You’re going to need two things: a goal and a plan!

Set your goals: It’s hard to stay motivated to study without a clear idea of what you want out of that studying. The more specific your goals, the easier it will be to know how to accomplish them and the more you’ll feel like you’re making progress. Also, research suggests writing down your goals greatly increases your chance of achieving them.

Create a study plan: What will it take to reach those goals? Everyone starts in a different place, so base your plan on where you are (ex. your grade-level and how much time you have to study). If you’re unsure how to begin, consider these sample plans:

Situation: I’m a senior who has already taken the SAT and just wants to raise my math score before the next test.
Goal: Increase my math score by 100 points in three weeks.
Plan: Complete 100 UWorld math questions a week (10 per weekday and 25 per day on the weekend). Start with easy and medium questions and move to medium and hard questions once I get to an average of 70% correct. Record mistakes and new strategies each day.

Situation: I’m a sophomore who struggled to finish the grammar section on time during the PSAT.
Goal: Regularly complete grammar passages in 8 minutes and get at least 10 of the 11 questions correct.
Plan: Take a self-assessment test to gauge my readiness for the real SAT. Practice for about a month, until I can regularly finish a passage without missing more than a couple questions. Record mistakes and strategies after every practice set. If time has not already decreased, continue practicing for another two weeks while focusing more on the questions than the passage.

Other things to consider:
To get more ideas about how you can take advantage of our QBank, check out our Features post. Also, our QBank was designed to include thorough explanations and strategies for every type of question, so even if you get a question right, we recommend reading the explanation—you might find a way to answer the next question even more easily!

Still have questions? Great, we’re here to help. We encourage you to post questions about our QBank or possible study plans. Also, feel free to leave advice on the forum for the rest of the UWorld ACT community.