By Luciana Mendes
Staff Writer
Football stands may not be as crowded as usual in the student section at tonight’s game against the Highland Park Scots due to many students’ early-morning wakeup calls on Saturday to take the ACT college entrance exam.
For many seniors, this is one of the last times to achieve a score that will help get them into the school of their choice, and a night of good rest and a clear head is vital for these students tonight, as there is a lot of pressure on them to be successful.
“I’m super nervous,” senior Rachel Charles said. “I hate taking big tests like this, especially ones that are so important like the ACT. Every night I’ve been studying up a little by reading the ACT prep book and taking practice tests.”
Juniors and underclassmen are also allowed to test if they would like, which can get students off to a good start by giving them prior experience in the real testing situation.
Seniors, however, are chasing the clock. Admission deadlines for most universities are in early December. This means that all sections of applications must be completed as well as having mailed in high school transcripts and ACT/SAT scores. Because of this, opportunities to achieve a high score on these exams are running out due to the limited number of dates prior to college deadlines.
“Luckily for me, I received the score I was hoping for the first time I took the ACT,” senior Haley Hansen said. “It took a lot of hard work and concentration on my part but now I don’t have to worry about taking the test again.”
Tomorrow’s exam is scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m. It is required for all students taking the exam to bring their printed admission ticket and a photo I.D.. Taking several #2 pencils, a permitted calculator, and a watch is recommended.
Multiple-choice scores will for the Sept. 12 testing date will begin to be posted online Sept. 28 – Nov. 6. Writing scores will follow two weeks after the multiple-choice scores have been released.
Testing Dates are as follows:
September 12, 2009
October 24, 2009
December 12, 2009
February 6, 2010
April 10, 2010
June 12, 2009
Click here to visit the ACT Student website
