Information on the ACT test

The Writing Center provides over twenty ACT practice and critique workshops a week. In order to participate you first need to sign up for a workshop and set the weekly practice ACT test topic. Then you bring four copies of your completed ACT practice test back to the Writing Center at your appointed time. The Writing Center provides carbonized "magic paper", which makes four copies if you write your paper by hand. Stop by the Writing Center for the latest schedule.

Frequently asked questions about the CUNY ACT test

What is the ACT Exam?

The CUNY/ACT Basic Skills Tests in Reading and Writing include two parts:

1. There is a 24-item, 25-minute Reading Skills Test. This part of the ACT uses reading passages from several texts and has multiple-choice questions based on them. The texts are college-level and are selected from existing textbooks or other appropriate materials.
2. There is a 60-minute Writing Sample. In this part of the ACT, students must compose an essay in response to a prompt that asks them to choose one of two alternative proposed solutions to a problem and to present an affirmative argument for it.

Students who do not pass the Reading and/or Writing Tests will be placed into appropriate developmental or ESL courses to acquire the necessary skills before being retested. No one can take the test again without taking a course. Students who achieve a passing score on one test will only be retested on the test they did not pass.

For more information on the ACT Exam, visit the CUNY writesite. You may also pick up a copy of a very comprehensive resource guide to the ACT in the Testing Office, which is located in M149.

What can students do to prepare for the ACT?

There is currently far more support for students preparing for the ACT than there is for those gearing up for the CPE.

Students can visit CUNY WriteSite. On the WriteSite, they will find detailed information about the test as well as sample exams. Also, students can receive assistance at the Writing Center.