Develop a Strategy for Guessing

On the ACT test, your raw score is based on the number of questions you get right - there's no deduction for wrong answers. Because you're not penalized for guessing on the ACT test, it's to your advantage to answer all the questions.

When you come to a question that stumps you, see if you can eliminate at least a couple of the choices. If you still aren't sure about the answer, take your best guess.

There are some advices about how to answer questions when you don't know the correct answer, such as "When in doubt, choose C," or "When in doubt, select the longest (or shortest) alternative," or "If NONE OF THE ABOVE (or a similar response) is among the answer choices, select it." While these bits of advice may hold true now and then, you should know that the questions on the ACT test have been carefully written to make these strategies ineffective. The best advice is to rule out any of the possible answers you can on the basis of your knowledge and then, if necessary, make your best guess.