The ACT Math section is actually a fairly straightforward test of the math you would have learned in high school all the way through Pre-Calculus. The single best way to improve your score would actually be to:
1.) Complete a few ACT Math sections
2.) Note the areas of content in which you make the most mistakes (ex. Circles and Triangles in Geometry, or Quadratic Functions and Graphs)
3.) Review this content with an ACT Math self-study guide or by hiring a tutor. Be sure to get some high-quality practice material to reinforce all of it.
4.) Repeat 1-3
However, if you are running short of time and absolutely need some "quick tips", there are a few things to keep in mind:
1.) You ARE allowed the use of a calculator the entire time - many students forget they are allowed to use one on the ACT Math test. Do not become over-reliant on it, but DO feel free to use it to:
---save time on purely rote, mechanical tasks, such as plugging in values or graphing equations, especially if you are typically slower with these tasks than you'd like
---avoid losing easy points if you are prone to making careless mistakes with arithmetic and algebra
2.) Some ACT Math topics are worth far more than others - I see many students (particularly advanced students) make the classic mistake of focusing on advanced topics which appear relatively infrequently (such as logarithms, matrices, combinatorics) before they finish mastering content that accounts for a much greater proportion of the overall ACT Math section (such as plane geometry and coordinate geometry). Focus on getting to 100% on HIGH-YIELD topics before you waste any time on the rarer topics. Remember: every question is worth the same number of points on ACT Math! A good ACT Math tutor can help you focus on those high-yield areas, thus optimizing your study time.
3.) Not every question requires putting pencil to paper - many ACT Math questions can be answered much more swiftly if you use a little bit of logic and test-taking strategy first. For example, consider a question that shows you a picture of the graph of a function and asks you to select the answer choice containing the equation of the matching function. Noticing whether the graph opens up or down (or in the case of a line, whether the slope is positive or negative) and whether the y-intercept is positive or negative can - in many cases - help you eliminate all but one answer choice! This would be a LOT faster than simply plugging in points from the graph. Even in questions where you cannot eliminate all but one answer, eliminating all but 2 answers would still leave you with fewer answers to test, thereby greatly reducing the time spent on that question. Learning to spot opportunities to work faster and more strategically is one of the best reasons to hire a tutor when preparing for the ACT Math section.
