determine whether taking the ACT could help increase their admissions chances by demonstrating their readiness for higher education.

Read Also: 13 College Entrance Exams And When To Take Them

Can Colleges See How Many Times You Took the ACT?

Colleges and universities cannot see how many times an applicant took the ACT. The only time their admissions officers can have an idea of how many times an aspirant sat for the ACT is by means of the number of scores that he or she will submit. It’s important to note, however, that some institutions require applicants to submit all ACT scores.

The picture above contains a list of some colleges that require the reporting of all ACT scores from all test dates.

What is on the ACT?

Based on the ACT website itself, the ACT consists of 4 tests, each one having multiple-choice questions. There are a total of 215 questions, with 1 additional essay prompt for test-takers who opt to take the Writing section, which is optional.

How Many Sections are on the ACT?

The 4 sections of the ACT are English, Math, Reading and Science sections. Among the said sections, the English section has the most number of questions, although the Math section has the longest allotted time for completion. On the other hand, both the Reading and Science sections have the same number of questions and length of time.

As mentioned earlier, there is an optional Writing section that students may or may not choose to take.

How Many Questions is the ACT?

The ACT has a total number of questions amounting to 215. Among the various sections, the English section has the most number of questions (75). Both the Reading section and the Science section, meanwhile, have the least number of questions (40). All questions are multiple-choice questions, with the exception of the optional Writing section.

Here’s a table that shows the number of questions each section of the ACT has:


English	75
Math	60
Reading	40
Science	40
Writing	1

What Kind of Math is on the ACT?

According to ACT itself, the Math section of the ACT covers math topics that can be grouped into the following categories: number and quantity, algebra, functions, geometry, and statistics and probability. Of all the various sections of the ACT, it’s the Math section that takes the longest to complete — test-takers are given a total of 60 minutes to do so.

Let’s take a quick look at the various components of the ACT’s Math section:

Number and quantity – knowledge of real and complex number systems
Algebra – use of linear, polynomial, radical and other equations
Functions – knowledge of function definition, notation, representation, and application
Geometry – knowledge of shapes and solids as well as composition of objects
Statistics and probability – application and analysis of data collection methods and others

Is There Science on the ACT?

Unlike the SAT, the ACT has a Science section. The said section is 35 minutes long and, as mentioned earlier, consists of a total of 40 questions. There are several passages on actual scientific scenarios, each of them followed by multiple-choice questions.

Needless to say, the Science section of the ACT can be hard for students who are unfamiliar with the scientific method.

It’s also important for test-takers to have strong reading and comprehension skills to ace the ACT’s Science section.

Is There Writing on the ACT?

There is a Writing section of the ACT. Since it’s an optional section, however, students who are sitting for the ACT may or may not opt to undergo it. The optional Writing section is given after all the other sections of the ACT. There is only 1 essay prompt available, which describes a general issue and is presented in 3 different perspectives.

Students who choose to take the Writing section need not have any special knowledge or experience to answer it.

What is the ACT Science Reasoning Test?

The ACT Science Reasoning Test, simply put, is the official name of the Science section of the ACT. This particular area of the college entrance examination is designed to assess the ability of test-takers to understand scientific information and interpret data as well as put them into application.

Some of the topics covered include biology, chemistry and physics.

Something that the ACT has that the SAT doesn’t is a Science section. It’s for this reason why some high school students who are very good in hard and soft science may prefer taking the ACT rather than the SAT.

How Does the ACT Work?

The ACT is a standardized test that consists of 4 sections and 1 optional Writing section. It consists of 215 multiple-choice questions and 1 essay prompt in the Writing section. Test-takers are given a total of 2 hours and 55 minutes to complete the entire test, with an additional 40 minutes for students who choose to take the Writing section.

What Does the ACT Measure?

The ACT is designed to measure skills that are of utmost importance for success in postsecondary education as well as honed as students work on their respective college degrees. In the college admissions process, the ACT is used by admissions officers to determine just how ready an applicant is to take on college-level coursework.

Especially where a holistic review is practiced, the ACT is not the only factor considered when deciding whether or not an applicant should be accepted. Similarly, the ACT has zero influence on admissions at test-blind institutions.

Is the ACT Multiple Choice

The ACT consists of multiple-choice questions. Each question comes with 4 or 5 answer options that test-takers can choose from. On the other hand, the SAT has some write-in questions that require a response from the students, particularly in the Math section, although the vast majority of SAT questions are multiple-choice kinds.

Of course, the optional Writing section of the ACT requires test-takers to provide an answer rather than choose it.

Is ACT a Standardized Test?

The ACT is a standardized test given that all students from various high schools need to answer the same questions. In addition, they are graded in a similar manner, using a scale score that goes from 1 to 36.

However, institutions of higher education that include the ACT in the admissions process may see ACT scores differently.

Because both the ACT and SAT are standardized tests that measure pretty much the same knowledge and skills among college-bound high schoolers, both are accepted by colleges — one is not preferred over the other.

When Do You Take the ACT Test?

Most high schoolers take the ACT for the very first time in the spring of their junior year. Such is the recommendation as some of the topics in the Math section of the ACT are not covered until that time. Students who find it necessary to retake the ACT commonly do so in the fall of their senior year of high school.

The ACT is administered 7 times a year: September, October, December, February, April, June and July. The standardized test score can be taken by a student only 12 times.

How to Guess on the ACT

Using the process of elimination is the best way to guess on the ACT. This entails looking for the wrong answers instead of the correct ones. Spotting 2 incorrect answers and getting rid of them increases a student’s chance of answering correctly by as much as 50% if there are 4 answer options and by as much as 60% if there are 5 answer options.

On the ACT, answering incorrectly will not cause a test-taker to face a point-deduction penalty. This is why he or she should make a guess instead of leaving a question unanswered when absolutely clueless.

How Long is the ACT?

The ACT takes 2 hours and 55 minutes to complete. The optional Writing section, meanwhile, is 40 minutes long, which means that students who opt to take it will take 3 hours and 35 minutes to complete the standardized test. There is a 10-minute break between the Math (2nd test) and the Reading (3rd test) sections and a 5-minute break before the Writing section.

Here’s a table showing the length of each section of the ACT:


English	45 minutes
Math	60 minutes
Reading	35 minutes
Science	35 minutes
Writing	40 minutes

How Does ACT Scoring Work?

Test-takers get a point for every correct answer — there is no penalty in the form of a point deduction for guessing or getting the wrong answer. The total number of questions answered correctly on all sections of the ACT is the raw score of the student. Afterward, the said raw score is converted into a scale score that ranges from 1 to 36.

In scoring the optional Writing section, 2 individuals evaluate the work, giving it a combined score on a scale of 2 to 12.

What is a Good ACT Score?

Generally speaking, a good ACT score is any score that’s better than the scores of 75% of all test-takers. This means that the score is in the top 25th percentile. However, a score above the median score is also considered a good score.

Just about any ACT composite score that’s similar to the scores of students admitted to one’s top-choice school is good as well.

Facts About the ACT

The ACT costs $68, which includes everything from the examination to the score reports. On the other hand, taking the optional Writing section causes the cost of the ACT to increase to $93.

Let’s talk about a few other facts every student looking to take the ACT might want to know about.

History of the ACT

It was in 1959 when the ACT was first administered. Prior to the said date, the SAT was the only standardized test used by many colleges and universities as an entrance exam. The ACT came into being as more and more colleges were established and more and more students wanted to pursue higher education.

Since the ACT was established, the non-profit organization that created it expanded its services and programs. For instance, it also offered training and assessment services that go past the college admissions realm.

In 2005, in the same year that the SAT came up with a mandatory Essay section, the ACT introduced a Writing section.

While the SAT made the Essay section optional in 2016 and abolished it altogether in 2021, the Writing section of the ACT is still around, and test-takers may still choose to take it or not.

Who Created the ACT?

While the ACT is created by ACT, which shares the name with the standardized test, it’s designed by Everett Franklin Lindquist. An education professor at the University of Iowa, Lindquist created the ACT based on personal achievement and practical reasoning.

Needless to say, the ACT was created to become a direct competitor to the SAT.

Originally, Lindquist included a Social Studies section in the ACT. However, in 1989, the said section was replaced by the Reading section, which included a social studies component.

What is ACT, Inc.?

ACT, Inc., which is also oftentimes simply referred to as ACT, is the creator and administrator of the ACT, the standardized test. It was founded in 1959 in Iowa the same year that the college entrance exam was created. ACT, Inc. was co-founded by the designer of the ACT himself, Everett Franklin Lindquist.

How Many People Take the ACT?

Almost 1.3 million students took the ACT in 2022, according to a US News report. In the same year, 1.7 million students took the SAT, which makes it more popular than the ACT. In 2021, based on another report by Forbes, the number of students who sat for the standardized test declined by 22% from the previous year.

Despite the fact that fewer students take the ACT than the SAT, colleges have no preference between them.

What is the ACT Designed to Predict?

The ACT is a standardized test designed to predict a student’s ability to reap academic success in college. That’s because it’s composed of questions that establish their skill levels in areas that are integral components of college-level coursework.

Some of the skills measured by the ACT are especially important for introductory courses.

However, some research says that the GPA is a much better predictor of college success than the ACT or SAT.

Is the Fifth Section on the ACT Scored?

The fifth section of the ACT isn’t scored. So, in other words, a test-taker’s score in the said section will not affect his or her ACT composite score. Similar to the fifth section of the SAT, the ACT’s fifth section is made up of experimental questions in English, reading, math and/or science designed to determine which new content and questions would work.

Recently, the fifth section of the ACT is given to students who opt not to take the optional Writing section.

Does the ACT Have an Essay?

The ACT has an essay section, which is referred to as the Writing section. As the name suggests, the said 40-minute section of the college entrance exam is designed to measure a test-taker’s ability to write. The Essay portion of the SAT, meanwhile, became optional in 2016 and then completely removed by the College Board in 2021.

Even though the ACT’s Writing section is optional, The Princeton Review report says that 27 colleges require it.

Does the ACT Provide Calculators?

Students who are sitting for the ACT should bring their own calculators with them because ACT testing centers do not provide them. Allowed calculators can be used only while answering questions in the Math section but not in any other section.

Although it’s possible to answer math questions without using a calculator, test-takers are encouraged to use one.

This list from the ACT itself enumerates calculator models that are prohibited from being used by test-takers.

Changes in ACT

The ACT has a digital version, which is referred to as the ACT Computer-Based Test (ACT CBT or CBT).

As a matter of fact, since 2018, all international students taking the ACT outside of the US have to take the standardized test digitally. It’s for the fact that the paper and pencil format of the ACT is no longer available abroad.

Meanwhile, some districts in the US are administering the ACT CBT, but with limitations. For instance, high schoolers can take the digital version of the ACT only on school-day test dates and not on national test dates when high schoolers from all over the country take the college entrance exam simultaneously.

The reason why the ACT CBT was created is to increase ACT’s accessibility and for faster test score reporting.

When Does the ACT Go Digital?

As of this writing, there is no news on when the ACT will go digital. When it does, however, the ACT will still have the same number of sections, same number of questions, same number of answer options, same time limits and same scoring system.

How to Study for the ACT

The general consensus is that high school teens should study for the ACT at least 3 months before the test date. Doing so will give them plenty of time to brush up on various topics covered by the college entrance exam.

Definitely, a very important part of studying for the ACT is taking practice tests.

Various reasons exist why undergoing practice tests can be beneficial for students who are preparing for the ACT.

For one, it enables them to experience what it’s like to sit for the ACT, thus allowing them to reduce their test anxiety as well as formulate strategies for reading the passages and answering the questions faster without compromising their performance.

Taking practice tests and scoring them, too, allows high school teens to determine their weak points, thus letting them utilize their available resources better and avoid wasting time and energy on topics of which they have mastery.

ACT Practice Test

In this part of the post, I will give you 5 practice questions for the English section and another 5 practice questions for the Math section of the ACT to give you an idea of what the real thing looks like.

For the practice test for the ACT’s English section, check out the passage below.

A Microscope in the Kitchen

I grew up with buckets, shovels, and nets (1) waiting by the back door; hip-waders hanging in the closet; tide table charts covering the refrigerator door; and a microscope (2) was sitting on the kitchen table. (3) Having studied, my mother is a marine biologist. (4) Our household might have been described as uncooperative. Our meals weren’t always served in the expected order of breakfast, lunch, and supper. Everything (5) was subservient to the disposal of the tides. When the tide was low, Mom could be found down on the mudflats. When the tide was high, she would be standing on the inlet bridge with her plankton net.

A) NO CHANGE
B) waiting, by the back door,
C) waiting by the back door,
D) waiting by the back door

Q 4. Which choice would most effectively introduce the rest of this paragraph?

Answer key:

And now, below are 5 sample questions for the ACT’s Math section.

Q 1. A car averages 27 miles per gallon. If gas costs $4.04 per gallon, which of the following is closest to how much the gas would cost for this car to travel 2,727 typical miles?

Q 2. What is the value of x when 2x + 3 = 3x – 4?

Q 3. What is the greatest common factor of 42, 126, and 210?

Q 4. How many irrational numbers are there between 1 and 6?

The sample questions above are from act.org

Should I Take the ACT or the SAT?

There are many things that the ACT and the SAT share. While both test the knowledge and skills of high schoolers in various areas necessary for academic success in college, they are presented in different ways.

For instance, while the ACT has a Science section, the SAT assesses test-takers in this department through passages that test their ability to read data and derive conclusions from them.

Likewise, the Science section of the ACT contains passages, which require students to rely on their reading and comprehension skills and not just science-related proficiencies.

So, in other words, just because a student loves science doesn’t mean right away that the ACT is better for him or her.

Taking practice tests on both the ACT and the SAT is a smart move as it makes it possible for test-takers to have an idea of what it’s like to take these standardized tests, thus enabling them to make the right choice.

Independent Education Consultant, Editor-in-chief. I have a graduate degree in Electrical Engineering and training in College Counseling. Member of American School Counselor Association (ASCA).

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How Does the ACT Work, and What’s a Good Score?

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The ACT is one of the two main college readiness exams. Like they do with the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), admissions offices use your ACT score to help determine if you’re a good fit for their college or university.

Both tests are widely used, but recently, the ACT has become more popular than the SAT. Over two million students take the ACT every year, while about 1.7 million take the SAT. It’s easy to feel like all standardized tests are the same, but these tests measure two different things.

The SAT measures your ability to learn, and the ACT measures what you’ve already learned. They’re two completely different approaches to determining your “college readiness,” but both are well-respected, and most schools don’t have a preference for one or the other.

The ACT was developed by a college professor in response to his frustrations with the SAT, which at the time was the only means of gauging how prepared students were for college. As an educator, he felt it was far better to know that your students had the necessary prerequisite knowledge than to know how good they were at learning.

Tomato, to-mah-to, you’re taking the ACT. Here’s what you need to know about it.

Quick facts on the ACT

Eligibility requirements: none

Length: three hours and 30 minutes

Sections: four required (English, math, reading, science), one optional (writing)

Number of questions: 215 (plus an essay prompt)

Types of questions: multiple choice, essay (writing section only)

Score range: 1–36

Cost: $46 without the writing section, $62.50 with the writing section

What does ACT stand for? ACT technically stands for American College Testing, but the test is administered by an organization of the same name, and they simply refer to it as the ACT.

What does the ACT test you on?

The ACT tests you based on things you should learn by the end of your senior year of high school. We’ll tell you what to expect from each section and give you some tips, but first, here’s a tip that applies to every multiple choice section:

Never leave a question blank. You aren’t penalized for wrong answers, so even if you have absolutely no clue what the answer is, take a guess!

ACT English Test

Length: 45 minutes

Number of questions: 75

The English section of the ACT will measure your mastery of the nuts and bolts of prose. Rather than asking you to retrieve information or think critically about a passage, you’ll examine individual phrases, sentences, or paragraphs.

The makers of the test say that the English section “measures your understanding of the conventions of standard English (punctuation, usage, and sentence structure), production of writing (topic development, organization, unity, and cohesion), and knowledge of language (word choice, style, and tone).”

There are several varieties of multiple choice questions, but they’re all based on passages. If a passage has underlined sections, some of the questions will ask you to improve those parts with one of the options provided. If none of the suggested changes improve the passage, you can choose “no change” (this is pretty common).

You may be asked to change a passage to create a specific effect, like building a stronger transition between two thoughts or rearranging sentences to form a more logical progression. You’ll also be asked about how particular changes might affect the passage, or what information a particular section provides.

According to national data from the ACT, this is the section most people score lowest on.

Tip: This test gives you the least amount of time per question, so don’t waste time on tough questions. Guess, and come back to them later if there’s time.If you don’t have extra time at the end, think about how many more questions you were able to get through! It’s sunk-cost economics at work.

ACT Mathematics Test

Length: 60 minutes

Number of questions: 60

All of the questions of the math section of the ACT are solvable without a calculator. Still, using one could save you some precious time. Here’s how the makers of the test break down the questions:

Number and quantity (7–10%)
Algebra (12–15%)
Functions (12–15%)
Geometry (12–15%)
Statistics and probability (8–12%)
Modeling (less than 25%)
Integrating essential skills (about 15%)

You’ll need to know the basic terminology and formulas for basic high school math. Be sure to read how the ACT describes each math section .

The ACT has already done a huge favor for you: the questions in each section appear in order of difficulty, so the easiest ones come first. That doesn’t always mean they’ll be the easiest ones for you , so you’ll still want to skim ahead if you get stuck on one.

Tip: Before you start solving a problem, take a look at the possible answers. They may help you decide how to approach the problem.

ACT Reading Test

Length: 35 minutes

Number of questions: 40

The reading section of the ACT contains four passages with 10 questions each. These are designed to test your reading comprehension, and the questions will ask you to summarize pieces of the passage, make inferences from the text, and identify key information. The bulk of the questions will be about the ideas and details in the passages.

The four passages come from the same four subjects every year, and they always appear in the following order:

Social science
Natural science

According to national data from the ACT, this is the section people score highest on.

Tip: Answers on the reading section are deliberately trying to trick you. There may be multiple answers that look correct. Before you read the possible answers, try to answer the question for yourself when possible. Then it’ll be harder for those almost right answers to mislead you—because you’ll be looking for a specific answer.

ACT Science Test

For the science section of the ACT, you won’t be expected to have advanced knowledge of any particular kind of science, but you will need a general understanding of these subjects:

Meteorology

The majority of this test involves interpreting data and working with experiment results. Like the reading and English sections of the ACT, science questions are based on a passage. You’ll have between four and seven questions per passage.

The passages you’ll work from will take these three formats:

Data representation (30-40%)
Research summaries (45-55%)
Conflicting viewpoints (15-20%)

Data representation questions will focus on tables and graphs, and they’ll test your ability to interpret scientific data.

Research summaries will focus on experiments, and you’ll be asked about the design of the experiment and the conclusions drawn from the results.

Conflicting viewpoints questions ask you to analyze and compare two hypotheses or views that are based on different premises or incomplete data.

ACT Writing Test

Length: 40 minutes

Number of questions: one

The writing section is the only part of the test that doesn’t affect your composite score. (It is optional, after all.) The test will present three perspectives on an issue, and you’ll respond with an essay.

Regardless of the prompt, your essay will have the same three expectations:

Analyze and evaluate the perspectives given.
State and develop your own perspective on the issue.
Explain the relationship between your perspective and those given.

Should I take the ACT Writing Test?

It definitely won’t count against you if you don’t take the optional section of the ACT. So if you’re a terrible writer, that’s probably a good choice. However, since it doesn’t count towards your composite score, and it can provide the admissions office with a more personal representation of your academic capabilities, it’s a good idea to take it.

A big shiny ACT score can certainly make your college applications stand out, but people can only learn so much about you from a number. There’s no guarantee a college will use your ACT essay, but if you’re a good writer, this is a positive differentiator that not every applicant is going to have.

Personally, I’d recommend it.

How do ACT scores work?

On the ACT, you gain points for correct answers, and you don’t lose points for incorrect answers.

You’ll receive a separate score for each section of the ACT: English, math, reading, science, and writing (optional). Scores range from 1 to 36 on each section—with the exception of the writing section, where scores range from 2 to 12. These scores are averaged into your “composite score.”

Your score report will show your score and percentile in each section, plus two additional sections: STEM , and ELA (English Language Arts). These are good indicators of your competency in specific subjects, but when someone says, “What’s your ACT score?” they’re asking about your composite score. ACT.org can walk you through each part of your ACT score report .

You’ll be able to view your scores online about two weeks after the exam, and you’ll get your score report in the mail within 2-8 weeks.

What’s a good ACT score?

While a perfect SAT score is 2,400, a perfect ACT score is just 36. But less than .1% of all ACT test-takers get a perfect score. So what’s a good ACT score?

The average ACT score is 21. But sitting smack dab in the middle isn’t going to make your application stand out. And for schools that want to build on their reputation for excellence, a mediocre score may not be good enough (unless you have an exceptional portfolio or something else to show off).

A good score is different for every school

Unless a school explicitly states a minimum ACT score you need to be admitted, you have to look at the students who are actually accepted to determine a “good score.” Whatever schools you’re looking at, you can see the range of standardized test scores for students they’ve accepted. You can even compare the bottom 25% of accepted students and the top 75%. If the other pieces of your application are strong, you can probably get by with a lower score.

Ivy League schools , for example, have significantly higher standards than the national average, and their students’ average ACT scores range from as low as 29 to as high as 35 (or from the 92nd percentile to the 99th).

So a good score really depends on what school you want to go to. But unless you’re looking at a top-tier school—one with a notoriously low acceptance rate—scoring in the top 75% of all test takers should be good enough for most schools. That means a good score is 24 or higher.

But what do you mean by “a good score”?

Of course, good is a relative term. Maybe by “good” you mean scoring in the top 90%? In that case, you’re shooting for a 28 or higher. And yes, four points can make that big of a difference. Sometimes getting a single point higher on your composite score can make a difference of 7%.

While a score around 24 should get you into most schools, scoring 28 or higher will have some schools throwing money at you, begging you to be one of their students.

Now that you know more about what to aim for, let’s talk about what to do with a bad score.

What happens if you get a bad score on the ACT?

No matter how much you study, there are lots of factors that can add up to a bad test day. Lack of sleep, poor diet, not exercising regularly, health issues, stress, and distractions make it harder to perform your best under pressure.

Thankfully, you can retake the ACT as many times as you want. And ACT.org says that 57% of people who retake the ACT improve their score.

When it comes time to submit your ACT score to a school, you can choose to submit your highest composite score. So if you have a bad test day, no one even has to know. This doesn’t mean you can pick and choose your best results from each section, though. If you did really well on different sections on different days, you may want to share both scores—but you can’t blend them into a new composite score like some kind of ACT Frankenstein.

How do you prepare for the ACT?

Like all standardized tests, the best way to prepare for the ACT is to take practice tests. You should certainly study the terms and concepts you’ll need to be familiar with (especially for the math and science sections), but when it comes down to it, practice is the best route to a high score.

The best practice tests will give you explanations for why one answer is correct, and the others are wrong. To make sure you’re getting the most relevant practice, be sure to check out the materials provided by ACT.org, the makers of the test.

Here are some free practice questions they provide, with explanations for each answer:

English practice questions
Math practice questions
Reading practice questions
Science practice questions
Writing samples

Let us know in the comments if there’s anything else you wish we would’ve told you about the ACT. Good luck in your studies!

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Spread the word:

Does ACT cater for students with any form of learning disability? For instance this student is able to write ACT but would need special accommodation, like additional time, would such special accommodation be allowed for the ACT exam? This student has a condition called Impaired Processing Speed (IPS). An official report to that effect can always be forwarded to the relevant office of ACT when and if necessary.

I kindly await your advice.

Yes, the ACT offers accomodations for documented learning needs. Here’s where they talk about that: https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/registration/accommodations.html

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March 2, 2018

How Long is the ACT?

For those with the question “how long is the ACT,” you are already thinking ahead to one of the biggest constraints of the ACT : time. With a minute per question, being able to answer questions efficiently and effectively is key!

Many choose to think of the ACT as more of a marathon than a sprint. It’s important to know how to pace yourself on the test as well as take advantage of breaks to recover before jumping back into the race. Knowing exactly what you are getting yourself into and being prepared for the test is a great way to avoid any unnecessary stress or concern on test day.

So read on and see how long the ACT takes and what exactly to expect.

How Long Does the ACT Take?

The ACT is 2 hours and 55 minutes in length of actual sit-down testing. Including breaks, the ACT is 3 hours and 35 minutes long .
If you take ACT with optional essay, the testing time is 3 hours and 35 minutes . Including breaks, the ACT with optional essay is 3 hours and 50 minutes long.

ACT Test Length By Section:

Section 1 – English – 45 minutes
Section 2 – Math – 60 minutes
Section 3 – Reading – 35 minutes
Section 4 – Science – 35 minutes
Optional Writing – 40 minutes

The testing usually begins between 8:30AM and 9:30AM, although all students are required to arrive at the test-taking center at 8AM for check-in. Let’s have a look at the schedule broken out by section for an 8:30AM exact start time:

[table id=10 /]

Generally speaking, this is the schedule you will experience across all testing centers. Sometimes there are differences in this schedule based on the strictness of the proctor on break time or if there is any kind of problem or disruption during the test that needs to be taken care of.

After the Math section of the MCAT, all test takers receive a 10-minute break. If your proctor attempts to skip this break, please let them know that you would like this time for a rest, as you are entitled to this 10-minute break to regroup.

What Else You Need to Know About Testing Day

Students must be checked in by 8AM Saturday morning of your test date, so it’s recommended to show up at the testing center at least 15 minutes beforehand. It’s important to keep ahold of your admissions ticket even after check-in, as you will need some of the information when filling out personal details on the test (check out our ACT checklist here! ).

The variation occurs in how long it takes to check everyone in, which is why the start time can vary between 8:30 and 9:30 AM. Once the proctor has checked everyone in and read the directions, you will then need to fill out all the personal details as directed. Assuming all goes well, you then will take the test and expect to be finished between 11:30AM and 1PM.

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Boxer previously barred from women’s events wins fight after opponent quits in 46 seconds

A female boxer whose gender identity has recently been questioned won her first fight at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.

Imane Khelif of Algeria defeated Angela Carini of Italy after Carini quit 46 seconds into the match. Carini stopped the fight after only a few punches were exchanged, avoided shaking Khelif’s hand and then fell to the floor in tears.

Khelif’s participation in Olympic women’s boxing has been scrutinized in recent days after reports resurfaced that she and another boxer, Lin Yu‑ting of Taiwan, failed to meet gender eligibility tests at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi last year. At the time, sporting officials alleged that the boxers failed an unspecified test because they had male chromosomes.

Khelif, 25, has always competed as a woman — including during the Tokyo Olympics — and there’s no indication that she identifies as transgender or intersex, the latter referring to people born with sex characteristics that do not fit strictly into the male-female gender binary.

Carini said she ended Thursday’s fight because she felt a “severe pain” in her nose. She added that she is not qualified to decide whether Khelif should have been allowed to compete.

“I am not here to judge or pass judgment,” Carini told reporters after the match. “If an athlete is this way, and in that sense it’s not right or it is right, it’s not up to me to decide.”

Others were less reserved.

“We have to pay attention, in an attempt to not discriminate, that we’re actually discriminating” against women, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told reporters during a visit to the Olympic Village. “In these things what counts is your dedication, your head and character, but it also counts having a parity of arms.”

Several American politicians, including former President Donald Trump, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem , also shared their views on the match.

“I WILL KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS!” Trump wrote on his social media site, Truth Social .

Khelif’s win also provoked responses from several prominent figures who are frequently criticized for their remarks about transgender people.

“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling repeatedly referred to Khelif as “male” and called the match a “ brutal injustice ” in a series of posts on X.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who recently drew criticism for his comments about his estranged trans daughter , also weighed in on X, which he owns. Replying to a post that included a video of the fight and read “Kamala supports this…vote accordingly,” Musk, who endorsed Trump last month, wrote: “True or let her deny it.”

While most of the responses online appear to be critical, Khelif was not without support.

Ismaël Bennacer, who plays soccer for the Algerian national team, was among those who defended Khelif.

“Full support for our champion Imane Khelif, who is suffering a wave of unjustified hatred,” he wrote on X. “Her presence at the Olympic Games is simply the result of her talent and hard work.”

Khelif celebrated her win on social media, sharing a photo of herself from Thursday’s fight on Instagram and writing, “first Victory.” She did not address the criticisms in the post; she has said her disqualification from the world championships last year was a “conspiracy.”

In a s tatement Thursday, the International Olympic Committee criticized the backlash directed at Khelif and Taiwan's Lin during the Olympics, as well as the decision by the International Boxing Association, or IBA, to disqualify them from last year's Women’s World Boxing Championships.

"The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure — especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years," the statement said, in part. "Such an approach is contrary to good governance."

The IOC noted in its statement that it withdrew recognition of the IBA last year. The relationship was severed following years of governance and financial transparency issues, as well as perceived instances of corruption.

Instead of the IBA, the IOC refers to the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit — an ad-hoc unit it developed — for its eligibility standards. In Thursday's statement, the IOC said, "As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport."

The Algerian Olympic and Sports Committee did not respond to a request for comment about the criticisms surrounding Khelif’s win.

Abderrahmane Hammad, Algeria’s minister of youth and sports, addressed concerns over Khelif’s gender identity Wednesday.

“I strongly condemn the baseless attacks on our athlete, Imane Khelif, by certain foreign outlets,” he wrote on X . “These cowardly attempts to tarnish her reputation are utterly unacceptable.”

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Fact-checking donald trump in chicago at national association of black journalists conference.

Race and Ethnicity

Former President Donald Trump, moderated by from left, ABC's Rachel Scott, Semafor's Nadia Goba and Fox News' Harris Faulkner, onstage July 31, 2024, at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago. (AP)

In a contentious appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists annual conference in Chicago, former President Donald Trump argued with moderators and opened the conversation by baselessly accusing Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee, of only recently identifying as Black.

Asked whether he agreed with some Republicans characterizing Harris as a "DEI hire," Trump said , "She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?"

The crowd gasped, and Trump went on to make more dubious assertions, some borrowed from his campaign rallies, during the 34-minute interview conducted by ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Semafor’s Kadia Goba and Fox News’ Harris Faulkner. After a late start, Trump took umbrage when Scott read a series of statements Trump had made over the years about Black people, including the "birther" conspiracy that Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States and that certain Black journalists are "losers" and ask "stupid" questions.

"You don’t even say, ‘Hello, how are you?’" Trump said to Scott, later adding, "I love the Black population of this country."

Harris was invited to address NABJ attendees but did not come because of scheduling conflicts, NABJ leaders said, though they were working on an in-person or virtual appearance in September.

PolitiFact partnered with NABJ to fact-check his statements.

Trump: Kamala Harris was "Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and she went, she became a Black person."

Pants on Fire!

Harris has long identified as a Black woman who grew up in a multicultural household.

Her father, Donald Harris, immigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica after he got into the University of California, Berkeley, Kamala Harris wrote in her 2019 autobiography. Her mother, Shyamala Harris, was born in Chennai, India, and moved to California after graduating from the University of Delhi to pursue a doctorate in nutrition and endocrinology at Berkeley.

Harris attended college at Howard University, an historically Black university, in Washington, D.C., and earned her law degree at the University of California, Hastings in 1989. Harris pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha, a historically Black sorority. As a U.S. senator from California, Harris was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

In 2010, when Harris was months from being elected as California’s attorney general, one story described her as being raised in a Black neighborhood, where she attended Black churches and also worshiped in her mother’s Hindu temple and had visited her family in India.

"Running for office, you have to simplify or condense or put into preexisting boxes who you are, so people will have a sense of you based on what they easily and quickly identify," Harris said. "I grew up in a family where I had a strong sense of my culture and who I am, and I never felt insecure about that at all. Slowly, perhaps, with each of us taking on more prominent positions, people will start to understand the diversity of the people."

Trump, upon being asked whether he would take a cognitive test: Harris "didn’t pass her bar exam."

Harris didn’t pass her bar exam the first time , according to a 2016 New York Times profile. When she retook it, she passed and was admitted to the California state bar in June 1990 . Harris graduated from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly known as University of California, Hastings) in 1989. She served as California’s attorney general from 2011 to 2017.

Trump: Of Harris, "She's the border czar. She's the worst border czar in the history of the world."

We’ve rated claims that Harris oversaw efforts to stop illegal immigration in a "border czar" role Mostly False .

In March 2021, Biden assigned Harris to work alongside officials in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to address the issues driving people to leave those countries and come to the United States. These issues include economic insecurity, corruption, human rights and violence. Border security and management is the Homeland Security secretary’s responsibility.

In June 2021, Harris visited El Paso, Texas, with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. They outlined their responsibilities to reporters. Harris said she was addressing "the root causes of migration, predominantly out of Central America."

Mayorkas said, "It is my responsibility as the Secretary of Homeland Security to address the security and management of our border."

Trump: "I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln."

Historians generally agree that Abraham Lincoln accomplished the most for Black Americans, by prosecuting the Civil War to end slavery. But a more recent president who accomplished a lot for Black Americans was Lyndon B. Johnson.

"His accomplishments on behalf of African Americans — the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act — were historic," University of Texas historian H.W. Brands told PolitiFact in 2019. Johnson, a skilled legislator from his years in the Senate, deliberately crafted his agenda and pushed it through Congress with personal persuasion, to a far greater degree than Trump, historians say. (Republicans played a key role in passing the Democratic Johnson’s agenda.)

Harry Truman, who moved to desegregate the military, was also ahead of his time on racial equality.

In June, we extensively analyzed a wide variety of economic metrics during the Trump and Biden presidencies and — excluding the pandemic period — we found that Black Americans fared well by historical standards during Trump’s presidency but fared even better under Biden across almost every metric. However, no president is all-powerful in shaping economic or other policy outcomes, making it hard to rate who "accomplished more."

Trump said: "Historically Black Colleges and Universities were out of money. They were stone-cold broke and I saved them, and I gave them long term financing, and nobody else was doing it."

We rated Trump's campaign promise to ensure funding for HBCUs a Promise Kept after Trump signed the FUTURE Act in 2019. The act ensured that the original science, technology, engineering and math funding for HBCUs from then-President George W. Bush's 2007 College Cost Reduction and Access Act would continue to be awarded without having to go back to Congress annually. The act ensured that HBCUs would receive an annual $255 million in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) funding for the next 10 years.

It’s an exaggeration, however, to say that "nobody else was doing it." In the House , Democrats were unanimous in their support, while two more Republicans voted against the bill than for it. And Biden has taken financial support for HBCUs further , including investments in the 2021 American Rescue Plan and new research grants.

Trump: "They're invading. It's an invasion of millions of people, probably 15, 16, 17 million people. I have a feeling it's much more than that."

During Biden’s presidency, immigration officials have encountered immigrants illegally crossing the U.S. border nearly 10 million times. When accounting for "got aways" — people whom border officials don’t stop — the number rises to about 11.6 million.

Encounters don’t equal admissions . Encounters represent events, so one person who tries to cross the border twice counts for two encounters. Also, not everyone encountered is let in. The Homeland Security Department estimates about 4 million encounters have led to expulsions or removals.

About 3.3 million people have been released into the U.S. to await immigration court hearings under Biden’s administration, Department of Homeland Security data shows. About 415,000 children who crossed the border alone were also let in.

Experts have told PolitiFact that it is wrong to describe illegal immigration as an invasion. Many immigrants crossing the border illegally turn themselves into Border Patrol agents voluntarily.

Trump: "Right now, you have illegal aliens coming into our country, many from prisons, and many from mental institutions, and they want to give them votes."

Pants on Fire!

When Trump made a similar comment in January, his campaign did not provide evidence of this scheme. Only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections, and proven incidents of noncitizens casting ballots are rare. Even immigrants who arrive now and eventually become U.S. citizens won’t be able to vote this election year, because of the lengthy citizenship process.

Some municipalities allow noncitizens to vote in local elections, such as for school board positions. But they don’t allow them to vote in state or federal elections.

Trump didn’t specify who he meant by "they," but he was answering a question about Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance’s comments that people with children should be able to cast votes on their children’s behalf.

On his claim that immigrants are coming from prisons and mental institutions, experts have told PolitiFact there’s no evidence that countries are deliberately doing this.

When Trump said earlier this year that Biden is letting in "millions" of immigrants from jails and mental institutions we rated it Pants on Fire . Immigration officials arrested about 103,700 noncitizens with criminal convictions (whether in the U.S. or abroad) from fiscal years 2021 to 2024, federal data shows. That accounts for people stopped at and between ports of entry.

Not everyone was let in. "Noncitizens" includes people who may have legal immigration status in the U.S., but are not U.S. citizens.

Trump: "Coming from the border are millions and millions of people that happen to be taking Black jobs."

When ABC News’ Scott asked what he meant by "Black jobs," Trump responded, "A Black job is anybody that has a job, that's what it is. Anybody that has it."

It does not make the claim accurate. Commonly used employment data does not include information specific enough to confirm or deny this pattern, but broader economic statistics cast doubt.

Foreign-born workers — many of whom are U.S. citizens and immigrants here legally — have made unusually fast employment gains during Biden’s tenure. But native-born workers, including Black workers, have made gains, too. (The category "foreign-born workers" in federal statistics counts anyone who was born in a foreign country.)

Since Biden took office in early 2021, the number of foreign-born Americans who are employed has risen by about 5.6 million. But over the same period, the number of native-born Americans employed has increased by almost 7.4 million.

If foreign-born workers were eating into Black workers’ opportunities, it would reflect in unemployment rates. But the unemployment rate for Black Americans is low by historical standards; it hit a record low under Biden, although it has risen since then. Also, the unemployment rate for native-born workers overall under Biden is comparable to what it was during the final two prepandemic years of Trump’s presidency.

Trump: "Unions are being very badly affected by all of the millions of people that are pouring into our country."

Mostly False .

Economy and labor experts told PolitiFact that immigrants who recently crossed the U.S. border illegally are unlikely to take union jobs because these jobs are highly competitive. Instead, they tend to work in nonunion jobs that Americans don’t want, such as day laborers.

Experts agreed that immigration and union membership numbers move in concert: As immigration rises, unionization drops. As union membership has fallen, some experts said immigrants have filled jobs left by union workers who disagreed with their employers’ labor practices.

Trump: "Inflation is the worst it's been, I think, in over 100 years. And they'll fact-check it, they'll say it's only 58, whatever it may be."

In summer 2022, year-over-year inflation was around 9%, the highest since the 1970s and early 1980s, when the annual price increase sometimes hovered between 12% and 15%. That’s not 100 years.

Since then, inflation has fallen. It was at 3% year over year in June 2024, the most recent month with available data. That’s higher than the Federal Reserve would like, but it’s down by two-thirds from its 2022 peak.

Trump said, "We have more liquid gold — gasoline, oil — under our feet than any other country. More than Saudi Arabia. More than Russia. More than any other country."

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Venezuela ranked first in 2021 with 304 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, followed by Saudi Arabia, Iran, Canada, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Russia. The U.S. ranked ninth internationally, with 61 billion barrels.

The U.S. ranks higher internationally in coal reserves (No. 1) and natural gas (No. 4), administration data shows.

Trump: "Your grocery bills are up 40%, 50%, 60%, right?"

Mostly False.

Food prices have risen on Biden’s watch, by 21.5% since he was inaugurated. That’s about a 6% rise per year, and it’s higher than recent presidents have witnessed on their watch.

But 21.5% is about half the lowest figure Trump cited.

Trump: Democrats "are allowing the death of a baby after the baby is born."

Willfully terminating a newborn’s life is infanticide and is illegal in every U.S. state, as the moderators pointed out. Most elected Democrats who have spoken publicly about this have said they support abortion under Roe v. Wade’s standard, which provided abortion access up to fetal viability. This is typically around 24 weeks of pregnancy, when the fetus can survive outside of the womb. Many of these Democrats have also said they support abortions past this point if the treating physician deems it necessary.

Medical experts say situations resulting in fetal death in the third trimester are rare — less than 1% of abortions in the U.S. occur after 21 weeks — and typically involve fatal fetal anomalies or life-threatening emergencies affecting the pregnant woman. For fetuses with very short life expectancies, doctors may induce labor and offer them palliative care . Some families choose this option when facing diagnoses that limit their babies’ survival to minutes or days after delivery.

Trump: "Everybody wanted abortion brought back. They didn't want Roe v. Wade in the federal government."

Roe v. Wade was a contentious legal issue that inspired legions of supporters and opponents. Before the ruling to overturn it came down from the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court in June 2022, numerous legal scholars wrote briefs urging the Supreme Court to uphold Roe.

Some legal scholars who favor abortion rights have criticized the 1973 ruling’s legal underpinnings, saying that different constitutional arguments, based on equal protection, would have provided a stronger case. But legal experts, including some who held this view, say those scholars would not have advocated for overturning Roe on this basis.

Polling since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 shows support for Roe has outpaced support for dismantling it.

Trump, when asked whether he would pardon convicted Jan. 6 rioters: "What about the police that are ushering, ushering everybody into the Capitol? ‘Go in. Go in. Go in.’ What about that?"

We have looked into similar claims that police willingly let Trump supporters into the Capitol and found no basis for that description. Rioters attacked police, destroyed windows and doors, and ransacked offices . The Justice Department charged more than 1,200 people in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riots, 452 of whom were charged with "assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees."

Online, some people circulated footage that appeared to show police letting rioters past barricades, but it was misrepresented. Journalist Marcus Diapola, who shot some of the footage, said pro-Trump rioters "made a fist like they were going to punch the cops," which made the police back off.

PolitiFact Staff Writers Grace Abels, Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu, Madison Czopek, Mia Penner and Loreben Tuquero and Researcher Caryn Baird contributed reporting.

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ACT Test Scores: Writing

Taking the ACT with writing will provide you and the schools to which you have ACT report scores with additional scores. You will receive a total of five scores for this test: a single subject-level writing score reported on a range of 2-12, and four domain scores, also 2-12, that are based on an analytic scoring rubric. The subject-level score will be the rounded average of the four domain scores. The four domain scores are: Ideas and Analysis, Development and Support, Organization, and Language Use and Conventions . An image of your essay will be available to your high school and the colleges to which you have ACT report your scores from that test date.

Taking the writing test does not affect your subject area scores or your Composite score. However, without a writing test score, no English Language Arts (ELA) score will be reported.

Your essay will be evaluated based on the evidence that it provides of your ability to:

clearly state your own perspective on the issue and analyze the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective
develop and support your ideas with reasoning and examples
organize your ideas clearly and logically
communicate your ideas effectively in standard written English

Two trained readers will score your essay on a scale of 1-6 in each of the four writing domains. Each domain score represents the sum of the two readers' scores. If the readers' ratings disagree by more than one point, a third reader will evaluate the essay and resolve the discrepancy.

Sample Essays

You might be a little unsure of what to expect from a writing prompt and what kinds of responses score the highest. We took the guesswork out of it and created one sample prompt and six possible responses, ranging from weak to strong, that give you an idea of how to achieve your best score.

Remember that your scores for the four individual domains - ideas and analysis, development and support, organization, and language use and conventions - will be communicated on a scale of 2–12. These domain scores are derived by adding together the individual scores, on a 1–6 scale, from each of two readers.

Scoring Rubric Overview

Scoring your writing test

This analytic scoring rubric presents the standards by which your essay will be evaluated. The following rubric overview will help you to better understand the dimensions of writing that this assessment evaluates.

This task asks you to generate an essay that establishes your own perspective on a given issue and analyzes the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective. In evaluating your response, trained readers will use an analytic rubric that breaks the central elements of written argument into four domains: Ideas and Analysis, Development and Support, Organization, and Language Use and Conventions. As you review these domains, think about the role each plays in a written argument that accomplishes its purpose.

Ideas and Analysis —Scores in this domain reflect the ability to generate productive ideas and engage critically with multiple perspectives on the given issue. Competent writers understand the issue they are invited to address, the purpose for writing, and the audience. They generate ideas that are relevant to the situation.

Development and Support —Scores in this domain reflect the ability to discuss ideas, offer rationale, and bolster an argument. Competent writers explain and explore their ideas, discuss implications, and illustrate through examples. They help the reader understand their thinking about the issue.

Organization —Scores in this domain reflect the ability to organize ideas with clarity and purpose. Organizational choices are integral to effective writing. Competent writers arrange their essay in a way that clearly shows the relationship between ideas, and they guide the reader through their discussion.

Language Use and Conventions —Scores in this domain reflect the ability to use written language to convey arguments with clarity. Competent writers make use of the conventions of grammar, syntax, word usage, and mechanics. They are also aware of their audience and adjust the style and tone of their writing to communicate effectively.

Scoring Rubric

Learn more about how the writing test is scored.

View the Writing Test Scoring Rubric (PDF)

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Trump Rallied in Battleground Georgia, as Harris Mulled Her V.P. Choice

Donald J. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, campaigned in the same Atlanta arena where Kamala Harris held an event this week. She is expected to announce her running mate by Tuesday.

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Donald Trump walks on stage with crowds around him.

Neil Vigdor

At Atlanta rally, Trump says Georgia’s governor is hampering his efforts to win there.

Former President Donald J. Trump suggested without evidence on Saturday that Georgia’s Republican governor was hampering his efforts to win the battleground state in November, a claim that carried echoes of Mr. Trump’s attempt to overturn his defeat to President Biden there in 2020.

“In my opinion, they want us to lose,” Mr. Trump said, accusing the state’s governor, Brian Kemp, and its secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, who is also a Republican, of being disloyal and trying to make life difficult for him.

At a rally at the Georgia State University Convocation Center in Atlanta, in a speech that lasted more than 90 minutes and that was peppered with grievances about his loss four years ago, Mr. Trump falsely claimed, “I won this state twice,” referring to the 2016 and 2020 elections.

Mr. Trump lost to Mr. Biden by roughly 12,000 votes in Georgia in 2020. Last year, the former president was indicted by an Atlanta grand jury on charges related to his efforts to subvert the results of that election in that state. On Saturday, he complained that he might have avoided legal jeopardy if Mr. Kemp and Mr. Raffensperger had cooperated with his attempts to reverse the 2020 results.

Mr. Trump added that he thought Georgia had slipped under Mr. Kemp’s leadership. “The state has gone to hell,” he said.

Mr. Kemp, who indicated in June that he had not voted for Mr. Trump in the Republican primary this year, said on X that his focus is “on winning this November” and “not engaging in petty personal insults, attacking fellow Republicans, or dwelling on the past.”

“You should do the same, Mr. President, and leave my family out of it,” he said, sharing a social media message that Mr. Trump had posted earlier Saturday in which he jabbed at Mr. Kemp and Mr. Kemp’s wife.

Mr. Raffensperger shared a screenshot of the same post from Mr. Trump and said : “History has taught us this type of message doesn’t sell well here in Georgia, sir.”

Mr. Trump held his rally in Atlanta in the same arena where his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, held a rally earlier in the week. Both candidates filled the complex, which holds 8,000 people, though Mr. Trump, who has long bragged about his ability to draw overflow crowds, questioned whether Ms. Harris’s supporters had in fact come to hear the hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion, who performed at that event.

Mr. Trump recalled that Bruce Springsteen had performed at a rally for Hillary Clinton in 2016 . “I’m not a huge fan,” he said of Mr. Springsteen. “I have a bad trait. I only like people that like me.”

Mr. Trump, who was preceded onstage by his running mate, Senator JD Vance, repeatedly leveled personal attacks against Ms. Harris. He mocked the pronunciation of her first name, insulted her intelligence and communication skills, and called her a “radical left freak.”

“Kamala,” Mr. Trump said, enunciating with derision the syllables of her name. “You know there’s about 19 different ways of saying it. She only likes three.”

The Harris campaign provided a statement on Saturday night from Geoff Duncan, a Republican who was the lieutenant governor of Georgia during the 2020 election, denouncing Mr. Trump.

“Tonight, we heard a particularly unhinged, angry version of the same Donald Trump that Georgia rejected in 2020,” said Mr. Duncan, who has endorsed Ms. Harris.

Mr. Trump, who has been criticized for his past praise of dictators and authoritarian leaders, also suggested that Russia had managed to get the better end of a major prisoner swap with the Biden administration this week, which resulted in the release of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and the security contractor Paul Whelan.

“I’d like to congratulate Vladimir Putin for having made yet another great deal,” Mr. Trump said of the Russian president.

He added: “Boy, we make some horrible, horrible deals.”

Jonathan Weisman and Reid J. Epstein

Harris to interview V.P. contenders in final test of chemistry.

Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with top candidates to serve as her vice president on Sunday, closing out her search for a running mate with a test of whether she and her potential new partner click.

At least three leading candidates — Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania — are scheduled to meet with Ms. Harris on Sunday at her residence at the Naval Observatory, in Washington, according to several people briefed on the plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private meetings.

It was unclear whether other potential candidates — including Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — were also on the schedule, or if they had already met with Ms. Harris.

The in-person meeting, described as a “chemistry test,” is a final step in the search, but one that Ms. Harris is expected to put considerable stock in. Aides and associates have said that she often prioritizes personal rapport with her staff and advisers.

Ms. Harris is also searching for a running mate who will help her win. Among the finalists are two popular state leaders from battleground states, Mr. Kelly and Mr. Shapiro, and several politicians with a record of appealing to moderates and voters in Republican areas. Ms. Harris, a California Democrat, has scant experience winning over Republicans.

The assets and liabilities of the three candidates on her schedule on Sunday vary. Mr. Kelly is a swing-state senator with an impressive résumé and moderate positions on immigration that might help neutralize a problematic issue for Democrats. Mr. Shapiro is broadly popular in Pennsylvania, arguably a must-win state. But he has faced criticism from the left, especially from pro-Palestinian activists, over his support for Israel and his handling of college protests over the war in Gaza.

Mr. Walz is a fairly new face, even to most Democrats, but he has recently become a favorite among progressives who relish his folksy takedowns of former President Donald J. Trump on cable news. Minnesota, however, is unlikely to be critical to Ms. Harris’s path to the White House.

Ms. Harris’s search has been unusually accelerated. It began in earnest just two weeks ago, shortly after President Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed her to replace him. The vetting — a deep investigation of the candidates’ personal, financial and political lives — was completed by Covington & Burling, a Washington law firm, on Thursday.

Finalists for the job were briefed by Harris campaign advisers about whatever information was found — or not found — by the firm, according to a person close to one of the finalists. They will be told either Monday night or Tuesday morning whether they were picked.

The Harris campaign has said it will announce its choice before she and her new running mate start a cross-country tour with a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Donald J. Trump just wrapped up his remarks at a rally in Atlanta, where he repeatedly attacked Vice President Kamala Harris over immigration, crime and inflation in a meandering speech that lasted more than 90 minutes.

At his rally in Georgia, a state he won in 2016 but lost to President Biden in 2020, former President Donald J. Trump is relitigating his defeat in the last election. “I won this state twice,” he falsely claimed. Trump also attacked Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, and its secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, two Republicans who defied his bid to overturn his defeat. He suggested, without evidence, that they were making life difficult for him in the 2024 election. “In my opinion, they want us to lose.”

Ken Bensinger and Jim Rutenberg

Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris’s husband, acknowledges a long-ago affair.

Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, said on Saturday that he had an extramarital affair during his first marriage, years before he met Ms. Harris.

The acknowledgment, which was released in a statement, came hours after a British tabloid reported that Mr. Emhoff had a previously undisclosed relationship with a teacher who worked at the elementary school his children attended in Culver City, Calif., approximately 15 years ago.

At the time, Mr. Emhoff, an entertainment lawyer, was married to Kerstin Emhoff, a film producer, with whom he had two children. The couple filed for divorce in 2009. Mr. Emhoff met Ms. Harris in 2013, and they married the following year.

“During my first marriage, Kerstin and I went through some tough times on account of my actions,” Mr. Emhoff said in the statement. “I took responsibility, and in the years since, we worked through things as a family and have come out stronger on the other side.”

The Biden campaign was aware of the affair before it decided to tap Ms. Harris as vice president in 2020, according to a person familiar with the vetting process, who spoke on condition of anonymity. In addition, this person said that Ms. Harris knew of the affair before she married Mr. Emhoff in 2014.

According to an article published by The Daily Mail on Saturday, Mr. Emhoff had the relationship with a woman who at the time worked as a teacher at The Willows Community School, a private school in west Los Angeles.

The woman, who now lives on Long Island, did not respond to messages seeking comment.

In the years since their divorce, Mr. Emhoff and his ex-wife have frequently referred to each other as friends, and they have said they have worked to raise their children with Ms. Harris , whom they call a “co-parent.”

Ms. Emhoff also has lately defended Ms. Harris. After Senator JD Vance, Republican of Ohio, was named the vice-presidential nominee, critics began resurfacing remarks he made in 2021 claiming the country was run by “childless cat ladies,” including Ms. Harris. Ms. Emhoff called the attacks “baseless” and praised the vice president’s role in her family.

The former couple’s two children, now both adults, have also defended the vice president’s role in their upbringing. Ella Emhoff, in a social media post last week, wrote “how can you be ‘childless’ when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I,” referring to herself and her brother.

In another statement on Saturday, Ms. Emhoff also addressed her husband’s affair, but stopped short of blaming it for their divorce.

“Doug and I decided to end our marriage for a variety of reasons, many years ago,” Ms. Emhoff said. “He is a great father to our kids, continues to be a great friend to me and I am really proud of the warm and supportive blended family Doug, Kamala and I have built together.”

Mr. Emhoff, who left his law practice when Ms. Harris was elected as President Biden’s vice president, has become an integral and prominent part of Ms. Harris’s political operation. On Friday he co-hosted a fund-raiser on Fire Island for the campaign, along with Chasten Buttigieg, the husband of Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, which the Democratic National Committee said had raised $321,000.

At his rally in Atlanta, Donald J. Trump returned to a favorite preoccupation of his campaign speeches: crowd size. He argued that his Democratic opponents, from Hillary Clinton in 2016 to Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, needed celebrity headliners to fill arenas. He harkened back to the 2016 election when Bruce Springsteen performed at a rally for Clinton. “I’m not a huge fan,” Trump said of the Boss. He added: “I only like people that like me.”

Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally in this same arena on Tuesday, when roughly 10,000 people attended. The arena is filled again tonight, but Trump has repeatedly complained that officials with the complex would not allow in all of the people who had lined up to attend.

Jonathan Weisman

Abed Ayoub, a Palestinian-rights activist in Michigan, confirmed on Saturday that he was a finalist to be the Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein’s running mate. Al Jazeera reported that Ayoub, the executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and two other Palestinian-rights activists, were the finalists, suggesting that Stein was determined to make it that much tougher for Vice President Kamala Harris to win battleground Michigan, which has a large Arab American population.

Former President Donald J. Trump, who has been criticized for his past praise of dictators and authoritarian leaders, suggested during his Atlanta rally that Russia got the better end of a major prisoner swap with the Biden administration this week that resulted in the release of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and the security contractor Paul Whelan. “I’d like to congratulate Vladimir Putin for having made yet another great deal,” Trump said of the Russian president. He added: “Boy, we make some horrible, horrible deals.”

Former President Donald J. Trump is taking the stage at a campaign rally in Atlanta, where he was introduced by his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio.

Shawn McCreesh

Senator JD Vance of Ohio is speaking here at the Trump rally in Atlanta. He says that when Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democrats make fun of him for being “weird,” it’s evidence of their elitist, sneering, condescending worldview — of a piece with Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” comment in 2016 and Barack Obama’s remark in 2008 about “bitter” working-class voters who “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them.” The crowd gave Vance a thundering reception.

Reid J. Epstein

Gov. Tim Walz, Democrat of Minnesota and a contender to be Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate, has canceled a planned trip to New Hampshire on Sunday, his spokesman, Teddy Tschann, said. “The governor’s schedule has changed,” Tschann said.

Former President Donald J. Trump will soon take the stage here at the Georgia State Convocation Center, the same arena in Atlanta where Kamala Harris held a packed rally on Tuesday. It’s totally filled for Trump, too, but the crowd is overwhelmingly white, except in one spot — the section directly behind the stage that is in full view of the broadcast cameras. Representatives Mike Collins and Marjorie Taylor Greene are here as warm-up acts. “Kamala Harris is like the Stacey Abrams of California,” Collins told the crowd, referring to the voting-rights activist who twice lost the governor's race. “Georgia didn’t want Stacey, and we don’t want Kamala.”

Ahead of his rally in Atlanta on Saturday, former President Donald J. Trump renewed his grievances with two Georgia elected officials, both Republicans, who rejected his bid to overturn his election defeat in the battleground state in 2020. In a social media post, he called on Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state, to “do his job,” and he amplified his false claims about election fraud. Trump also attacked the governor, Brian Kemp: “His Crime Rate in Georgia is terrible, his Crime Rate in Atlanta is the worst, and his Economy is average.”

A campaign official for Vice President Kamala Harris accused Donald J. Trump on Saturday of scheming up a Sept. 4 debate on Fox News to avoid a debate scheduled for six days later on ABC News that Trump had committed to before President Biden dropped out of the race. “We’re happy to discuss further debates after the one both campaigns have already agreed to,” Michael Tyler, the Harris campaign’s communications director, said. “Mr. Anytime, Anywhere, Anyplace should have no problem with that unless he’s too scared to show up on the 10th.”

Nicholas Nehamas

As the Harris campaign brings on new top-level aides , it is also hiring staff members in battleground states. In the next two weeks, the campaign will add 150 people to its staff in the blue wall states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and “more than double our staff in Arizona and North Carolina,” according to a memo from Dan Kanninen, the campaign’s battleground states director. The memo says that the campaign currently has more than 1,400 staff members across the swing states.

Neil Vigdor Maggie Haberman and Simon J. Levien

Trump proposes a Fox News debate with Harris on Sept. 4.

Follow live updates on the 2024 election here.

Former President Donald J. Trump declared late on Friday that he was dropping out of an ABC News debate scheduled for Sept. 10 and presented a counterproposal to Vice President Kamala Harris, his presumptive opponent, to face off on Fox News six days earlier.

The change, which Mr. Trump announced on his social media site, Truth Social, raised objections from the Harris campaign and appeared to throw a potential showdown between the rivals into question.

A campaign official for Ms. Harris on Saturday accused Mr. Trump of scheming up the Fox News debate to distract from reneging on his commitment to the ABC debate. Mr. Trump had agreed to that debate in May, before President Biden dropped out of the race and before Mr. Biden’s calamitous performance in a CNN debate on June 27.

“Donald Trump is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out,” Michael Tyler, the communications director for the Harris campaign, said in a statement. “He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept 10.”

Mr. Tyler said that the Harris campaign was open to discussing further debates if Mr. Trump honored his commitment to the ABC debate.

“Mr. Anytime, Anywhere, Anyplace should have no problem with that unless he’s too scared to show up on the 10th,” he said.

A spokesman for ABC News would not say whether the network would go ahead with its debate and give time only to Ms. Harris. In a post on X on Saturday, Ms. Harris said: “I’ll be there on September 10th, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there.”

A spokesman for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday. Representatives for Fox News did not respond to questions.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly railed against ABC News, which he is suing for defamation, a case that a federal judge in Florida recently allowed to move forward . He has attacked George Stephanopoulos, the host of “This Week” on ABC, who did the first television interview with Mr. Biden after his debate performance. He also turned combative toward Rachel Scott of ABC News during a question-and-answer session on Wednesday at a convention of Black journalists in Chicago.

Mr. Trump has appeared to be struggling to find his footing since Mr. Biden left the race, despite the fact that Democrats had been increasingly calling for such a change since the president’s debate performance.

He has tested out a series of nicknames against Ms. Harris and has made clear he would rather attack her personally and focus the public discussion on her race — Ms. Harris’s father was born in Jamaica and her mother in India — than attempt to tie her to the Biden administration’s record or her own record as a prosecutor in California.

Mr. Trump, who spent nearly 16 months getting nonstop attention since he was first criminally indicted in March 2023, has also struggled to try to inject himself back into the headlines at a moment when Ms. Harris is enjoying a political honeymoon. By canceling the ABC debate, Mr. Trump has put himself back in the news cycle.

According to Mr. Trump’s post on his social media site, the Fox News debate would take place on Sept. 4 at a to-be-determined location in Pennsylvania, one of the most consequential battleground states. The network’s anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum would moderate.

Mr. Trump said on social media that the Fox News debate would have a live audience; the previous debate between him and Mr. Biden was hosted by CNN in an empty venue. Though both campaigns agreed to the format of the first debate, Mr. Trump had bemoaned the lack of a crowd.

He added that the rules would be similar to the CNN debate, though he did not specify which rules. The candidates’ microphones in the June debate were muted when it was not their turn to speak to prevent interruptions.

Mr. Trump also said that he was “totally prepared to accept” Ms. Harris as the Democrats’ new candidate. Since her campaign suddenly took shape after Mr. Biden dropped out of the race about two weeks ago, Mr. Trump has characterized her ascendancy as a “coup” within the Democratic Party. In his debate announcement, the former president complained about the shake-up.

“I spent Hundreds of Millions of Dollars, Time, and Effort fighting Joe, and when I won the Debate, they threw a new Candidate into the ring,” Mr. Trump said on his social media site on Friday, adding that he hoped to tie Ms. Harris to Mr. Biden’s policies.

The Sept. 4 date is close to the start of some states’ early voting windows and long after Ms. Harris has clinched the nomination from her party. (The Democratic National Committee said on Friday that she had already won enough delegates in a virtual roll call vote to secure the party’s nomination.)

The first presidential debate between Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump had a seismic impact on the race. Mr. Biden gave a halting performance, in contrast to Mr. Trump, who spoke comparatively vigorously while repeatedly advancing falsehoods.

Mr. Biden’s garbled responses supercharged concerns among his Democratic colleagues about his age and health, as well as his ability to beat Mr. Trump in the general election. After several weeks of declining poll numbers and mounting pressure from key allies, Mr. Biden announced on July 21 that he would withdraw from the race.

Since then, Ms. Harris has challenged Mr. Trump to debate her and criticized his reluctance to commit to a date. As recently as Friday morning, in an interview with Fox Business, he was refusing to say whether he would debate Ms. Harris.

After the president dropped out, Ms. Harris said she would be willing to debate in Mr. Biden’s place, but Mr. Trump was noncommittal.

“Well Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage,” Ms. Harris said at her rally in Atlanta on Tuesday. “Because as the saying goes, ‘If you’ve got something to say, say it to my face.’”

Shapiro’s college-era criticism of Palestinians draws fresh scrutiny.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, Democrat of Pennsylvania, wrote in his college newspaper three decades ago that Palestinians were “too battle-minded” to achieve a two-state solution in the Middle East, prompting criticism as Vice President Kamala Harris considers him to be her running mate.

Mr. Shapiro, 51, has embraced his Jewish identity and been one of the Democratic Party’s staunchest defenders of Israel at a moment when the party is splintered over the war in Gaza.

But he says his views have evolved since publishing an opinion essay as a college student at the University of Rochester in New York, when he wrote that Palestinians were incapable of establishing their own homeland and making it successful, even with help from Israel and the United States.

“They are too battle-minded to be able to establish a peaceful homeland of their own,” he wrote in the essay, published in the Sept. 23, 1993, edition of The Campus Times , the student newspaper. “They will grow tired of fighting amongst themselves and will turn outside against Israel.”

Mr. Shapiro, who was 20 at the time, noted in his essay that he had spent five months studying in Israel and had volunteered in the Israeli Army.

“The only way the ‘peace plan’ will be successful is if the Palestinians do not ruin it,” Mr. Shapiro wrote, adding, “Palestinians will not coexist peacefully.”

During a news conference on Friday at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, the nation’s first historically Black college or university, Mr. Shapiro tried to distance himself from those remarks, which were first reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer .

“Something I wrote when I was 20, is that what you’re talking about?” Mr. Shapiro told a reporter who asked him about it. “I was 20.”

Mr. Shapiro said he had been in favor of a two-state solution, with “Israelis and Palestinians living peacefully side by side” long before the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that started the war in Gaza.

“It is my hope that we can see a day where peace will reign in the Middle East,” he said, “where there will be a two-state solution, where all leaders involved in the conversations will respect the other side and show a willingness to make the hard choices to find peace.”

Mr. Shapiro’s explanation did not satisfy the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which later on Friday called on him to apologize.

“We are deeply disturbed by the racist, anti-Palestinian views that Governor Shapiro expressed in this article,” Ahmet Tekelioglu, the group’s executive director said in a statement. “We are also concerned by his failure to clearly apologize for those hateful comments, especially given how quickly and harshly he has targeted college students protesting the Gaza genocide for their speech.”

In regards to Mr. Shapiro’s having written that he had volunteered in the Israeli army, a spokesman for Mr. Shapiro, Manuel Bonder, said in a statement: “While he was in high school, Josh Shapiro was required to do a service project, which he and several classmates completed through a program that took them to a kibbutz in Israel where he worked on a farm and at a fishery. The program also included volunteering on service projects on an Israeli army base. At no time was he engaged in any military activities.”

Mr. Shapiro has been one of the most vocal party leaders to condemn the documented rise of antisemitism since the Hamas-led attack on Israel. When he was previously asked if he considered himself a Zionist, he said that he did.

He has also not shied away from criticizing college administrators over their response to campus antisemitism, including at the University of Pennsylvania.

If Ms. Harris chooses Mr. Shapiro to be her running mate, he will become only the second Jewish vice-presidential nominee on a major-party ticket. The first was Joseph I. Lieberman, the former Connecticut senator who died in March . He ran with Al Gore in 2000.

Jon Hurdle and Katie Glueck contributed reporting.

Eduardo Medina

Reporting from Lucama, N.C.

Mark Robinson tries to reframe his strict anti-abortion position in a new ad.

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson of North Carolina, the Republican nominee for governor, released a new ad on Friday that sought to moderate his opposition to abortion, saying that he supports the current state law, which generally bans the procedure after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

His campaign had previously said that he wanted a so-called heartbeat law, which would ban the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy, when many women have yet to realize they are pregnant.

Mr. Robinson’s softened stance was included in an ad that focused on the story of how his wife, Yolanda Hill Robinson, had an abortion in 1989 — a decision that he said “was like this solid pain between us that we never spoke of.” The couple had previously disclosed the abortion in a Facebook video in 2022.

The ad appeared to be an attempt by Mr. Robinson’s campaign to blunt the criticism he has received for his past comments on the issue and to get ahead of future attacks. One of the first ads released by his Democratic opponent, Josh Stein, the attorney general of North Carolina, featured a compilation of clips showing Mr. Robinson discussing his restrictive views on abortion.

“An abortion in this country is not about protecting the lives of mothers,” Mr. Robinson says in one clip. “It’s about killing a child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.”

Mr. Stein’s campaign has accused Mr. Robinson of hiding his true intentions to seek a stricter abortion ban if elected, pointing to some of his past comments, such as when he said in February: “We’ve got it down to 12 weeks. The next goal is to get it down to six, and then just keep moving from there.”

Abortion is a central issue in North Carolina’s race for governor, which is expected to be one of the most expensive and consequential elections in the country, and one that could influence the presidential race. Republicans have rarely held the governor’s mansion in Raleigh over the past century, and recent polls show that the race is tight this year. Still, a Democratic presidential candidate has not won the state since Barack Obama in 2008.

The governor’s race also has been viewed as a Rorschach test for the swing state, where the current Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, is term-limited. Will voters go with a moderate Democrat in Mr. Stein, or veer to the right with Mr. Robinson?

With less than 100 days before the election, Mr. Robinson’s ad underscored how some Republicans have taken a more cautious approach when discussing abortion since the repeal of Roe v. Wade, which energized Democrats in the 2022 midterms. Despite the anti-abortion movement’s longtime support for a national ban, Republican former President Donald J. Trump has said that abortion restrictions should be left to the states.

In North Carolina and elsewhere, Democrats have pushed to make abortion rights a focal point, with Mr. Stein repeatedly bringing up Mr. Robinson's comments in stump speeches. Republicans have sought to tie Mr. Stein to President Biden and portray him as an out-of-touch extreme liberal.

Mr. Stein has said he supports a framework for abortion based on Roe v. Wade, which generally allowed the procedure through the point of viability, or roughly between 24 and 26 weeks.

In his ad on Friday, Mr. Robinson specified that he supports the current 12-week ban, which includes exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.

“When I’m governor, mothers in need will be supported,” Mr. Robinson said.

Morgan Hopkins, a spokeswoman for Mr. Stein’s campaign, said in a statement that Mr. Robinson “has resorted to running from his record and misleading voters.”

“If North Carolinians want to know where Mark Robinson really stands on abortion, they should listen to every other comment he’s made on the issue before today,” Ms. Hopkins said.

Mr. Robinson, a fiery orator who has been bolstered by the MAGA faction of his base, has drawn criticism in the past for incendiary comments perceived as antisemitic, hateful and conspiratorial.

In recent months, Mr. Robinson has attempted to moderate his tone in public speeches and focused more of his campaign on the economy, though he still discusses cultural issues, such as denouncing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and transgender women in sports.

Noam Scheiber Kate Kelly and Kenneth P. Vogel

Harris’s brother-in-law, Uber’s chief lawyer, is taking a leave to advise her.

Vice President Kamala Harris’s brother-in-law, Tony West, will go on leave as Uber’s chief legal officer later this month to take an unofficial role in her presidential campaign.

Mr. West, a Stanford-trained lawyer and former Justice Department official, has informally advised Ms. Harris throughout her political career and has been by her side frequently since President Biden announced that he would not seek re-election.

The company revealed the change in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday afternoon.

In an email to Uber employees on Friday, Mr. West wrote that while he loved his job at the company, “I have always believed family comes first. So I’ve decided to dedicate myself full-time to supporting my family and my sister-in-law on the campaign trail.” Mr. West is married to Ms. Harris’s sister, Maya.

Beginning Aug. 17, he said, he will work as a “family-member surrogate” for the vice president, sharing the perspective of someone who has long been close to her, but will not have a formal campaign position. He said he intended to return to Uber after the presidential election and stressed that Uber would continue to take no position on the election.

Mr. West was general counsel of PepsiCo before joining Uber in 2017. He served in the Justice Department in the Clinton and Obama administrations and was the department’s third-ranking official from 2012 to 2014.

Some in the labor movement have expressed concerns about Mr. West’s ties to Ms. Harris in light of his role at Uber, which in 2020 helped enact a California ballot measure that exempted its drivers from a state law that would have probably classified them as employees.

As a result of the measure, which was recently upheld by the California Supreme Court, Uber drivers and other gig workers in the state do not benefit from certain legal protections, like state rules governing the minimum wage and overtime. The measure provided some benefits , like a separate wage floor and health care subsidies.

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Expert Guide to the ACT Format: What You Need to Know

If you want to do well on the ACT, it's not enough to just study test content. You have to know the test inside and out, including what questions to expect, what reading passages to anticipate, and what topic areas you'll encounter the most.

Being this familiar with the test will help you improve your score in a significant way—it's much more effective than just focusing on test content. In this post, I'll go over everything you need to know about how the ACT is written, including format, content, and question types. At the end, I'll tell you exactly what you can do to successfully incorporate this knowledge into your ACT study plan.

Why Is Familiarity With the ACT Format Helpful?

The ACT is an incredibly predictable test. Although there have been a few recent changes, the test format has (in general) stayed pretty consistent over the past few decades. This works to your advantage for a few very important reasons:

Familiarity with the test helps you focus on, and improve on, your weaknesses. The ACT is super predictable when it comes to test content and format, down to the number of questions that test a certain concept. If you're familiar with the test format and structure as you study, you can narrow your focus to very specific question types and content areas that may be bringing down your score.

It helps you improve your ACT strategy, which is just as important as preparing for test content. The ACT writes the test sections, questions, and answer choices in a very particular and consistent style. Familiarizing yourself with the basic structure and format of the ACT is like getting to know the test inside-out —if you can get inside the mind of a test writer, you'll have a huge advantage on the test. The more experience you have with this style, the better you'll be able to anticipate which answers are correct and incorrect on test day

It helps you work on time management, an important part of succeeding on any standardized test. Knowing the general layout of the test, in addition to knowing what your own strengths and weaknesses are, is an integral part of ACT time management. If you can't finish the questions on time, you won't do well, no matter how well you know the material.

Finally, the fewer surprises you encounter on test day, the better. When you know exactly what to expect when you take the ACT, you can focus on the most important part of the test: demonstrating what you know in order to get a great score. Knowing the test format and structure inside and out may help alleviate test-taking anxiety, a very common problem that impacts many students' scores.

The Basics: The Structure of the ACT

The ACT has four mandatory multiple-choice sections which are always presented in the same order: (1) English, (2) Math, (3) Reading, and (4) Science. There's also an optional (5) Writing section for a total of five test sections.

The total test time without the Writing section is 2 hours and 55 minutes.

The total test time with the Writing section is 3 hours and 35 minutes.

Here's what you can expect in terms of number of questions, time limit, time per question, and question type for each of the ACT sections:

Number of questions	75
Time limit	45 minutes
Approximate time per question	36 seconds
Question type	Multiple choice with four answer choices

Number of questions	60
Time limit	60 minutes
Approximate time per question	1 minute
Question type	Multiple choice with five answer choices

Number of questions	40
Time limit	35 minutes
Approximate time per question	52 seconds
Question type	Multiple choice with four answer choices

Number of questions	1
Time limit	40 minutes
Approximate time per question	40 minutes
Question type	Essay prompt

Content and Skills: What Does the ACT Test?

The next step in familiarizing yourself with the ACT is knowing exactly what concepts, skills, and content will be tested on the exam. If you know what content will appear, and you know exactly how it will be tested, all of your bases will be covered (remember, the fewer the surprises on test day, the more you can focus on what's important).

The ACT is pretty transparent about test content. Here, I'll go over what you'll need to prepare for each section and what these sections will actually look like.

On this section you'll be presented with passages. You'll either have to choose the correct version of a sentence within the passage or will have to answer more broad questions about the construction of the passage itself (you'll see a couple examples shortly).

The ACT English section tends to heavily favor a few main grammar and style rules, and just lightly touches on the other minor ones. This means (unless you're aiming for a very high score ), you can focus primarily on these main rules as you prepare for the test.

There are two main types of English questions: ones that test usage and/or mechanics, and ones that test rhetorical skills. Below you'll find approximate breakdowns for the number of each question type you'll see on the test.

When it comes to Usage and Mechanics (about 40 out of a total of 75 questions), the main grammar rules tested on the ACT are:

Correctly forming and joining sentences (20.5% of grammar questions)
Correct use of commas, dashes, and colons (17.7% of grammar questions)
Correctly using nonessential clauses and relative pronouns (9.6% of grammar questions)
Correct verb tense and form (9.6% of grammar questions)

When it comes to Rhetorical Skills (about 30 out of a total of 75 questions), the main rhetorical rules tested on the ACT are:

Logical transitions (18% of rhetorical questions)
Adding information (16.7% of rhetorical questions)
Conciseness (15.5% of rhetorical questions)
Replacing and re-wording information (15.5% of rhetorical questions)

Most of the questions on ACT English test this content by asking you to choose the most correct version of a sentence within a passage— you'll have to choose among four answer choices in this section. For example:

A question where you choose the correct version of a sentence.

Some questions are formatted a bit differently, and instead ask you about a passage as a whole. For example:

For more information on this section, check out our ultimate ACT English prep guide .

The math section is a little different from other ACT sections. Some math questions are stand-alone—they won't be linked to any other questions in the section—whereas others are linked "sets." You'll have to choose from five multiple-choice responses instead of four (which obviously makes things more difficult).

Math questions are also roughly arranged in order of difficulty. You can generally split the section into three zones:

Questions 1-20: Easy
Questions 21-40: Medium
Questions 41-60: Hard

Difficulty is determined by the amount of time you'll need to solve a problem, the number of steps required, the number of math concepts you must employ, and the likelihood that you'll be familiar with the material. Learn about how to take advantage of this organization of question by difficulty.

Because they're arranged by difficulty, these questions are also roughly arranged by content , with "easier" math concepts (i.e. ones you've spent more years studying) at the beginning of the section and "hard" concepts (i.e. ones you're less familiar with) at the end.

Generally, you'll see more algebra questions toward the beginning and more geometry and trig toward the end of any ACT math section. Here's a breakdown of the topics you'll see on ACT math for a general overview:

Pre-algebra: about 20-25% of questions
Elementary algebra: about 15-20% of questions
Intermediate algebra: about 15-20% of questions
Coordinate geometry: about 15-20% of questions
Plane geometry: about 20-25% of questions
Trigonometry: about 5-10% of questions

Read our more detailed guide to ACT math content for more information.

Now, on to some examples. Most questions on this section are stand-alone questions, meaning they're in no way related to any other question on the section. A stand-alone question may look like this:

You might see some sets of math questions on the ACT where two or more questions are related to each other, or refer to the same figure. Here's an example of what a prompt like that would look like:

For more information on this section, check out our ultimate ACT math prep guide .

The ACT Reading test is made up of four different subsections. Each of these subsections has either one long passage or two shorter, paired passages . In this section, every question will ask you to respond to or interpret the passages.

The Reading section will present you with one reading passage for each subsection, and the types of passages you'll see will always be in the same order:

Prose Fiction/Literary Narrative
Social Science
Natural Science

The ACT tests this content with a variety of question types. Fortunately, we have a general idea of how often each question type shows up on the average Reading section—with this information, you can think more critically about question types that you may need to spend more time preparing.

Here's a typical section breakdown by question type:


Big Picture	4	10%
Little Detail	18	45%
Vocabulary in Context	3	8%
Development and Function	9	22%
Inference	6	15%
All Questions	40	100%

The info above isn't helpful if you can't identify the sorts of questions you'll see on the Reading section, right? Here are the main question types you'll see on the English section, followed by examples:

Big Picture— Deal with the main point of the passage or the narrator's overall point of view. These types of questions require you to look at the passage holistically rather than focusing on one specific section.

Little Picture/Detail— Ask about a small piece of factual information in a passage. They are the most straightforward questions because they're so literal—you just have to find the correct information.

Vocabulary in Context— Ask about the meaning of a word in the context of the passage. They may also reference something in the passage and ask you to choose a vocabulary word that best describes it.

Development and Function— Ask about how a certain paragraph, sentence, or phrase functions in the context of the passage, how the argument in the passage was developed, or how the author structured the passage.

Inference— Ask you to make inferences based on a logical extension of information found in a passage.

Check out our guide to ACT Reading questions for more detailed information and examples.

The ACT Science section consists of several "passages" where you'll have to respond to short paragraphs, charts, graphs, tables, or some combination thereof —they're not like the passages in the Reading section where you just respond to a wall of text. All of these passages are just different ways of presenting data for you to interpret.

Because of the way the section is formatted, you'll see sets of questions, like you sometimes see on Math, rather than stand-alone questions.

The passages themselves may be on a variety of topics, including:

Earth/space sciences

Just like with the Reading section, it's not necessary for you to have specific background knowledge in these topic areas—you just need the skills to interpret the passages correctly.

There are three main passage formats . Each format will present data in a different way—a set of multiple-choice questions after each passage will ask you to interpret and/or analyze this information. Here's what to expect for each format:

Format #1: Data Representation

This format presents one or more sets of data in some sort of graphical representation.

What you're asked to do: understand, evaluate, and interpret information presented in graphs, tables, or charts
Number of questions: About 15 (38% of total ACT Science questions)

Here's what a "passage" may look like in a Data Representation format:

And here's what a multiple-choice question may look like in response to the Data Representation format:

Passage Format #2: Research Summaries

This format presents the results of two or more experiments, usually with text in addition to graphs or charts.

What you're asked to do: understand, evaluate, and analyze one or more experiments
Number of questions: About 18 (45% of total ACT Science questions)

Here's what a "passage" may look like in a Research Summaries format:

Here's what a multiple-choice question may look like in response to the Research Summaries format:

Passage Format #3: Conflicting Viewpoints

This format presents several different conflicting scientific hypotheses, usually in a text passage.

What you're asked to do: understand and evaluate conflicting viewpoints, theories, or hypotheses on a specific topic
Number of questions: About 7 (17% of total ACT Science questions)

Here's what a "passage" may look like in a Conflicting Viewpoints format:

Here's what a multiple-choice question may look like in response to the Conflicting Viewpoints format:

For more information and example questions on the ACT Science section, check out our ultimate prep guide .

The ACT Writing section is completely optional—that being said, I'd encourage you to do some research before deciding not to take it (as tempting as that may be)!

Students have 40 minutes to plan, write, and edit an essay in response to one writing prompt. Prompts tend to address contemporary issues (e.g. the pros and cons of living in an increasingly automated society).

So what exactly do these prompts look like?

Well, students are provided with three diverse perspectives on a particular issue. After reading these perspectives, students are asked to develop their own take on the topic and explain the relationships between the original perspectives.

Put simply, your jobs are to:

Take a position on a topic (and defend it)
Address all the diverse perspectives presented to you
Explain the relationships between those three perspectives

Here's an example of what an ACT writing prompt looks like:

Check out our complete guide to ACT writing and scoring for more information.

Using ACT Formatting: How to Prep for the ACT

Earlier in this post, I mentioned that familiarizing yourself with the ACT format can help you in a few important areas:

Identifying your weaknesses
Coming up with a strategic game plan
Improving time management
Alleviating stress that comes with surprises on test day

Here, I'll address exactly what you can do (in all four of these areas) to use knowledge of ACT format and structure to your advantage.

Identify Your Weaknesses

When you know exactly what will be tested on the ACT, and exactly how it will be tested, you can use your practice materials to home in on sections, content areas, question types, and passage types that give you more trouble than others.

This strategy only works if you invest a significant amount of time in working through and then analyzing ACT practice materials. Official ACT practice tests are the best for this—ideally, you'll down under realistic testing conditions with an official practice test to get a baseline score.

As you work through your practice material, keep careful track of where you're losing points—doing a post-mortem on your work is the most important thing you can do to improve your score . I'd encourage you to set up a spreadsheet for easy mistake tracking.

For each ACT practice section, for example, you'll want to ask yourself:

Which questions am I getting wrong?
Which types of questions am I getting wrong?
Do I lose more points on a particular type of passage? (E.g. perhaps Research Summary passages in ACT Science give you a hard time)
Do I lose points at the end of a section because I run out of time?
Do I lose points in a particular content/knowledge set area? (E.g. maybe you have trouble with absolute value in ACT math)

Come Up With a Strategic Game Plan

Once you have a better idea of where you need to improve, you can come up with an ACT study plan that's catered to your weaknesses.

If you have a baseline score, you'll have a sense of how many points you'd like to bring your score up. Here's a general guideline for how long you need to study based on your improvement goals:

0-1 ACT Composite Point Improvement: 10 hours
1-2 ACT Point Improvement: 20 hours
2-4 ACT Point Improvement: 40 hours
4-6 ACT Point Improvement: 80 hours
6-9 ACT Point Improvement: 150 hours+

Read more about putting together a study plan that works for you .

Improve Time Management

If you know what to expect on the ACT, you'll be better able to work through the test on the fly. If you know what slows you down (e.g. a particular question type or content area) you can plan on doing speed drills during practice or skipping (and then returning) to those questions on the test.

For example, reading passages—like the ones you'll find in ACT Science and ACT Reading—tend to slow down a lot of students. If you know that this is a personal sore spot, you should read our guides to time management on ACT Science and ACT Reading .

If you have an idea of what to expect, you'll be that much better at navigating the stressful time limits of the test.

Alleviate Stress

Coming up against unexpected obstacles—especially when you're in a time crunch—is pretty stressful for most people. By engaging in regular practice with official ACT prep materials , you're doing yourself a huge favor by taking the stress of unexpected content and formatting out of the equation.

For more info on alleviating stress, read our guide on what to expect and how to prepare for the ACT test day .

What's Next?

Now that you have all this great information about the ACT and how it's structured, you might be interested in learning more about some other logistical issues—like how it's scored.

Read first about the scoring system with our complete guide to ACT scores .

Then, figure out what target score you should be aiming for .

For expert tips, read our famous guide on how to get a perfect score on the ACT .

Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by ACT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:

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Francesca graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and scored in the 99th percentile on the SATs. She's worked with many students on SAT prep and college counseling, and loves helping students capitalize on their strengths.

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IMAGES

Essay Examples for the ACT Test (PDF)
Sample Essay Responses and Explanations to the Previously Released 2020
ACT Writing Test.
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A Complete Guide on How to Write an Act Essay
The ACT Writing section (aka the essay) is new for the 2015-2016 school

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Should You Take the ACT With or Without Writing?
Since 2005, students have had the choice between two different versions of the ACT: the ACT and the ACT with Writing. The writing test is an optional 40-minute essay task that students can elect to take at the end of the multiple choice test. ACT, Inc. added the Writing section in response to the 2005 SAT overhaul, which added a Writing section ...
Writing Test Prep
About the ACT Writing Test. The ACT writing test is a 40-minute essay test that measures your writing skills. The test consists of one writing prompt that will describe a complex issue and present three different perspectives on that issue. It is a paper-and-pencil test. You will write your essay in pencil (no mechanical pencils or ink pens) on ...
The ACT Writing Sample Essays
Writing Sample Essays. Write a unified, coherent essay about the increasing presence of intelligent machines. In your essay, be sure to: clearly state your own perspective on the issue and analyze the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective. develop and support your ideas with reasoning and examples.
How to Write an ACT Essay: Step-by-Step Example
Tackling ACT Writing, Step by Step. The ACT essay plan below has been modified from our ACT Essay Tips article to fit the new ACT Writing Test. The template includes three sections: planning, writing and revising. If you practice using this template to write ACT essays, you'll get much faster and (probably) more precise.
Description of Writing Test
Writing Test Description for the ACT. If you register for the ACT with writing, you will take the writing section after the four multiple-choice sections. Your score in the writing section will not affect your scores on the multiple-choice or your Composite score. The writing section is a 40-minute essay test that measures your writing skills ...
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On June 28th, 2016, however, ACT, Inc. announced that starting in September of 2016, the Writing test would no longer be scored on a scale of 1-36, due to the confusion this had caused. This change to out-of-12 ACT Writing scores is still different from the pre-September 2015 ACT essay scoring, since that system relied on graders giving the ...
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No need to stress! The ACT essay follows a predictable format, which means you can practice and prepare beforehand. Take a look at a sample ACT writing prompt and learn five key steps to penning a high-scoring essay. Keep in mind: The ACT writing essay is optional. Currently, only 27 colleges and universities require the ACT with Writing.
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The ACT essay, also known as the Writing section, is an optional 40-minute test that students can take after the multiple-choice sections. The essay task presents an issue often relevant to high school students and asks examinees to write a persuasive essay that takes a clear stance on that issue, while also addressing and evaluating three ...
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ACT Essay Template and Sample. Taking the ACT Writing Test is a great way to show off your writing skills to colleges. While you can't be sure of the exact prompt ahead of time, you can use the same general structure for every ACT essay. The following provides helpful suggestions for writing your essay. You do not need to copy this approach ...
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ACT writing is an optional 40-minute essay test after the multiple-choice sections. In this test area, you will be given a prompt about an issue, along with three different perspectives to substantiate it. You would first read the prompt and perspectives, then create a perspective of your own through an argumentative essay.
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ACT Test Length By Section: Section 1 - English - 45 minutes. Section 2 - Math - 60 minutes. Section 3 - Reading - 35 minutes. Section 4 - Science - 35 minutes. Optional Writing - 40 minutes. The testing usually begins between 8:30AM and 9:30AM, although all students are required to arrive at the test-taking center at 8AM for ...
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PDF Preparing for the ACT Test 2023-2024
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The ACT has four mandatory multiple-choice sections which are always presented in the same order: (1) English, (2) Math, (3) Reading, and (4) Science. There's also an optional (5) Writing section for a total of five test sections. The total test time without the Writing section is 2 hours and 55 minutes.

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ACT with Writing: Sample Prompt

Education and the Workplace

How to Write the ACT Essay

Step 1: Work the Prompt

Step 2: Work the Perspectives

Step 3: Generate Your Own Perspective

Step 4: Put It All Together

Step 5: (If There's Time): Proofread

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ACT Essay Template and Sample

¶2: First Body Paragraph

¶3: Second Body Paragraph

¶4: Third Body Paragraph

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Final Essay

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