--- title: Six Month ACT Study Guide description: Do your students have a full six months to study for the ACT? Get them started with Magoosh and this 6 month study schedule. --- [Magoosh for Schools ](https://schools.magoosh.com/schools-blog) # [Six Month ACT Study Guide](https://schools.magoosh.com/schools-blog/six-month-act-study-guide) Written by [Nadyja Von Ebers](https://schools.magoosh.com/schools-blog/author/nadyja-von-ebers) | Nov 1, 2017 5:46:16 PM If you are reading this, it’s likely that you have at least six months to prepare for the ACT, and that is a fantastic news! If you’re taking the ACT in 6 months that means you have **plenty** of time to get fully prepped without letting your grades suffer or resorting to unhelpful cramming or undue stress. This really is the sweet spot for being well-prepared. The idea behind a six-month study plan is to ensure that you’re not ever flooded with excessive amounts of test prep, so the trick is to stay on schedule. It’s a “slow and steady wins the race” type study guide! And when your ACT date is in the distant future (six months can seem like *forever)*, it can be tough to stay focused and not get distracted by other more pressing deadlines. The best way to stay on track and reach your goal is with a **study schedule**–so *voilả*! Here you go! Save the study schedule below on your computer or phone, print it out, tape it to your mirror, check it off–do whatever you need to do to keep yourself accountable. You will thank yourself when you ace the test. If you have less time before your test, you might want to check out the [three month study schedule](https://magoosh.com/hs/three-month-act-study-schedule/) (very similar to this schedule, but faster paced) or [one month study schedule](http://magoosh.com/hs/act/act-study-plans/2015/one-month-act-study-schedule/) instead. Or, if you’ve really let it slide (oops): the [one week schedule](http://magoosh.com/hs/act/act-study-plans/2015/one-week-act-study-schedule/). But again, if you’re at least six months out at this point, you have the luxury of working through your test prep-content at a less intensive pace that will make your entire semester easier. ## **How This Study Plan is Organized ** This schedule spans 6 months, and is broken into 12 two-week study sessions that are designed to give you some flexibility. The ACT is important, but it shouldn’t be your entire life. You need time to do other things, and you’ll want to decide on your own which days you will devote to studying and which you won’t. Altogether, the bi-weekly work should take you about 6 hour per week (more if you do additional lessons or practice tests), so you should be able to divide it up fairly easily. Don’t, however, try to do it all on Saturday–that would be one rough Saturday. Personally, I suggest studying for two or three days during the week for a couple hours each day (this could include some study hall time at school!) and then devoting a couple of additional hours on the weekend to things like practice tests and review, but if your schedule is more erratic, you can adjust it to whatever works best for you. The point is to make sure you dedicate specific days to study, so whether that means regular study on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, or a marathon study session every Tuesday, decide in advance what your ACT study days will be and try to stick to them. By the time you finish this study plan, you will have completed at least seven full ACT tests (at least) and hundreds of additional practice questions. Not too shabby! Each week, there are four things to do, including: - **Magoosh Lessons**: Watch our lesson videos for strategy and background information. If you’re completely comfortable with a topic already (for example, with triangle properties), you might want to skip through a lesson quickly. That’s all right, to an extent, but never pass over a lesson completely because there might be very helpful tips and tricks you didn’t know. - **Magoosh Practice:** Click the “Practice” tab at the top of the page from within your Magoosh account, and you can customize a practice session that contains the topics mentioned for each week. For each and every question you get wrong, WATCH THE EXPLANATION VIDEO. This is the most important part of your preparation—you need to isolate where you make mistakes and learn how to avoid them. - **Blog Reading and Video Watching: **These ACT blog posts will provide you with additional test tips and strategy advice. They’re a great supplement to the lesson videos. - **Practice Test:** At least one day every two weeks, you’ll need either approximately 1.5 to 2 hours (for a half test) or 3.5 hours (for a full-length practice test) using official released ACT tests or Magoosh tests. This is massively important for building up your stamina. The ACT is a marathon—you need to train to feel comfortable taking such a long test. ## **Materials:** - [Magoosh ACT Premium Account](http://act.magoosh.com/) - [The Official ACT Prep Guide](https://magoosh.com/hs/act/2016/the-real-act-prep-guide-4th-edition/) (a.k.a. “The Red Book”) - The Magoosh ACT blog (you are here right now!) - [Preparing for the ACT](http://www.act.org/aap/pdf/Preparing-for-the-ACT.pdf) guide - [ACT Student](http://www.actstudent.org/) website - [ACT Flashcards from Magoosh](http://magoosh.com/hs/act/act-announcements/2016/free-act-flashcard-app-from-magoosh/) - [ACT Lessons App](http://magoosh.com/hs/act/2016/act-lessons/) - [Magoosh free ACT eBook](http://magoosh.com/hs/act/2015/act-ebook/) - Magoosh’s free [Study Timer app for iPhone/iPad ](https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1229310894?pt=1190935&ct=blog&mt=8)for timing yourself on exam sections and keeping yourself on pace. *Currently only available in iTunes.* ## **Extra Practice:** If you’re looking for more practice intensive practice, try…      Our very own [practice test](https://magoosh.com/hs/act/2017/act-practice-test-free-online-pdf/) includes over 200 of our premium questions in printable, PDF form. Take it like you would any other timed practice test, score your test using our raw to scaled score grader, then watch the explanation videos for the questions you missed. ## **Additional Video Lessons** If you’re looking for additional video lessons, particularly for math, there are plenty on Magoosh. Many cover more fundamental review or take a more advanced look at topics. When you have extra time, watch the lesson videos on the topics you feel you need the most. For extra practice, you can always practice with additional questions in Magoosh or use the practice questions on the ACT Student website ## **Weeks 1-2: English and Math** - Magoosh Lessons - Magoosh Practice - Blog Reading - Official Practice ## **Weeks 3-4: Reading and Science ** - Magoosh Lessons - Magoosh Practice - Blog Reading - Half Practice Test ## **Week 5-6: English and Math** - Magoosh Lessons - Magoosh Practice - Blog Reading: - Full Practice Test: ## **Weeks 7-8 Reading and Science ** - Magoosh Lessons - Magoosh Practice - Blog Reading - Half Practice Test ## **Weeks 9-10: English and Math** - Magoosh Lessons - English - Magoosh Practice - Blog Reading - Half Practice Test ## **Weeks 11-12: Reading, Science, and Essay** - Magoosh Lessons - Magoosh Practice - Blog Reading - Half Practice Test ## **Weeks 13-14: English, Math, Essay** - Magoosh Lessons - Magoosh Practice - Blog Reading (it’s about that point in the study schedule where studying and life might be getting to you a little bit, so let’s talk about getting refreshed!) - Half Practice Test + Essay Practice ## **Weeks 15-16: Reading and Science** - Magoosh Lessons - Magoosh Practice - Blog Reading - Official Practice ## **Weeks 17-18: English and Math** - Magoosh Lessons - Magoosh Practice - Blog Reading - Half Practice Test ## **Weeks 19-20: Everything + Essay** - Magoosh Lessons - Magoosh Practice - Blog Reading - Full Practice Test ## **Weeks 21-22: Everything! ** - Magoosh Lessons - Magoosh Practice - Rest or Practice Test ## **Weeks 23-24: Everything + Final Review ** - Magoosh Lessons - Magoosh Practice - Blog Reading: ## **The Day Before You Test** - Review your entire error log and make yourself a “cheat sheet” of final reminders to review the morning of the exam. This can include things like “Watch out for run-on sentences!” and “The area of a trapezoid is (base 1 + base 2)/2 * height.” - Review [last-minute test day tips](http://magoosh.com/hs/act/act-strategies/2015/act-tips-for-test-day/) once more and pack your bag. - Do something you enjoy. Go to bed early for at least several days before the test. ## **TEST DAY!** - It’s test day, which means no last minute prep! Do some light exercise, eat a full breakfast, and give yourself plenty of time to get to the test center. Don’t forget: - Review your list of last-minute pointers before you go into the testing center so you can walk into the test confident that you have put in three months of hard work and are ready to show it! 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