If you have two months or more to prepare (Long-term Preparation), congratulations! This will give you enough time to get a thorough training at this Web site. During the Long-term preparation, your overall academic performance will be significantly improved. It helps you gain skills such as:

1. Reading Effectively: gives you the ability to figure out what the author means as well as what the author says.
2. Improving your vocabulary: gives you tools to figure out new words from the context in which they are used.
3. Developing your problem-solving abilities in all aspects: helps you figure out what to do and how to do it, and helps you started on challenging problems when you seem to be stumped.

To start your Long-term preparation, spend 3 to 5 days thoroughly read and understand the contents of all sections concerning the ACT, and then put the rest of your time on the extensive practice of all question types. Once you feel that your overall questions-solving ability is significantly improved, focus on questions types that are relatively your weak points. Once in a while during your practice, go back to the "Strategies" section and read the page contents again. You will have a better understanding about the strategies every time you re-read them.

If you only have 4 weeks or shorter for the preparation, don't feel upset. Go for Short-term preparation! During Short-term preparation, use 1 to 2 days to quickly read sections that cover contents that are most problematic for you, and then spend the rest of your time focusing on practicing question types that are your weak points.

During the Short-term preparation, you learn techniques including:

1. Knowing what to expect from the test: what types of questions, how many questions, in what order.
2. Knowing the test directions.
3. Learning how to pace yourself.
4. Learning when and how to guess.
5. Knowing how to identify the easiest questions.
6. Learning specific approaches for each of the six types of questions.
7. Knowing which question types are your weak points and improving your ability to solve them.

Go back to the "Strategies" section in the middle of practice and get a better understanding about the strategies. Remember, Short-term preparation can gain you some points on the test, but it doesn't help you become a more able test-taker for the ACT. It is the Long-term preparation that turns you into a capable test-taker.