how long is the act with essay

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What is the ACT?

Many colleges require scores from the ACT or SAT tests as a part of the admissions process.  Your ACT score is a key component of your college applications.

ACT Basics

About the ACT

The ACT is an entrance exam used by most colleges and universities to make admissions decisions. It is a multiple-choice, pencil-and-paper test administered by ACT, Inc. The purpose of the ACT test is to measure a high school student's readiness for college, and provide colleges with one common data point that can be used to compare all applicants. College admissions officers will review standardized test scores alongside your high school GPA, the classes you took in high school, letters of recommendation from teachers or mentors, extracurricular activities, admissions interviews, and personal essays. How important ACT scores are in the college application process varies from school to school. Overall, the higher you score on the ACT and/or SAT, the more options for attending and paying for college will be available to you.

When should I take the ACT?

Most high school students take the ACT, SAT, or both during the spring of their junior year or fall of their senior year. It's important to leave time to re-take the test if you need to raise your score before you apply to college. The ACT exam is offered nationally every year in September, October, December, February*, April, June, and July*.  View all upcoming  ACT test dates. *No test centers are scheduled in New York for the February or July test dates. No test centers are scheduled in California for the July test date.

What is on the ACT?

There are four ACT sections:  

The ACT also includes an optional 40-minute Writing Test. Some colleges may require that you complete the ACT Writing Test. You can confirm each college's admissions policies on the school website or on our  school profiles.

How long is the ACT?

The ACT is 2 hours and 55 minutes long . If you choose to take the ACT with Essay, the test will be 3 hours and 35 minutes long.

How is the ACT scored?

Each section of the ACT is scored on a 1 to 36 point scale. Your composite ACT score is the average of your four section scores, also on a scale from 1 to 36. If you take the ACT with Writing Test, you will receive a separate score on the Writing Test.

Should I take the ACT or the SAT?

Most colleges and universities will accept scores from either the SAT or ACT, and do not favor one test over the other. That said, college-bound students are increasingly taking  both the SAT and ACT.  Changes made to the SAT in 2016 have made it easier than ever to prep for both tests concurrently—and earn competitive scores on both! The best way to decide if taking the SAT, ACT, or both tests is right for you is to take a timed  full-length practice test  of each type. Since the content and style of the SAT and ACT are very similar, factors like how you handle time pressure and what types of questions you find most challenging can help you determine which test is a better fit. Try our  QUIZ: SAT, ACT, or Both?  to learn more

How do I register for the ACT?

Registration deadlines fall approximately five weeks before each ACT test date. You can get registration materials from your school counselor, or you can register online on the  ACT website.

How can I prep for the ACT?

We can help. We have  ACT prep solutions  for every student and every budget. Take a Free ACT Practice Test

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• March 2, 2018

How Long is the ACT?

For those with the question “how long is the ACT,” you are already thinking ahead to one of the biggest constraints of the ACT : time. With a minute per question, being able to answer questions efficiently and effectively is key!

Many choose to think of the ACT as more of a marathon than a sprint. It’s important to know how to pace yourself on the test as well as take advantage of breaks to recover before jumping back into the race. Knowing exactly what you are getting yourself into and being prepared for the test is a great way to avoid any unnecessary stress or concern on test day.

So read on and see how long the ACT takes and what exactly to expect.

How Long Does the ACT Take?

• The ACT is 2 hours and 55 minutes in length of actual sit-down testing. Including breaks, the ACT is 3 hours and 35 minutes long .
• If you take ACT with optional essay, the testing time is 3 hours and 35 minutes . Including breaks, the ACT with optional essay is 3 hours and 50 minutes long.

ACT Test Length By Section:

• Section 1 – English – 45 minutes
• Section 2 – Math – 60 minutes
• Section 3 – Reading – 35 minutes
• Section 4 – Science – 35 minutes
• Optional Writing – 40 minutes

The testing usually begins between 8:30AM and 9:30AM, although all students are required to arrive at the test-taking center at 8AM for check-in. Let’s have a look at the schedule broken out by section for an 8:30AM exact start time:

[table id=10 /]

Generally speaking, this is the schedule you will experience across all testing centers. Sometimes there are differences in this schedule based on the strictness of the proctor on break time or if there is any kind of problem or disruption during the test that needs to be taken care of.

After the Math section of the MCAT, all test takers receive a 10-minute break. If your proctor attempts to skip this break, please let them know that you would like this time for a rest, as you are entitled to this 10-minute break to regroup.

What Else You Need to Know About Testing Day

Students must be checked in by 8AM Saturday morning of your test date, so it’s recommended to show up at the testing center at least 15 minutes beforehand. It’s important to keep ahold of your admissions ticket even after check-in, as you will need some of the information when filling out personal details on the test (check out our ACT checklist here! ).

The variation occurs in how long it takes to check everyone in, which is why the start time can vary between 8:30 and 9:30 AM. Once the proctor has checked everyone in and read the directions, you will then need to fill out all the personal details as directed. Assuming all goes well, you then will take the test and expect to be finished between 11:30AM and 1PM.

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How Long Is the ACT?

Reviewed by:

Former Admissions Committee Member, Columbia University

Reviewed: 4/29/24

You’ve aced your classes, sought out meaningful extracurricular activities, and each day brings you closer to your high school graduation. One of the only obstacles left is your college entrance exam: the ACT. Read on to learn about the ACT test’s duration!

College entrance exams are a significant stepping stone to meeting your college application requirements. You have two options: the SAT or the ACT. If you decided the ACT is more your speed, you probably want to know how long you'll be glued to your desk on test day.

Read on to learn more about the ACT, including how many hours you’ll spend completing the test, how many questions you’ll answer, and more. 

How Long Does the ACT Take?

The ACT is 3 hours long , though it's 2 hours and 55 minutes of active testing time. Including breaks, it takes about 3 hours and 30 minutes to finish. If you choose to sign up for the optional essay (the ACT Plus Writing), the test will be about 3 hours and 40 minutes long, or just over 4 hours with breaks.

How Long is Each Section of the ACT?

Minus the essay you would write if you decide to take the ACT with writing, the entire test has 215 questions . Here's a breakdown showing how many questions are in each section. 

Source: ACT.org  

The ACT English section has the most questions for you to answer. Given this information, you have 52 seconds , on average, to complete each question across all sections. However, some questions may be more straightforward or complex, taking more or less time. 

How long each ACT section takes for you to answer depends on your proficiency and time management skills. 

How Long Is the ACT Test With Writing? 

Now that you have a breakdown of the ACT’s timing, you’re probably how long the ACT is with writing. If you decide to try your hand at the optional essay question, be prepared to add 40 minutes to your time. 

Suppose you're feeling burnt out after spending three hours trailblazing through multiple-choice questions. In that case, you'll have the opportunity to relax and sharpen your pencils before taking a stab at the writing section. Students who decide to take the writing section are typically dismissed at approximately 1:35 p.m.

Whether or not you choose to do the writing section is entirely up to you and your school list. Most colleges, including many of the country's top-ranked schools, don't require the writing test. However, it's best to do adequate college research and ensure no school on your list requires the writing test before you opt-out. 

How Long Is the ACT With Extended Time? 

So, how much longer is the ACT with extended time if you've requested accommodations? Through National Extended Time, students are allowed 50% more time on each ACT section. 

This means that a test-taker who is granted National Extended Time will have : 

• 70 minutes to complete English 
• 90 minutes to complete Math
• 55 minutes to complete Reading
• 55 minutes to complete Science 

If you take the writing test with extended time, you'll have 60 minutes to complete one essay. This is a relatively new addition to the ACT's policy. 

Before that, students had five hours total to self-pace through the ACT. However, studies found, "Having to pace themselves requires an additional demand of them beyond what is required of examinees testing with standard time or other types of extended time." This finding was what inspired ACT to change the policy in 2018. 

ACT Timing Tips

To answer 215 questions in the allotted time, you’ll need to implement some test-taking strategies to keep yourself on track. You can save time on the test with these ACT timing tips: 

Skimming passages : Try reading every passage's first and last sentence and skimming the rest first. There will be times you need to read more carefully, but this is a great way to save time. After all, the ACT requires a lot of reading. 

Cross out answers you know aren't correct : This can help you focus your thinking and help you get to the correct answer sooner. 

Start with more straightforward questions : No rule says you have to complete all questions in order. Feel free to leave the more complex questions that require more time for the end. 

Move on if you’re stuck : This common ACT pitfall can lead to lower scores and more frustration. If you feel you’re spending too much time on a question, move on and return to it later. 

This can seem like a lot of content to cover in three short hours; however, learning more about the ACT’s format and honing your skills can help you navigate the test with speed and accuracy. 

If you’ve used these strategies and your score isn’t increasing, try to implement some ACT score-boosting tactics . You may also want to consider taking our ACT Practice Questions to familiarize yourself with the format of ACT questions.

FAQs: The ACT’s Length 

If you still have questions about how long the ACT is, check out these FAQs! 

1. How Long Is the ACT Without Writing? 

The ACT without the optional Writing section takes 2 hours and 55 minutes of active testing time. When you factor in the 10-minute break after the Math section, administrative tasks like filling out personal information, and the check-in process, the total time from start to finish is approximately 3.5 hours.

2. How Can I Get Extended Time On the ACT? 

You’ll need to work with a school official to submit a request for ACT accommodations , including extra time. 

3. How Many Hours Do I Have to Complete the ACT? 

You have 2 hours and 55 minutes of active testing time to complete the ACT without the optional Writing section.

This breaks down as follows:

• English : 45 minutes for 75 questions
• Math : 60 minutes for 60 questions
• Reading : 35 minutes for 40 questions
• Science : 35 minutes for 40 questions

In total, there are 215 multiple-choice questions across the four required ACT sections.

4. How Many Breaks Are Given During the ACT Exam?

The ACT exam includes one scheduled 10-minute break between the Math and Reading sections. This break occurs halfway through the test after students have completed the English and Math sections which take a combined 105 minutes.

Final Thoughts 

The ACT is a long and challenging test that requires your focus for at least three hours. Now that you know how long the ACT is with and without the writing test and with extended time, you can plan accordingly as you study.

Remember, the ACT is a marathon, not a sprint. Build endurance and focus using practice tests, well-tailored study strategies, and schedules. With enough preparation and endurance, you’ll be ready to ace the ACT in no time! 

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, act writing: how long does it take.

Hey! I'm planning to take the ACT with the optional writing section. I'm wondering how long the writing section takes to complete? Any advice on managing the time during this section would also be appreciated.

The ACT Writing section, which is the optional essay portion of the exam, takes 40 minutes to complete. You'll receive a single writing prompt presenting a complex issue, and you'll be asked to develop an argument or perspective on that issue, using reasoning and supporting evidence.

In order to manage your time effectively during the Writing section, consider the following tips:

1. Spend the first 5 minutes reading and understanding the prompt. Make sure you grasp the issue at hand and analyze the three perspectives provided.

2. Spend the next 10 minutes outlining your essay. Jot down your thesis statement and the main ideas you'd like to convey in each paragraph, as well as any supporting examples or evidence you want to include.

3. Dedicate about 20 minutes to writing your essay. Write clearly and concisely, making sure your paragraphs are well-structured and follow a logical flow.

4. Use the remaining 5 minutes to proofread your essay. Check for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and coherence in your argument. Ensure that your essay fully addresses the perspectives provided in the prompt and that your own perspective is well-supported and thoughtfully argued.

Remember that practice is key to developing strong time-management skills. Consider taking timed practice tests to get a feel for the pace of the Writing section and to work on developing your essay-writing strategy.

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

How Long Is the ACT?

The ACT without Writing is 2 hours and 55 minutes (175 minutes) long, while the ACT with Writing is 3 hours and 35 minutes (215 minutes) long. For students needing extended time, the ACT without Writing is 4 hours and 30 minutes (270 minutes) long, while the ACT with Writing is 5 hours and 30 minutes (330 minutes) long. This does not include mandatory breaks.

Some students also receive accommodations for multi-day testing; if this is true for you, you will instead take the test at your school during a designated three-week testing window under the supervision of your guidance counselor.

How Long Is the ACT by Section?

ACT sections (“tests”) vary in length. The length of individual ACT sections follows a standardized format:

*The Writing test is optional.

How Long Does the ACT Take?

Of course, you are going to be spending longer in the testing room than that. You’ll spend time checking in, filling out initial information, listening to instructions, and taking breaks. All in all, you’ll likely spend a little over 4 hours in the testing center if you are taking the test without Writing and up to around 5 hours if you are taking the Writing test. So, yeah, that’s why we tell you to pack a snack.

The ACT requires you to report to the testing center by 8 AM. Likely you’ll want to get there earlier, though, so you aren’t freaking out if you hit unexpected traffic and so that you have time to mentally prepare yourself, find your testing room, use the bathroom, and so on.  

Schedule for the ACT

Below you’ll see what your ACT Saturday morning is likely to look like. You may take more or less time to primp in the morning, but I highly recommend you do not take the “roll out of bed and show up in your PJs approach” to the ACT. First priority is getting enough sleep, but you should also build time into your morning for these three essentials: 1. breakfast 2. getting the blood flowing with some brief exercise 3. getting the brain warmed up with some reading (or a math problem or two).

Depending on your test-taking needs, below are two schedules that will give you an idea about of what the ideal test day should look like. However, it is much more likely that you’ll get out 10-40 minutes later than what’s projected in these schedules.

Note: You’ll notice that we mention “reviewing your list of reminders”—if you need help with knowing what to put on your list, check out our advice on making an ACT Cheat Sheet .

Ideal Schedule for ACT Test Day for Test-Takers Without Extended Time

Ideal Schedule for ACT Test Day for Test-Takers With Extended Time

So how long is the ACT? The moral of the story here is that the ACT is long . This is why it is so important to take practice tests so you can practice your stamina and make sure you have breakfast and snacks for energy on test day–your brain has 4 to 5 hours of hard work to do!

Dr. Kristin Fracchia has over fifteen years of expertise in college and graduate school admissions and with a variety of standardized tests, including the ACT, SAT, GRE, GMAT, and LSAT, with several 99% scores. She had a PhD from the University of California, Irvine , an MA degree from The Catholic University, and BA degrees in Secondary Education and English Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park. She was the recipient of the 2013 Excellence in Teaching Award and the Chancellor’s Club Fellowship from the University of California, Irvine. She’s worked as a high school teacher and university professor, as an independent college and graduate school admissions counselor, and as an expert tutor for standardized tests, helping hundreds of students gain acceptance into premier national and international institutions. She now develops accessible and effective edtech products for Magoosh. Her free online content and YouTube videos providing test prep and college admissions advice have received over 6 million views in over 125 countries. Kristin is an advocate for improving access to education: you can check out her TEDx talk on the topic . Follow Kristin on LinkedIn !

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4 responses to “How Long Is the ACT?”

I was looking for the ACT test schedule and came across your webpage. the information is very useful, thanks!

Can you please make a correction, the last dismissal time has been incorrectly marked as 12:15 instead of 12:50.

Hi Revathi,

You’re absolutely right! Thanks for pointing out our mistake. I corrected the table 🙂

Can you create a table for extended time also? The standard time table has been so helpful to me and an extended time table would help as well. Thanks!

That’s a great idea! I will definitely propose that we add that for the benefits of our students. Thanks for the suggestion, and I wish you success on your exam!

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How Long is the ACT?

We’ll examine the answer to this particular question in greater detail below.

• How Long is the ACT (act test)?

The ACT itself is 2 hours and 55 minutes long, but with breaks, test takers must allot 3 hours and 30 minutes total. Students who also complete the optional essay writing section have a 3 hour and 35-minute test, or about 4 hours with breaks.

• What Time Does the ACT Test Start and End?

Students are typically required to complete check in by 8:00 a.m. on the day of their ACT test. Students should be sure to allow extra time to find the correct room, wait in line if necessary, and complete the check-in.

He or she should keep their ticket after check-in, as students will need to enter some of the information from it on the ACT test form.

After students are checked in, they will be given instructions, fill out some required information on the forms, and receive the test. It takes some time for this to be completed for a large room full of students.

The test itself will begin after all of the preceding steps are completed, which is usually about 8:30 or 9:00 a.m.

Taking the preparation time, break time, and test time all into account, students may complete and exit the testing site at about 12:15 p.m. If the student did the additional writing portion, then he or she will be able to leave the testing area at about 1:15 p.m.

Students with special testing accommodations may end up either finishing the test later, or taking the test over more than one day.

• How Many Breaks Do You Get on the ACT?

The standard practice is to have a 10-minute break after the Math section on the ACT. If a student is not offered this break, then he or she should be sure to ask for it, as it is required to be offered.

If the student opts to take the additional Writing section, the he or she will also get a 5-minute break after the Science portion of the test.

Additionally, if a student has a pre-approved accommodation, then he or she may receive more frequent and/or extended breaks.

• How Many Minutes Is Each Question on the ACT?

In order to plan how to pace oneself, it is important to know how much time to allow for each question. To determine this, one should look at how many questions are in each section, and how much time is given for each section.

There are four required sections, and one optional section for the ACT. The four required sections are English, Math, Reading, and Science. Writing is an optional section that students may sign up for in advance.

The English portion has 75 questions and is 45 minutes long. This means that students have 36 seconds, on average, per question in this section.

In other words, students should be prepared to answer almost two questions every minute, or 15 questions every 9 minutes.

The math section is 60 minutes long with 60 questions. This gives students one minute per question for this section.

Reading and Science each have 40 questions and each section allows 35 minutes. So for both of these sections, students have 52.5 seconds, or a little less than one minute per question.

• How Many Minutes to Spend on the Writing Section of the ACT

The optional Writing section of the ACT is in a different format than the rest of the ACT.

Students who take the Writing section are given 40 minutes. During this time, students must read one writing prompt plus three alternate perspectives on the topic, and then write an essay.

How much time should be spent on each “question” in the writing portion is less straightforward since there is one essay to write, one prompt, and three perspectives to read. For this reason, it is best to complete practice examples to determine how to pace yourself for this portion of the test.

Another strategy could be to allow yourself approximately 7 minutes to read and think about the prompt and perspectives. Then, spend about 6 minutes organizing your thoughts.

Next, you can take about 20 minutes to write your essay. That leaves 7 minutes to review your essay and make any desired revisions.

You may wish to adjust the amount of time allocated to each step of the Writing portion according to your own test-taking and writing preferences. Of course, it is best to hone your test-taking strategy during your practice sessions, rather on the day of the actual test.

• How Long Is Each Section of the ACT?

The following table shows a breakdown of how long each section of the ACT is, along with how many questions are in each section. It also shows a recommendation for how much time to allot to each question.

Of course, some questions may take longer or shorter than the times presented here. The idea is to practice pacing oneself so that, on average, a student is able to complete questions according to this pacing.

If a student notices he or she is taking longer on a question, then he or she should try to complete some easier questions more quickly.

On the other hand, if some questions are able to be completed faster, then the student can feel comfortable knowing that he or she has extra time to spend on more challenging questions.

Keep in mind, this pacing accounts for using all of the time allotted for each section.

To review your work, you will need to review as you go within the allotted time. Or, a student could shorten the time spent on each question to allow for time at the end to go back and review.

Either way, it’s always best to try to answer any many questions as possible, as accurately as possible.

• How Long Does the ACT Last?

The American College Test, or ACT, takes 2 hours and 55 minutes for the standard portion. With breaks, it is 3 hours and 30 minutes in all. For students who also take the optional essay writing section, the test is 3 hours and 35-minute, or about 4 hours with breaks.

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Current Issue

The President Can Now Assassinate You, Officially

Under this new standard, a president can go on a four-to-eight-year crime spree and then retire from public life, never to be held accountable.

United States Supreme Court justices pose for their official portrait on October 7, 2022, in Washington, DC.

Welp, Donald Trump won. The Supreme Court today ruled that presidents are entitled to “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for official acts, then contended that pressuring the vice president and the Department of Justice to overthrow the government was an “official act,” then said that talking to advisers or making public statements are “official acts” as well, and then determined that evidence of what presidents say and do cannot be used against them to establish that their acts are “unofficial.”

The ruling from the Supreme Court was 6-3, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, on a straight party-line vote, with all the Republican-appointed justices joining to give the president the power of a king. While some parts of the federal indictment against Trump will be remanded back down to the district-court trial judge to determine whether any of Trump’s actions were “unofficial” (“unofficial” acts, the court says, are not entitled to immunity), Trump’s victory in front of the Supreme Court is total. Essentially, all he has to do is claim that everything he did to plot a coup was part of his “official” duties, and the Supreme Court provided no clear method or evidentiary standard that can be used to challenge that presumption.

Legally, there are two critical things to understand about the totality of the court’s ruling here:

• The immunity is absolute
• There is no legislative way to get rid of what the court has given

On the first point, the immunity granted to Trump in this case far exceeds the immunity granted to, say, police officers or other government officials, when they act in their official capacities. Those officials are granted “qualified” immunity from civil penalties. Because the immunity is “qualified,” it can be taken away (“pierced” is the legal jargon for taking away an official’s qualified immunity). People can bring evidence against officials and argue that they shouldn’t be given immunity because of the gravity or depravity of their acts.

Not so with Trump. Presidents are now entitled to “absolute” immunity, which means that no matter what they do, the immunity cannot be lost. They are always and forever immune, no matter what evidence is brought to bear.

Moreover, unlike other officials, presidents are now entitled to absolute immunity from criminal charges. Even a cop can be charged with, say, murder , even if they argue that killing people is part of their jobs. But not presidents. Presidents can murder, rape, steal, and pretty much do whatever they want, so long as they argue that murdering, raping, or stealing is part of the official job of the president of the United States. There is no crime that pierces the veil of absolute immunity.

And there is essentially nothing we can do to change it. The courts created qualified immunity for public officials, but it can be undone by state or federal legislatures if they pass a law removing that protection. Not so with absolute presidential immunity. The court here says that absolute immunity is required by the separation of powers inherent in the Constitution, meaning that Congress cannot take it away. Congress, according to the Supreme Court, does not have the power to pass legislation saying “the president can be prosecuted for crimes.” Impeachment, and only impeachment, is the only way to punish presidents, and, somewhat obviously, impeachment does nothing to a president who is already no longer in office.

The Nation Weekly

Under this new standard, a president can go on a four-to-eight-year crime spree, steal all the money and murder all the people they can get their hands on, all under guise of presumptive “official” behavior, and then retire from public life, never to be held accountable for their crimes while in office. That, according to the court, is what the Constitution requires. 

There will be Republicans and legal academics and whatever the hell job Jonathan Turley has who will go into overdrive arguing that the decision isn’t as bad as all that. These bad-faith actors will be quoted or even published in The Washington Post and The New York Times . They will argue that presidents can still be prosecuted for “unofficial acts,” and so they will say that everything is fine.

But they will be wrong, because while the Supreme Court says “unofficial” acts are still prosecutable, the court has left nearly no sphere in which the president can be said to be acting “unofficially.” And more importantly, the court has left virtually no vector of evidence that can be deployed against a president to prove that their acts were “unofficial.” If trying to overthrow the government is “official,” then what isn’t? And if we can’t use the evidence of what the president says or does, because communications with their advisers, other government officials, and the public is “official,” then how can we ever show that an act was taken “unofficially”?

Take the now-classic example of a president ordering Seal Team Six to assassinate a political rival. According to the logic of the Republicans on the Supreme Court, that would likely be an official act. According to their logic, there is also no way to prove it’s “unofficial,” because any conversation the president has with their military advisers (where, for instance, the president tells them why they want a particular person assassinated) is official and cannot be used against them.

There will doubtless be people still wondering if Trump can somehow be prosecuted: The answer is “no.” Special counsel Jack Smith will surely argue that presenting fake electors in connection with his cadre of campaign sycophants was not an “official act.” Lower-court judges may well agree. But when that appeal gets back to the Supreme Court next year, the same justices who just ruled that Trump is entitled to absolute immunity will surely rule that submitting fake electors was also part of Trump’s “official” responsibilities.

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Biden Did Not Save His Presidency on ABC Biden Did Not Save His Presidency on ABC

Why aren’t we talking about trump’s fascism why aren’t we talking about trump’s fascism, the supreme court’s latest abortion ruling is a cynical ploy the supreme court’s latest abortion ruling is a cynical ploy, elie mystal.

There is no way to change that outcome in the short term. In the long term, the only way to undo the authoritarianism the court has just ushered in is to expand the Supreme Court . Democrats would have to win the upcoming presidential election and the House and the Senate. Then Congress would have to pass a law expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court; then the Senate would have to pass that law as well, which, at a minimum, would likely have to include getting rid of the filibuster. Then the president would have to sign such a bill, and appoint additional Supreme Court justices who do not think that presidents should be kings—and then those justices would have to be confirmed. And all of that would have to happen before the current Supreme Court hears whatever Trump appeal from his January 6 charges comes up next, because if court expansion happens after the current Supreme Court dismisses the charges against him, double jeopardy will attach and Trump can never be prosecuted again under a less-fascist court.

So, since that’s not going to happen, Trump won. He won completely. He tried to overthrow the government, and he got away with it. I cannot even imagine what he’ll try if he is actually given power again, knowing full well that he will never be held accountable for literal crimes.

If you ever wondered what you’d have done in ancient Rome, when the Roman Republic was shuttered and Augustus Caesar declared himself the “first” citizen of Rome, the answer is: whatever you’re doing right now. It’s what you would have done during the Restoration of King Charles II in England, and what you would have done when Napoleon declared himself emperor of France. This, right here, is how republics die.

And the answer that cries out from the abyss of history is that most people, in real time, don’t care. Republics fall because most citizens are willing to give it away. Most people think that it won’t be that bad to lose the rule of law, and the people who stand to benefit from the ending of republican self-government tell everybody that it will be OK. When the Imperium came to be, the Romans didn’t realize that they were seeing the last form of European self-government for 2,000 years, and the ones who did were largely happy about it.

For my part, I assume that like Mark Antony’s wife, Fulvia, defiling the decapitated head of Cicero, Martha-Ann Alito will be jabbing her golden hairpin into my tongue for criticizing the powerful soon enough. But I’m just a writer. I wonder what the rest of you will do as the last vestiges of democracy are taken away by the Imperial Supreme Court and the untouchable executive officer they’ve just created.

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Elie Mystal is  The Nation ’s justice correspondent and the host of its legal podcast, Contempt of Court . He is also an Alfred Knobler Fellow at the Type Media Center. His first book is the New York Times bestseller Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution, published by The New Press. Elie can be followed @ElieNYC .

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What it means for the Supreme Court to throw out Chevron decision, undercutting federal regulators

FILE- Gulls follow a commercial fishing boat as crewmen haul in their catch in the Gulf of Maine, in this Jan. 17, 2012 file photo. TExecutive branch agencies will likely have more difficulty regulating the environment, public health, workplace safety and other issues under a far-reaching decision by the Supreme Court. The court’s 6-3 ruling on Friday overturned a 1984 decision colloquially known as Chevron that has instructed lower courts to defer to federal agencies when laws passed by Congress are not crystal clear. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

The Supreme Court building is seen on Friday, June 28, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Executive branch agencies will likely have more difficulty regulating the environment, public health, workplace safety and other issues under a far-reaching decision by the Supreme Court .

The court’s 6-3 ruling on Friday overturned a 1984 decision colloquially known as Chevron that has instructed lower courts to defer to federal agencies when laws passed by Congress are not crystal clear.

The 40-year-old decision has been the basis for upholding thousands of regulations by dozens of federal agencies, but has long been a target of conservatives and business groups who argue that it grants too much power to the executive branch, or what some critics call the administrative state.

The Biden administration has defended the law, warning that overturning so-called Chevron deference would be destabilizing and could bring a “convulsive shock” to the nation’s legal system.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court, said federal judges “must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority.”

The ruling does not call into question prior cases that relied on the Chevron doctrine, Roberts wrote.

Here is a look at the court’s decision and the implications for government regulations going forward.

What is the Chevron decision?

Atlantic herring fishermen sued over federal rules requiring them to pay for independent observers to monitor their catch. The fishermen argued that the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act did not authorize officials to create industry-funded monitoring requirements and that the National Marine Fisheries Service failed to follow proper rulemaking procedure.

In two related cases, the fishermen asked the court to overturn the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine, which stems from a unanimous Supreme Court case involving the energy giant in a dispute over the Clean Air Act. That ruling said judges should defer to the executive branch when laws passed by Congress are ambiguous.

In that case, the court upheld an action by the Environmental Protection Agency under then-President Ronald Reagan.

In the decades following the ruling, Chevron has been a bedrock of modern administrative law, requiring judges to defer to agencies’ reasonable interpretations of congressional statutes.

But the current high court, with a 6-3 conservative majority has been increasingly skeptical of the powers of federal agencies. Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch have questioned the Chevron decision. Ironically, it was Gorsuch’s mother, former EPA Administrator Anne Gorsuch, who made the decision that the Supreme Court upheld in 1984.

What’s at stake?

With a closely divided Congress, presidential administrations have increasingly turned to federal regulation to implement policy changes. Federal rules impact virtually every aspect of everyday life, from the food we eat and the cars we drive to the air we breathe and homes we live in.

President Joe Biden’s administration, for example, has issued a host of new regulations on the environment and other priorities, including restrictions on emissions from power plants and vehicle tailpipes , and rules on student loan forgiveness , overtime pay and affordable housing.

Those actions and others could be opened up to legal challenges if judges are allowed to discount or disregard the expertise of the executive-branch agencies that put them into place.

With billions of dollars potentially at stake, groups representing the gun industry and other businesses such as tobacco, agriculture, timber and homebuilding, were among those pressing the justices to overturn the Chevron doctrine and weaken government regulation.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed an amicus brief last year on behalf of business groups arguing that modern application of Chevron has “fostered aggrandizement’’ of the executive branch at the expense of Congress and the courts.

David Doniger, a lawyer and longtime Natural Resources Defense Council official who argued the original Chevron case in 1984, said he feared that a ruling to overturn the doctrine could “free judges to be radical activists” who could “effectively rewrite our laws and block the protections they are supposed to provide.”

“The net effect will be to weaken our government’s ability to meet the real problems the world is throwing at us — big things like COVID and climate change,″ Doniger said.

More than just fish

“This case was never just about fish,’' said Meredith Moore of the environmental group Ocean Conservancy. Instead, businesses and other interest groups used the herring fishery “to attack the foundations of the public agencies that serve the American public and conserve our natural resources,’' she said.

The court ruling will likely open the floodgates to litigation that could erode critical protections for people and the environment, Moore and other advocates said.

“For more than 30 years, fishery observers have successfully helped ensure that our oceans are responsibly managed so that fishing can continue in the future,’' said Dustin Cranor of Oceana, another conservation group.

He called the case “just the latest example of the far right trying to undermine the federal government’s ability to protect our oceans, waters, public lands, clean air and health.’'

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey called the decision a fitting follow-up to a 2022 decision — in a case he brought — that limits the EPA’s ability to control greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The court held that Congress must speak with specificity when it wants to give an agency authority to regulate on an issue of major national significance.

Morrisey, now the GOP nominee for governor, called Chevron “a misguided doctrine under which courts defer to legally dubious interpretations of statutes put out by federal administrative agencies.”

A shift toward judicial power

The Supreme Court ruling will almost certainly shift power away from the executive branch and Congress and toward courts, said Craig Green, a professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.

“Federal judges will now have the first and final word about what statutes mean,″ he said. “That’s a big shift in power.″

In what some observers see as a historic irony, many conservatives who now attack Chevron once celebrated it. The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was among those who hailed the original ruling as a way to rein in liberal laws.

“Conservatives believed in this rule until they didn’t,’' Green said in an interview.

In recent years, conservatives have focused on “deconstruction of the administrative state,’' even if the result lessens the ability of a conservative president to impose his beliefs on government agencies.

“If you weaken the federal government, you get less government,’' Green said — an outcome that many conservatives, including those who back former President Donald Trump, welcome.

The ruling will likely “gum up the works for federal agencies and make it even harder for them to address big problems. Which is precisely what the critics of Chevron want,” said Jody Freeman, director of the environmental and energy law program at Harvard Law School.

Being a Cougar Is So Back

Recent films like The Idea of You and A Family Affair are challenging long-held myths about older women and desirability.

Everything old is new again, as the saying goes. Or rather, everything older . At least when it comes to the age of women being romanced onscreen (and sometimes off), and new when it comes to the young men romancing them.

What’s also new? The direction of this age gap.

In the last two decades, culture has labeled women who pursue these relationships “cougars.” Suggesting an inappropriate power imbalance, and framing the woman as a predator of a sort (that this concern is never applied in the reverse is but one small example of how women are forever held to different standards).

But lately, what has been considered a derogatory punchline is being reclaimed as empowering in the cultural zeitgeist. The last few years, however, have seen a refreshing resurgence of storylines featuring love stories between older women and younger men when we’ve long been accustomed to the opposite. After all, some of the most classic films in Hollywood have starred older male actors and much younger actresses: Gary Cooper (51) and Grace Kelly (23) in High Noon ; Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall (24 year age gap) in their many collaborations; Jimmy Stewart (42) and Grace Kelly (now 25) in Rear Window ; Gwyneth Paltrow (26) and Michael Douglas (54) in A Perfect Murder (a classic to some of us!); Tom Cruise and nearly all his recent co-stars.

The film version of The Idea of You was released on Prime Video in May, with Anne Hathaway in the role of Solène, a gallerist who just turned 40, and Nicholas Galitzine playing the much younger Hayes, the frontman of pop sensation August Moon. (Much like real-life Wilde, who was the target of much online vitriol from certain corners of the Internet during her relationship with Styles, when the tabloids catch wind of Solene’s and Hayes’ relationship, she is blasted as a cougar in the press, prompting her daughter to get bullied and teased at school.) And last week, A Family Affair premiered on Netflix starring Nicole Kidman as a successful widowed writer in her early fifties who falls for the boss of her 23-year-old daughter (played by Joey King); the man in question is an over-indulged dimwitted movie star played skillfully by Zac Efron, who is 20 years Kidman’s junior.

While these are the two most recent high-profile examples they are hardly the only ones. In the HBO limited series The Sympathizer , Hoa Xuande’s character, 36, has an affair with Sandra Oh (52) (also: duh). In 2022, Jean Smart won the Emmy for her performance in season 2 of Hacks , which contained an episode where her character has a one-night stand with a much younger man.

We’ve also seen critical interrogations of this relationship dynamic. The 2023 film May December , which was inspired by the Mary Kay Letourneau case, is a difficult, if, at times, darkly comedic, look at a relationship between a 36-year-old woman and a 13-year-old boy, who go on to marry and have children together. Further afield, the compelling French film Last Summer , directed by Catherine Breillat, which arrives in American theaters this month, is about a fifty-something married lawyer who has an affair with her teenage stepson. As the plot progresses, audiences are increasingly asked to interrogate the sexual dynamics at play through a #MeToo lens.

One noteworthy distinction here is that these relationships are not fodder for cheap laughs. Drama, yes. But not a punchline—or a pity party. And this attitude is extending beyond the screen: A recent revival of Sunset Boulevard in London cast the glamorous and powerful Nicole Scherzinger, 45, as Norma Desmond, a role that has long defined the pitiful aging woman grasping desperately at her lost youth. In this case, however, director Jamie Lloyd told The New York Times , he was specifically looking for an actress “in her prime.”

So what accounts for this flipping of the age ratio?

Entrepreneur and former ad executive, Cindy Gallop , whose viral 2009 TEDTalk “Make Love Not Porn” opened with the line “I date younger men,” believes it’s a reflection of who is making these films. “The onscreen narratives we’re seeing now come from books and scripts by women, and are being helmed by women, and backed and driven by women.”

.css-1aear8u:before{margin:0 auto 0.9375rem;width:34px;height:25px;content:'';display:block;background-repeat:no-repeat;}.loaded .css-1aear8u:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/elle/static/images/quote.fddce92.svg);} .css-1bvxk2j{font-family:SaolDisplay,SaolDisplay-fallback,SaolDisplay-roboto,SaolDisplay-local,Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:1.625rem;font-weight:normal;line-height:1.2;margin:0rem;margin-bottom:0.3125rem;}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.125rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.125rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.25rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.375rem;line-height:1.2;}}.css-1bvxk2j b,.css-1bvxk2j strong{font-family:inherit;font-weight:bold;}.css-1bvxk2j em,.css-1bvxk2j i{font-style:italic;font-family:inherit;}.css-1bvxk2j i,.css-1bvxk2j em{font-style:italic;} We know that older women are just as attractive to younger men, as older men are attractive to younger women, no matter how threatening the patriarchy finds that.”

And like anyone else, women want to see both their realities and fantasies reflected in the world. Culture, meanwhile, is struggling to keep up with how women actually live. We know from studies that single women without children report being happier, and yet we see few storylines that reflect the possibility of satisfaction outside of partnership or parenthood. Similarly, women are increasingly earning more, and thanks to access to better healthcare and nutrition and exercise many of us are remaining physically healthy for longer (as every celebrity website loves to point out). Why wouldn’t we be considered attractive to literally everyone?

Says Gallop: “We know that older women are just as attractive to younger men, as older men are attractive to younger women, no matter how threatening the patriarchy finds that.”

In some ways, these storylines feel long overdue. A small but necessary counterbalance to the so-called “ trad wife ” movement that has become increasingly popular on social media.

And yet, it’s worth noting we’ve been here before. As new as these pairings might seem, they are just the latest iteration. In 1996 Terry McMillan published How Stella Got Her Groove Back about Stella, a successful 42-year-old woman who flies to an island for vacation and falls for a 21-year-old, whom she eventually ends up marrying. In the movie, Stella is played by Angela Bassett and the younger man by Taye Diggs. And let us not forget Sex and the City ’s Samantha Jones and Smith Jerrod.

In fact, if anything, this latest round feels tame—at least on screen. In The Idea of You, Hayes’ age has been upped from 20 to 26. Hathaway, meanwhile, could pass for a 30-year-old. The sex scenes onscreen are extremely mild compared to what’s described in the novel. Similarly, in A Family Affair , Kidman not only looks young, but she behaves like a woman half her age—giggling and insecure—and even then it begs the audience to believe that someone as accomplished as we’re told her character is would find anything in common with Efron’s, who behaves like an incompetent five year old. Abs are nice, but not that nice.

It leaves one craving something closer to what many of us are experiencing: The power and confidence of aging, with or without the youthful body to match. That’s something we all should be attracted to.

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Liberal justices say Trump immunity decision 'will have disastrous consequences' for the U.S.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court's liberal bloc issued blistering dissents Monday in the Trump immunity ruling , arguing that it "reshapes the institution of the presidency" and "makes a mockery" of the constitutional principle that no man is above the law.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, reading her dissent from the bench, said that "relying on little more than its own misguided wisdom ... the Court gives former President Trump all the immunity he asked for and more."

She added that "because our Constitution does not shield a former President from answering for criminal and treasonous acts, I dissent."

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on ideological lines that former President Donald Trump has immunity for some of his conduct as president but not unofficial acts in the federal election interference case. The court did not determine what constitutes an "official" act in this case, leaving that to the lower court.

Follow live updates on the Trump immunity hearing

The decision adds another hurdle and further delay to special counsel Jack Smith's prosecution of the former president. Trump was indicted last year on charges he conspired to "overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election."

Sotomayor said that the majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, invents "an atextual, ahistorical, and unjustifiable immunity that puts the President above the law."

Their ruling, she went on, makes three moves that she said "completely insulate Presidents from criminal liability." Sotomayor said the court creates absolute immunity for the president's exercise of "core constitutional powers," creates "expansive immunity for all 'official acts,'" and "declares that evidence concerning acts for which the President is immune can play no role in any criminal prosecution against him."

Sotomayor warned that the ruling "will have disastrous consequences for the Presidency and for our democracy" and that it sends the message: “Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends.”

She added, “Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done. The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”

In her own written dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said that the majority's ruling "breaks new and dangerous ground."

"Departing from the traditional model of individual accountability, the majority has concocted something entirely different: a Presidential accountability model that creates immunity—an exemption from criminal law — applicable only to the most powerful official in our Government," she wrote.

Jackson warned that under the majority's "new Presidential accountability mode," a hypothetical president "who admits to having ordered the assassinations of his political rivals or critics...or one who indisputably instigates an unsuccessful coup...has a fair shot at getting immunity."

The chief justice dismissed the dissents, suggesting that his three liberal colleagues had misinterpreted the majority's opinion and were engaging in "fear mongering." Roberts argued that they "strike a tone of chilling doom that is wholly disproportionate to what the Court actually does today." He wrote that "like everyone else, the President is subject to prosecution in his unofficial capacity."

He also appeared to scoff at Sotomayor for what she included in her dissent, saying that her "most compelling piece of evidence consists of excerpted statements of Charles Pinckney from an 1800 Senate debate." He continued, "But those statements reflect only the now-discredited argument that any immunity not expressly mentioned in the Constitution must not exist."

Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in a concurring opinion that she agreed with some of the majority opinion but not all of it. Notably, she said she agreed with Sotomayor that Trump’s immune conduct should still be allowed to be used as evidence in his trial.

“The Constitution does not require blinding juries to the circumstances surrounding conduct for which Presidents can be held liable,” she said.

Soon after the court issued the ruling, Trump celebrated the decision on his Truth Social account, writing in all caps: "Big win for our Constitution and democracy. Proud to be an American!"

A Biden campaign adviser, on the other hand, said that the ruling doesn't change what happened on Jan. 6, 2021.

"Donald Trump snapped after he lost the 2020 election and encouraged a mob to overthrow the results of a free and fair election," the adviser said. "Trump is already running for president as a convicted felon for the very same reason he sat idly by while the mob violently attacked the Capitol: he thinks he’s above the law and is willing to do anything to gain and hold onto power for himself."

Rebecca Shabad is a politics reporter for NBC News based in Washington.

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What is Project 2025? The Presidential Transition Project explained.

The detailed plan to dismantle and reconstruct the government laid out by  conservative groups  known as the 2025 Presidential Transition Project has critics up in arms over its " apocalyptic " and " authoritarian " nature.

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., led an effort to create the more than 900-page  "Mandate for Leadership,"  published in April 2023, reimagining the executive branch and presented a plan to overhaul several federal government agencies, including the FBI, for the country's next conservative president to follow.

More: Project 2025 head says 'second American Revolution' will be 'bloodless if the left allows'

According to the Project's website, the playbook provides a governing agenda and a lineup of people ready to implement it to "rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left." It includes a domestic and  foreign policy  agenda, a list of personnel, training, and a 180-day playbook.

"It is not enough for conservatives to win elections," Project 2025  said on its website . "With the right conservative policy recommendations and properly vetted and trained personnel to implement them, we will take back our government."

Project 2025's Director is  Paul Dans , who served as the U.S. Office of Personnel Management chief of staff in former President Donald Trump's administration. Although it mentions Trump by name, the handbook does not directly assume the Republican party's presumptive nominee will be the one to carry out its agenda.

What is in Project 2025?

The mandate attacks several policies that former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden instituted, including  student loan forgiveness  and  Obamacare . It simultaneously calls for expanded executive power for the commander-in-chief while criticizing what Project 2025 members perceive as overreaches by the Biden administration.

"Presidents should not issue mask or vaccine mandates, arbitrarily transfer student loan debt, or issue monarchical mandates of any sort," the plan reads. "Legislatures make the laws in a republic, not executives."

The playbook calls for the reinstatement of a  Trump executive order  augmenting a president's power to hire and fire federal officials by replacing civil servants with political appointees throughout government.

It also seeks to repeal aspects of the  Affordable Care Act , urge the Food and Drug Administration to reverse the  approval of abortion pills , and further empower Immigration and Customs Enforcement to  deport undocumented immigrants .

The plan also specifically addresses LGBTQ+ issues and attacks "radical gender ideology." In addition to calling for an end to the Department of Education, it suggests legislation that would forbid educators from using transgender students' names or pronouns without written permission from their guardians. It also appears to oppose same-sex marriage and gay couples adopting children by seeking to "maintain a biblically based, social science-reinforced definition of marriage and family."

Project 2025 generates concern

Project 2025 has received substantial criticism from Democrats, including  Representative Jasmine Crockett , D-Texas, who called out the controversial plan during a congressional hearing last month.

"I don't know why or how anybody can support Project 2025," Crockett said. "In the United States of America, dictatorships are never funny, and Project 2025 is giving the playbook for authoritarianism as well as the next dictator to come in."

Progressive Democrat U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts called it a "far-right manifesto" in a  post on TikTok . The Biden campaign captioned a video detailing Project 2025, stating it "needs more attention."

Rachel Barber is a 2024 election fellow at USA TODAY, focusing on politics and education. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, as @rachelbarber_

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• You may not handle or access a cell phone or electronic device at any time in the testing room or during break times. This includes smart watches, fitness bands, and any other devices with recording, Wi-Fi, internet, or communication capabilities.
• All devices, including cell phones and wearable devices, must be turned off and placed out of sight.
• If you access your device or it activates or alarms in the testing room or during break times, you will be dismissed, your test will not be scored, and your phone or device may be taken away.

Calculator Policy

The ACT calculator policy is designed to ensure fairness for all examinees, avoid disturbances in the testing room, and protect the security of the test materials.

ACT recommends bringing a permitted calculator you are familiar with to be used on the mathematics test only. If you test online, a calculator is available in the test platform, but you may still bring a calculator to use. It is your responsibility to know whether your calculator is permitted.

CAS Calculator FAQs

Acceptable Forms of ID

Current official photo id.

Must be an original, current (valid) ID issued by a city/state/federal government agency or your school.

ID must be in hard plastic card format. Paper or electronic formats are NOT acceptable.

You must use the name on your ID to register to test and the photo ID must be clearly recognizable as you.

ACT Student Identification Form with photo 

You MUST present this ACT Student Identification Form (PDF) with photo if you do not have a current official photo ID as described above. This document must be fully completed by a school official or notary public; neither may be a relative.

Unacceptable Forms of ID

You will not be admitted to test if you present any forms of ID other than those listed as acceptable. The following are examples of unacceptable identification:

• ACT ticket alone
• Birth certificate
• ChildFind ID card
• Credit, charge, bank or check cashing cards, even with photo
• Family portrait or graduation picture, even if the name is imprinted on the photo
• Fishing or hunting license
• ID issued by an employer
• ID letter that is not an official ACT identification form
• Learner's driving permit (if it doesn't include a photo)
• Temporary/replacement driver's license (if it doesn't include a photo)
• Organization membership card
• Passport or other photo ID so old that the person presenting it cannot be identified
• Personal recognition by anyone, including members of the test center staff, classmates, parents, counselors, and teachers
• Photo ID of parents
• Photo with your name embossed or printed on it by a photographer
• Photocopies or reproductions
• Photos issued by a business for promotional purposes (e.g., amusement parks)
• Police report of a stolen wallet or purse
• Printed, stamped, or photocopied signatures
• Published photo, including yearbook or newspaper
• Report card
• Social Security card
• Telephone calls to counselors, teachers, or school officials
• Traffic ticket, even with a physical description and signature
• Transcript, even with photo
• Web page with photo

How Long Does the ACT Take?

The ACT consists of four multiple-choice tests in English, mathematics, reading, and science. The four multiple-choice sections contain 215 questions and take 2 hours and 55 minutes to complete. After the mathematics test, You will be given a 15-minute break.

If you take the optional writing test you will have 40 minutes to complete the essay and will receive an additional 5-minute break before the writing portion begins. 

How Long is Each Section of the ACT?

Each section of the ACT varies in length and number of questions. The  sections are designed to measure skills that are most important for success in postsecondary education and that are acquired in secondary education. 

Here is a breakdown of each section of the ACT: 

Your scores will be based only on the number of questions that you answer correctly; there is no penalty for guessing. Try to answer every question within the time limit allowed for each section. Keep in mind the optional writing test will not affect your composite score. 

What to Expect on Test Day

What time does the act start.

We know test day can be stressful, so we recommend giving yourself plenty of time. Plan to arrive at the test center no later than 8:00 a.m. As you arrive, testing staff will confirm your registration against your ID, and assign you to your designated seat in a test room. You will NOT be admitted to the test if you are late .

Plan for your Test Morning

• Dress comfortably. Consider dressing in layers, so you'll be comfortable.
• If you're unsure where your test center is located, do a practice run to see how to get there and what time you'll need to leave.
• If possible, travel to the test center on a non-test day to plan your travel time.

Arriving at the Test Center

• Testing staff will check your photo ID during check-in. Be ready to begin testing after all on-time examinees are checked in.
• Please note that ACT may visit test centers to conduct enhanced test security procedures. Testing staff may use an electronic device or paper materials to administer the test. 

During the Test

• Once you break the seal on your test booklet, or use your launch code, you cannot request a Test Date Change, even if you do not complete all your tests.
• A permitted calculator may be used on the mathematics test only. It is your responsibility to know whether your calculator is permitted. Please refer to the ACT Calculator Policy (PDF).
• During your registration process, you will agree to the ACT Terms and Conditions, which contains detailed information about prohibited behavior. On test day, you will once again be asked to agree to the Terms and Conditions.

Taking a Break 

• A short break is scheduled after the second test. Using cell phones or any electronic devices during the break is prohibited . You may eat or drink outside the test room during the break.
• If you take the ACT with writing, you will have a five minute before the writing test to relax and sharpen your pencils.

Finishing Up 

• After the science test you should expect to take a shorter, multiple-choice test covering one of the previous subject areas. The results of the fifth test help develop future test questions and will not be reflected on your scores, so please try your best.
• If you do not want your test to be scored, you must tell a member of the testing staff before you leave the test center. If you do not, your test will be scored. 

What time does the ACT end?

If you take the ACT (no writing) you will finish around 12:35 p.m. If you take the ACT with writing you will typically finish at about 1:35 p.m.

Additional Reminders

• Please note that ACT may visit test centers to conduct enhanced test security procedures including, but not limited to, collecting images of examinees during check-in or other security activities on test day.
• Also remember that cheating hurts everyone. If you see it, report it .

Unexpected Changes

Missed your test date.

Once you have submitted your registration to ACT, by any method, it cannot be canceled. For more information see  Registration Changes .

Occasionally, a test center must cancel a test administration due to bad weather or other unforeseen circumstances. When this occurs, the test will be rescheduled for a future date. Visit  Rescheduled Test Centers  to find out if your test center has been rescheduled and for more information about procedures.

Unexpected Registration Changes

Infrequently, ACT may be notified by the test center of a change that could unexpectedly affect your registration. We do our best to minimize the impact to your test experience, however, we may have to update your testing location or update your test format between paper and online testing to ensure your ability to test.

If a change must be made to your registration, an email will be sent to notify you.

ACT Test Security  

You’ve worked hard to prepare for the ACT, and that’s a big deal. We’re also working hard to ensure everyone has a fair and equal opportunity to demonstrate their academic achievement.  

Prohibited Behavior at the Test Center

To ensure fairness for all examinees, avoid disturbances in the testing room, and protect the security of the test materials, certain behaviors are prohibited at the test center. You will be dismissed and your answer document will not be scored if you are found engaging in any of these behaviors. For more information view the  Prohibited Behavior at the Test Center section of the Terms and Conditions (PDF) .

Report Cheating

Cheating hurts everyone– if you see it, report it through the  Test Security Hotline .

Students who don't do their own work put honest students at a disadvantage. Whether it's using a cheat sheet, copying someone else's work, or sending another person to take the test, we all feel cheated when someone tries to game the system.  

Everyone deserves the chance to show what they have learned. ACT has designed its testing procedures to give everyone an equal opportunity to demonstrate your own academic achievement on a fair and equal playing field.  

If you suspect that someone is trying to take unfair advantages or encounter anything else out of the ordinary, please report it to ACT. You can make an anonymous report about test security concerns by using the Test Security Hotline .

Keep the ACT fair. Report cheating and comply with all testing rules.  

Security Measures

We regularly review preventive measures to ensure every reasonable effort is made to deter and detect potential compromises to test security, while still enabling the greatest possible access for students. Our security measures include:  

• Students upload or otherwise submit (via ACT website, mobile device, or mail) a recognizable head-and-shoulders photo of themselves when registering for the ACT  
• In addition to submitting a photo, students must provide ACT with their gender and identify the name of the high school they attend. ACT will use this information to help match the examinee’s identity throughout the testing process. 
• The student's photo is printed on the examinee roster that testing staff use to check in students on test day.  
• The photo prints on the student's ticket. In addition to their ticket, students bring and present an acceptable photo ID on test day. 
• On test day, test center staff match the name and photo on the student’s ticket, the test center roster, and the student’s photo ID to the student who arrives to take the test before granting the student admission.  
• Both before and after testing, students provide written affirmation that they are the person whose name appears on the test booklet and answer sheet which they have submitted. They also acknowledge that assuming anyone else’s identity to take the test may be a violation of law and be subject to legal penalty.  
• ACT may visit test centers to conduct additional test security measures on test day, such as collecting images of examinees during check-in and/or other security activities.  
• After tests have been scored, the student’s photo will be printed on the score report that is automatically sent to the high school attended by the student. Score integrity can then be reinforced by the people who know the students best—the teachers and counselors at their schools.  
• To deter attempts to circumvent these procedures, students (including those who hope to test on a standby basis) will be required to register their intent to test and will not be allowed to make any test center or test date changes on the day of the test.   

Why We Do This  

Our test security procedures are designed to ensure that examinees have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their academic achievement and skills, that examinees who do their own work are not unfairly disadvantaged by examinees who do not, and that scores reported for each examinee are valid. 

Related Information

Can Scores be Cancelled?

Terms and Conditions - Compromises/Disruptions in the Testing Process (PDF)

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A Civilized Society Argument for Mitigating Anthropogenic Climate Change

• Kumar, Sanjiv

Key message: A paradigm shift in the climate change debate is needed: from comparing anthropogenic climate change with natural variability to simply determining if the observed climate signal or a portion of it is from anthropogenic origin. While global warming is an important metric for climate change, 'the anthropogenic interference in the climate system and, therefore its mitigation' can be a better societally relevant metric to combat climate change. This paradigm shift will encourage citizens and governments to act against anthropogenic climate change as part of their civic responsibilities and fundamental duties. Scientific Contribution: This essay makes an important distinction between natural climate variability and anthropogenic climate change in light of a civilized society's most fundamental principle, which is a promise to provide a fair and just natural life cycle to all people. I scientifically show why anthropogenic climate change does not fit into the civilized society's promise. Natural variability is random, and the system eventually goes back to the initial equilibrium state. Anthropogenic climate forcing, in contrast, is continuously increasing, and the system may not return to the same initial equilibrium state but a new unprecedented one. Hence, anthropogenic climate change and natural climate variability are characteristically very different, forcing on the climate system. I will show data, including state-of-the-art Earth System Model outputs emphasizing the characteristic difference between natural climate variability and anthropogenic climate change. A long-term goal: This essay presents a fundamentally new perspective on combating anthropogenic climate change through Science, Technology, and Partnership. The outlined perspective aims to change climate debates over the next several years. For example, if 'clean water, clean air, and healthy soil' becomes part of every citizen's fundamental environmental right, then it has the potential to change the world for the better in terms of environmental protection and mitigating anthropogenic climate change. Hence, it is necessary to start a discussion in this new direction.

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Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, act essay format and templates you can use.

ACT Writing

Most of the ACT is entirely multiple choice. All you have to worry about when answering the questions is that you're filling in the correct answer bubble!

But then there's that (optional) Writing section, which requires you to give your answer in words. How are you supposed to write a persuasive essay in 40 minutes? What format should your essay have? Is there an ACT essay template that can guarantee you a high score? We'll answer these questions in this article.

feature image credit: homework ritual by woodleywonderworks , used under CC BY 2.0 /Cropped from original.

What Does Your ACT Essay Need? 5 Key Elements

In order to do well on ACT Writing, your essay will need to have the following five elements (not necessarily in this order):

#1: An Introduction

The first thing the grader will see is your opening paragraph, so you should make a good impression. Don't just jump right into the meat of your essay— introduce your perspective (your thesis statement) and how it relates to the other perspective(s) you'll be discussing. You don't necessarily have to start out by writing your introduction (you can always leave a few lines blank at the top of your essay and come back to it after you've written your example paragraphs), but you MUST include it.

#2: Your Thesis Statement (should be in your introduction)

You must take a perspective on the issue presented in the prompt paragraph and state it clearly . I advise using one of the three perspectives the ACT gives you as your position/perspective; you can come up with your own perspective, but then you'll have less time to spend on writing the essay (which is not ideal with a time constraint). Your thesis statement (the statement of your perspective) should go in the introduction of your essay.

#3: A Discussion of the Relationship Between Perspectives

In your essay, you must discuss the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective . Make sure to discuss pros as well as cons for the perspectives you don't agree with to show you understand the complexities of the issue.

#4:  Examples or Reasoning to Support Each Point

To support your arguments for and against each perspective, you need to draw on reasoning or specific examples . This reasoning should be in the same paragraph as the arguments. For instance, if your argument is about how globalization leads to greater efficiency, you should include your support for this argument in the same paragraph.

And it's not enough to just say "Because freedom" or "Because Stalin" or something like that as your support and leave it at that. You need to actually explain how your reasoning or examples support your point.

#5: Clear Organization

Avoid discussing multiple points in one paragraph. Instead, our recommended strategy is to discuss one perspective per paragraph . This organization will not only make it easier for you to stay on track, but will also make it easier for your essay's scorers to follow your reasoning (always a good thing).

ACT Essay Outline

The 5-paragraph structure might seem boring, but it is a good way to keep your points organized when writing an essay. For the ACT essay, you'll need an introduction, two to three body paragraphs (at least one paragraph for each perspective), and a conclusion . You should state your thesis in your introduction and conclusion (using different words in your conclusion so that you're not repeating yourself exactly).

So how do you write in this five paragraph structure on the ACT? I'll show you how to put the plan into action with an essay template that can be used for any ACT essay question. First, here's the prompt I'll be using:

Public Health and Individual Freedom

Most people want to be healthy, and most people want as much freedom as possible to do the things they want. Unfortunately, these two desires sometimes conflict. For example, smoking is prohibited from most public places, which restricts the freedom of some individuals for the sake of the health of others. Likewise, car emissions are regulated in many areas in order to reduce pollution and its health risks to others, which in turn restricts some people's freedom to drive the vehicles they want. In a society that values both health and freedom, how do we best balance the two? How should we think about conflicts between public health and individual freedom?

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the conflict between public health and individual freedom.

Write a unified, coherent essay about the conflict between public health and individual freedom. In your essay, be sure to:

• clearly state your own perspective on the issue and analyze the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective
• organize your ideas clearly and logically
• explain the relationship between your perspective and those given
• communicate your ideas effectively in standard written English

Your perspective may be in full agreement with any of the others, in partial agreement, or wholly different.

Next, I'll break down the ACT essay into its individual parts (introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion) and give examples for what each should look like. Because I'm writing in response to a specific prompt, some of the information may not translate exactly from essay to essay; instead, focus on the structure of the paragraphs. I've bolded key structural words and phrases for you to focus on.

Introduction (2-3 sentences)

Begin your introduction with a general statement about the topic that draws the reader in; should provide some context for what you'll be discussing in the essay. Can be omitted if you're short on time (1-2 sentences).

As society progresses into the 21 st century, there are some pundits who create a false two-sided fight between individual liberty and complete dependence on the government.

Next comes your thesis statement that includes a clear position on the issue. For the highest score, you should also mention the other perspectives you'll be discussing in contrast to the position you've chosen (1 sentence).

While individual freedom is essential to society, the freedom to avoid health risks should supersede freedom of the individual when individual behavior endangers others.

Sample ACT essay introduction:

As society progresses into the 21 st century, there are some pundits who create a false two-sided fight between individual liberty and complete dependence on the government. While individual freedom is essential to society, the freedom to avoid health risks should supersede freedom of the individual when individual behavior endangers others.

Body Paragraph 1 (Opposing perspective) (5-7 sentences)

Open with a transition to a different perspective (1 sentence).

Perspective Two espouses the view that "[t]hose who give up freedom in order to gain security deserve neither."

Alternatively, if you don't want to name the specific perspective that opposes yours (or if you can't because you're comparing your perspective to a combination of ones given by the ACT):

Proponents of freedom of the individual above all else espouse the view that "[t]hose who give up freedom in order to gain security deserve neither."

Next, provide an example of how this perspective is somewhat true and explain why (2-3 sentences).

This perspective is true to some extent. For instance, in the Civil Rights movement, schools were integrated at the cost of both the mental well-being of racists, who had to deal with the blow to their world view, and the physical and emotional well-being of those being integrated, who had to deal with the abuse flung upon them by said racists. The freedom to attend any public school was deemed more important to society than the temporary mental, emotional, and in some cases physical health risks caused by that freedom.

Provide an example of how this perspective is mostly false when compared to the perspective you agree with and explain why (2-3 sentences).

However, Perspective Two[/this absolutist perspective] is not always a useful way to think about the world, particularly when life and death is at stake. During the Civil Rights movement, parents who were afraid their children might incur physical or even fatal harm from being forced to integrate still had the freedom to homeschool; the same goes for parents who were racist and did not wish their children to interact with children of "lesser" races. While the government pushed the issue of freedom of all people to attend all public schools, it could not make it mandatory for every child to attend a public school (rather than being homeschooled, or attending private or church school) and risk physical injury or worse.

Sample Body Paragraph (Opposing Perspective):

Perspective Two espouses the view that "[t]hose who give up freedom in order to gain security deserve neither." This perspective is true to some extent. For instance, in the Civil Rights movement, schools were integrated at the cost of both the mental well-being of racists, who had to deal with the blow to their world view, and the physical and emotional well-being of those being integrated, who had to deal with the abuse flung upon them by said racists. The freedom to attend any public school was deemed more important to society than the temporary mental, emotional, and in some cases physical health risks caused by that freedom. However, Perspective Two is not always a useful way to think about the world, particularly when life and death is at stake. During the Civil Rights movement, parents who were afraid their children might incur physical or even fatal harm from being forced to integrate still had the freedom to homeschool; the same goes for parents who were racist and did not wish their children to interact with children of "lesser" races. While the government pushed the issue of freedom of all people to attend all public schools, it could not make it mandatory for every child to attend a public school (rather than being homeschooled, or attending private or church school) and risk physical injury or worse.

Body Paragraph 2 (Opposing perspective) (5-7 sentences)

Same as above, except with another perspective you disagree with/don't entirely agree with. Make sure to use transition words so that the change of topic (from the previous perspective) isn't abrupt or unexpected.

To make your example of the Spanish Inquisition less unexpected, make sure to use transitions.

As of September 2016, the ACT no longer requires you to discuss all three perspectives in your essay; instead, you need only "clearly state your own perspective on the issue and analyze the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective."

If you've chosen only to discuss the relationship between your perspective and one other perspective, then this second body paragraph is optional . However, if you're limiting your analysis to one other perspective , then in order to fully explore the relationship between this other perspective and your own point of view you'll most likely need a second paragraph . In that case, this body paragraph should be similar in structure to the previous body paragraph.

Body Paragraph 3 (Your perspective) (5-7 sentences)

Acknowledge the value of the other perspective(s) you discussed, but affirm that your perspective is the truest one (1-2 sentences).

As can be seen from the examples above, sometimes the greater good means individual freedom is more important than personal health. For the most part, however, allowing individual behavior to harm others damages both freedom and health.

Provide one final example of why this perspective is true (3-5 sentences).

Some parents worry that vaccines contain toxic chemicals and so have fought for the right to not vaccinate their children against once deadly diseases like measles. By being allowed this freedom, however, these parents are not only putting their children at risk of catching these virulent diseases, but are risking the life of anyone with a compromised immune system who comes into contact with a non-vaccinated child. The results of the anti-vaccination movement can be seen in cases like the recent measles outbreak at Disneyland and the mumps outbreak at a New York City daycare company; both of these outbreaks unfortunately led to fatalities. When the health risks caused by personal freedom reach life-and-death stakes, it is necessary to restrict individual freedom in favor of freedom to avoid preventable health risks.

Sample Body Paragraph (Your Perspective):

As can be seen from the examples above, sometimes the greater good means individual freedom is more important than personal health. For the most part, however, allowing individual behavior to harm others damages both freedom and health. Some parents worry that vaccines contain toxic chemicals and so have fought for the right to not vaccinate their children against once deadly diseases like measles. By being allowed this freedom, however, these parents are not only putting their children at risk of catching these virulent diseases, but are risking the life of anyone with a compromised immune system who comes into contact with a non-vaccinated child. The results of the anti-vaccination movement can be seen in cases like the recent measles outbreak at Disneyland and the mumps outbreak at a New York City daycare company; both of these outbreaks unfortunately led to fatalities. When the health risks caused by personal freedom reach life-and-death stakes, it is necessary to restrict individual freedom in favor of freedom to avoid preventable health risks.

Conclusion (1-2 sentences)

Transition into restating your thesis, using different words (1-2 sentences).

Sample ACT Essay conclusion:

America was built on the idea that there is a fundamental right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—in that order. When individual behavior puts others' lives at risk, it must be curtailed.

Putting Your Essay Together

Here is my final ACT essay template (excluding the second body paragraph):

[Body paragraph two on the other opposing perspective would go here]

Even though there are some minor grammatical issues in this essay, because they don't significantly affect the readability of the essay they don't matter. There are also some factual inaccuracies in this essay (as far as I know, there haven't been any reports of a mumps outbreak in NYC daycare facilities), but that doesn't matter for the ACT as long as the facts are persuasive and make sense in the context of the essay . Adding false information about a mumps outbreak added to the persuasive impact of the essay, so I put it in, whereas I couldn't figure out a way to work dinosaurs into this essay, and so they were not included.

Next essay, my velociraptor friend. Next essay.

How Do You Write Essays In This Format?

Now that you have a structural template for your ACT essay, how and when do you use it?

An essay template is most helpful during the planning phase of your essay. Whether you're writing a practice essay or taking the test for real, it's important to take the time to plan out your essay before you start writing. I personally believe 8-10 minutes is a good amount of planning time to start out with, although you may get faster at planning as you practice, leaving more time for writing and revising.

It might be tempting to leave out this planning stage so that you have more time to read the prompt or write. Don't fall into this trap! If you don't take the time to plan, you run the risk of writing a disorganized essay that doesn't really support your argument or omits how one of the other perspectives relates to yours. If you're struggling with decoding the prompts, be sure to read my article on how to attack ACT Writing prompts ; it'll help you break down every ACT Writing prompt so that you can extract the information you need to write your essay.

In addition to using this essay template when you're planning out your essay, you also need to make sure you practice writing this kind of essay before you take the real ACT Plus Writing. Don't expect to just memorize this outline and be good to go on test day—you'll need to practice putting the template to good use. Practice with as many ACT Writing prompts as you can—our complete guide to ACT Writing prompts will get you started.

ACT Essay Format: A Quick Recap

Remember, your essay should be in the following format:

• Your point of view on the essay topic (easiest to choose one of the three perspectives the ACT gives you).
• Reason why it's true (with reasoning or examples for support)
• Reason why it's not as true as your perspective (with reasoning or examples for support)
• One last reason why your perspective is true (with reasoning or examples for support).
• Conclusion (with your thesis restated)—1-2 sentences

What's Next?

Want to learn more about how to write a top-scoring ACT essay? Watch as I construct an ACT essay, step-by-step .

Looking to put the icing on your ACT essay cake? Check out our top 15 ACT Writing tips and strategies .

Wondering how much you have to write to do well on ACT Writing? Read this article on essay length and your ACT Writing score .

Laura graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Music and Psychology, and earned a Master's degree in Composition from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and GRE and loves advising students on how to excel in high school.

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Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

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10 sunscreen myths you can’t afford to fall for

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Attention sunscreen skeptics: The sun’s UV rays are coming for you, and you’re just making their job easier.

Summer is now upon us, which means more time in the sun — and more exposure to the ultraviolet radiation it emits. Longer-wavelength ultraviolet A rays can reach beneath the skin’s surface, causing it to age prematurely. Shorter-wavelength ultraviolet B rays affect the outermost layers of skin, causing sunburns and tans. (A third type of rays, ultraviolet C, is intercepted by Earth’s protective ozone layer.)

Both UVA and UVB damage the DNA in skin cells , causing mutations. These mutations can accumulate over time and cause tumors to grow. The more UV exposure you have, the greater the risk , according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer in the United States, followed by squamous cell carcinoma. About 5.4 million of these cancers combined are diagnosed each year, and they cause between 2,000 and 8,000 deaths , the American Cancer Society says.

Melanoma of the skin is both more rare and more deadly, affecting an estimated 100,640 Americans this year and resulting in 8,290 deaths , according to the National Cancer Institute.

Sunscreens can protect you from these malignancies in one of two ways. Chemical sunscreens contain ingredients such as avobenzone that absorb UV rays. Mineral sunscreens rely on zinc oxide or titanium dioxide to block or reflect the rays. Either way, the solar radiation is unable to penetrate the skin and corrupt your DNA.

Here are 10 sunscreen myths you can’t afford to fall for:

Myth 1: As long as you don’t get a sunburn, you’re safe.

The reality: You don’t need to get a sunburn to put your skin at risk. UV exposure will compromise the DNA of unprotected skin — even if your skin looks normal to the naked eye — and the effects are cumulative, said Dr. Henry Lim , a photodermatologist at Henry Ford Health in Detroit who studies the effect of sunlight on skin.

“Each time the skin is damaged by the sun, with or without sunburn reaction, there is some damage that the skin would have to repair,” Lim said. “If that subclinical damage goes on often enough for a long enough period of time, the skin’s ability to be able to completely repair all that DNA damage will be compromised.”

Guerrero: I was a teenage tanning addict. Now I worry about people fooled by anti-sunscreen TikTokers

As in the anti-vaccine universe, the voices of the anti-sunscreen world cross party lines at the paranoid juncture of the far left and far right.

Sept. 11, 2023

Myth 2: Your body needs vitamin D, and sunscreen will keep you from getting it.

The reality: It only takes a small amount of sun exposure to produce all the vitamin D your body needs. One study of white people in the Boston area determined that 5 to 10 minutes of sun on the face, arms and legs two or three times a week during the summer months was enough to produce sufficient amounts of vitamin D.

Even if you apply sunscreen, you’ll still get that minimum amount of sun exposure, Lim said. “When we use sunscreen, we don’t apply enough,” he said. “It’s just human nature.”

Dr. Anne Chapas , a dermatologist in Manhattan and clinical instructor at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, advises patients who are concerned about their vitamin D levels to protect their skin and seek out the nutrient in foods or take supplements.

“You do need vitamin D to be healthy, but there are multiple ways to get it,” she said.

Myth 3: The chemicals in sunscreen can cause cancer.

The reality: The active ingredients in sunscreens sold in the U.S. are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, which has determined that they are safe and effective. The National Academies add that “sunscreen use is not linked to higher rates of any type of cancer.”

In fact, it’s the reverse that’s true, Chapas said: “If you’re trying not to get cancer, then wear sunscreen.”

Myth 4: You don’t need to wear sunscreen when the UV index is low.

The reality: The UV index primarily measures UVB, which Lim calls “the sunburn spectrum.” Even if UVB is low, you still need to protect yourself from UVA.

“As long as there is light out there, there’s enough UVA” to induce tanning, cause wrinkles, and contribute to skin cancer risk, Lim said.

Chapas concurred. “Even on cloudy days, about 80% of the sun’s rays come through and you can can still get sun damage,” she said.

Myth 5: You don’t need sunscreen if you have dark skin.

The reality: People of every complexion can get sun damage and skin cancer. In fact, “skin cancer in patients with darker skin tones is often diagnosed in later stages, when it’s more difficult to treat,” said Dr. Seemal Desai , president of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Chapas added that since darker skin is apt to produce melanin in response to sun exposure, it may become discolored more readily than lighter skin.

Myth 6: Mineral-based sunscreens are safer than chemical sunscreens.

The reality: Both types are safe to use, but there are fewer unknowns with mineral sunscreens since they are not absorbed into the skin, Lim said.

Chapas said that’s one reason why she prefers mineral sunscreens. She also appreciates their versatility, since they can be applied on top of makeup or moisturizer. “The challenge is that some of these formulations have a whitish cast to them, so you have to find one that works with your complexion ,” she said.

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Myth 7: You can protect yourself from the sun by building up a “base tan.”

The reality: A tan can provide a small bit of protection, but it’s less than the equivalent of SPF 5, Lim said. That’s not nearly enough to make sunscreen unnecessary.

Besides, a tan itself is a sign of sun damage. “When our skin is exposed to UV light, it stimulates the production of melanin to prevent more UV from entering the skin and damaging the underlying skin cells,” Chapas said. “A tan isn’t healthy. A tan is actually your body trying to protect itself.”

Myth 8: The antioxidant astaxanthin will protect you from UV and act as an “internal sunscreen.”

The reality: There are two ways that antioxidants reduce the biological damage that comes with sun exposure, Lim said. When UVA rays harm DNA, they do so by causing oxidative damage to DNA, and antioxidants can help minimize it . In addition, when visible light interacts with the skin , it can cause cells to produce a type of destructive molecule called reactive oxygen species . Antioxidants can help counteract this process as well.

Including antioxidants in a sun protection regime makes sense, but they can’t do the job by themselves. “There are no pills that act as effectively as a sunscreen,” Chapas said.

If you do want to take an antioxidant to reduce sun damage, astaxanthin isn’t necessarily the best choice, Lim and Chapas agreed. The product Chapas recommends is from Heliocare .

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Myth 9: The chemicals in sunscreen get into your bloodstream and build up over time.

The reality: There are no long-term studies of the blood of people who use sunscreen regularly, so there is no data to say whether this is true or false. However, the chemicals are excreted in urine, which is a sign that they don’t linger in the body, Lim said.

People who are wary of chemical sunscreens can opt for mineral sunscreens instead, he said.

Myth 10: You can keep sun damage at bay by wearing a good hat.

The reality: A wide-brimmed hat will definitely help protect you from the sun. This is particularly true for people who are bald or have thinning hair, since “we don’t have great sunscreens for hair-bearing areas,” Chapas said.

However, a hat will only block UV rays coming from above. Without sunscreen, you’ll still be vulnerable to rays that reflect off the water, sand, or urban surfaces like a sidewalk and come at your skin from below. (This is also why you need sunscreen even if you’re in the shade.)

“There are multiple actions we need to take,” Lim said. “Each one of them is helpful, but it’s not as good as when you put everything together.”

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Karen Kaplan covers science and medical research for the Los Angeles Times. She has been a member of the science team since 2005, including 13 years as an editor. Her first decade at The Times was spent covering technology in the Business section as both a reporter and editor. She grew up in San Diego and is a graduate of MIT and Columbia University.

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Corruption Law Allows Gifts to State and Local Officials, Supreme Court Rules

The court, which has limited the sweep of several anti-corruption laws, distinguished after-the-fact rewards from before-the-fact bribes.

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By Abbie VanSickle and Adam Liptak

Reporting from Washington

The Supreme Court limited the sweep of a federal law on Wednesday aimed at public corruption, ruling that it did not apply to gifts and payments meant to reward actions taken by state and local officials.

The 6-to-3 ruling , which split along ideological lines, was the latest in a series of decisions cutting back federal anti-corruption laws.

Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, writing for a conservative majority, said that the question in the case was whether federal law makes it a crime for state and local officials to accept such gratuities after the fact. He wrote, “The answer is no.”

Federal prosecutors’ interpretation of the law created traps for public officials, leaving them to guess what gifts were allowed, he added. If they guessed wrong, the opinion continued, the officials could face up to a decade in prison.

The decision reflected a sharp divide on the court, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, dissenting. While the conservative wing asserted that the ruling gave discretion to state and local governments and protected officials from having to guess whether their behavior had crossed a criminal line, the liberals said the decision represented more chipping away of a statute aimed at protecting against graft.

“Officials who use their public positions for private gain threaten the integrity of our most important institutions,” Justice Jackson wrote. “Greed makes governments — at every level — less responsive, less efficient and less trustworthy from the perspective of the communities they serve.”

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