Your first session focuses on assessment and strategy. A tutor will review your practice test results to identify your strongest and weakest sections—whether that's English, Math, Reading, or Science—and discuss your target score. You'll also learn about the ACT's unique question formats and pacing requirements, then create a personalized study plan that prioritizes the areas where you can gain the most points in four weeks.

While every student is different, Reading and Math are the sections where most students benefit from targeted prep—the Reading section requires quick comprehension and inference skills, while Math demands both conceptual understanding and efficient problem-solving under time pressure. A tutor can diagnose whether your challenges are with content knowledge, pacing, or test-specific strategies, then focus your four-week prep accordingly.

Most students benefit from taking 2-3 full practice tests during a four-week program—one at the beginning to establish a baseline, one midway through to track progress, and one near the end to build test-day confidence. Between full tests, you'll focus on targeted drills for specific question types and sections. This balanced approach prevents burnout while giving you real data on improvement and areas that still need work.

Test anxiety often stems from feeling unprepared or unfamiliar with the test format—both things that intensive four-week prep directly addresses. Your tutor can teach pacing strategies to prevent panic, practice relaxation techniques during timed drills, and help you build confidence through repeated exposure to real ACT question types. Knowing exactly what to expect on test day significantly reduces anxiety for most students.

Look for a tutor with strong ACT performance themselves (typically a 33+ composite score), experience teaching the specific sections where you need help, and familiarity with current ACT format and question types. They should be able to explain not just the right answer, but why wrong answers are traps and how to avoid them. Varsity Tutors connects you with expert tutors for students in Ogden who specialize in ACT prep and understand the strategies that drive real score improvements.

Pacing is one of the most improvable skills in four-week prep. Your tutor will teach you section-specific timing strategies—for example, the Reading section requires reading quickly without sacrificing comprehension, while Math benefits from identifying easier questions first. You'll practice these strategies repeatedly during timed drills so they become automatic on test day, rather than something you have to think about under pressure.

Start with a full practice test to see your section breakdown—this reveals whether you're struggling with specific content (like trigonometry or grammar rules) or with test-specific skills like pacing and question interpretation. Your tutor will analyze your mistakes to spot patterns, then create targeted drills to address the root cause. In four weeks, this focused approach is much more effective than reviewing everything broadly.