Preparing for the ACT while playing a sport can feel overwhelming. Between school, practice, games, travel, and recovery, many student athletes and parents worry there’s simply no time left for test prep.

Let’s say this clearly right from the start:

ACT prep does not need to take over your life.
And it absolutely does not need to compete with your sport.

If someone has told your athlete they need to study for hours every single day to improve their score, take a deep breath. That advice usually comes from people who have never tried to balance academics, athletics, and teenage life all at once.

We have.
As athletes.
As coaches.
And now as parents of student athletes.

And here’s what we know for sure:
The athletes who do best on the ACT are not the ones doing the most work. They’re the ones doing the right work consistently.

How Much ACT Prep Is Actually Enough?

For most student athletes, three to five focused hours per week is more than enough.

Not ten hours.
Not fifteen.
And definitely not late-night study sessions after exhausting practices.

In terms of quality, short focused study sessions and long draining review sessions are less effective than short focused study sessions then long draining review sessions when athletes go beyond their mental and physical limits; in most cases, inadequate results will occur rather than improved scores.

This is especially true for ACT prep for busy students who already have packed schedules.

A Realistic 12-Week ACT Study Plan for Athletes

A strong ACT study plan for athletes should feel manageable, not intimidating.

Weeks 1-4: Build Understanding and Confidence
These weeks focus on learning how the ACT works. Athletes begin to see patterns in questions and realize the test is predictable. Confidence grows quickly during this phase.

Weeks 5-8: Strategy and Timing
Now we introduce timed sections and smarter approaches to questions. Athletes learn pacing, guessing strategies, and how to avoid common mistakes.

Weeks 9-12: Practice and Refinement
This phase includes full practice tests, reviewing errors, and fine-tuning pacing. There’s no cramming-just steady improvement.

This structure creates an ACT schedule around sports, not against them.

In-Season vs. Off-Season ACT Prep

This is where many families go wrong.

During the season, ACT prep should focus on maintenance. The goal is to keep skills sharp without draining energy needed for games and training.

Off-season is when athletes can push a bit harder and make bigger score jumps.

Trying to go full speed with ACT prep during competition season is a fast track to burnout. We’ve seen it many times, and it rarely ends well.

Where Student Athletes Usually Get Stuck

Most athletes don’t struggle because the ACT is too hard. They struggle because they don’t know:

• What to focus on

• How to pace themselves

• When to study and when to rest
  

Without a clear plan, ACT prep for student athletes quickly becomes “just one more thing” on an already full plate.

Our Approach

At Carpe Diem Academics, we build ACT plans around real athletic schedules-not ideal ones. Not imaginary ones. Real life.

When ACT prep fits into an athlete’s routine instead of fighting against it, it actually gets done. And that’s when scores improve.