Taking the ACT for College Admission

High school students who plan to attend college following graduation are encouraged to take the ACT during their junior year. Most colleges require applicants to submit ACT scores along with their formal written application materials. Additionally, many scholarship programs have minimum ACT scores.

Students who plan to apply for particularly competitive schools or scholarship programs are encouraged to take the ACT as early as possible during their high school careers. This allows them an opportunity to re-test in advance of application deadlines if so desired.

Purpose of the ACT Exam

Students should keep in mind that the ACT test is designed specifically for the purpose of helping colleges assess potential student success. Grades in high school are also considered, but college and scholarship officials recognize that curricula, grading scales, and benchmarks for student achievement may vary greatly from one school to another.

The ACT, however, is the same for everyone. A standardized exam like the ACT provides an objective way of comparing students from widely varying backgrounds. While it is not a perfect indicator of success in higher education, the exam has been deemed reliable over many years of use.

Preparing for the ACT Exam

The test covers the four areas considered to represent core high school level bodies of knowledge. The subject matter covered on the exam includes math, English, reading, and science. The content represents material believed to be representative of the knowledge that third and fourth year high school students should have.

Most people approach studying for the ACT exam by utilizing exam preparation materials. Many companies publish ACT preparation guides that include sample test questions, answer keys, and test taking tips. These publications can be very useful to students preparing to take the exam for the first time as well as for those hoping to increase their scores by re-testing.

Instead of using a study guide to prepare for the ACT, many students choose to enroll in a formal ACT preparation class. Students who choose this method of test preparation participate in classroom training session designed to prepare them, and their classmates, to earn the highest possible scores on their exams.

Taking the Exam

The ACT exam is available only at approved high stakes testing centers that follow strict security procedures to protect the integrity of the exam. Testers will schedule their exam ahead of time, and are required to present proper identification when they arrive at the testing facility on exam day. The questions are all multiple choice, and testers are allowed up to three hours to complete their exam. Once your ACT exam is complete, you'll be able to breathe a sigh of relief and move on to the next step in the college or scholarship application process.

Bibliography Write