Jump to content

Menu

ACT - when to take?


Recommended Posts

When would you have your high schooler take the ACT? I read that most take it in February their Junior year, however I also read that it can be taken more than one time and scores you want seen can be sent to colleges. If that is the case, would it be okay to take the ACT in 10th and then again 11th for better scores, if needed and for good practice?

 

TIA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My oldest daughter took both ACT an SAT just once in her junior year and did well enough not to need to retake either. My older son also took the ACT in his junior year - but didn't do as well as he needed to and ended up taking it a few more times (he improved each time) but it did put pressure on his senior year.

 

As a result, I got my next son to take it for the first time as a sophomore. That gave us time to see where his weaknesses were and to work on them. The first time my kids take it they don't spend much time on prep - I just want to get an idea of where they are.

 

Many colleges superscore for both ACT and SAT (ie take the highest score in each section) so it doesn't hurt to take the tests multiple times and it could actually be to their advantage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I start mine taking it April of sophomore year or Oct of junior year to get an idea of where they naturally stand. This test is taken without prep except to have them do one to know how the test is set up.

 

We take them for "real" spring of junior year. Then, if necessary, they can retake fall of senior year.

 

Oldest took the SAT/ACT once each and was done. He kind of used the SAT taken in the spring to prep for the ACT fall of senior year. I didn't like that quite so much once I figured out how much merit aid depends upon the scores.

 

Middle started with April of sophomore year and only did the ACT (PSAT scores were a little lower than his ACT counterpart). He took the ACT 3 times, but could have stopped with 2 if he'd wanted to. Instead, he wanted to try for perfection (didn't get there, but got close).

 

Youngest has no desire to study/prep, but I'm having him take the ACT this Oct anyway. It's his junior year. I keep hoping he'll figure out the connection between merit aid and scores because he's capable - he just goes to an underperforming ps and doesn't want to study the extra at home to try to do well. He's a bio lover, not math/English. His "real" scores will also come in April for the ACT and June for the SAT.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Older dd took it in September of her sophomore year. We figured it would be low pressure that way, since we didn't expect a great score.

 

Also, taking it early gave her a chance to see what types of things she could work on to improve later scores. She decided that she'd like to study statistics, since she felt she was weak in that area.

 

As a bonus, signing up for dual enrollment classes in junior year became much easier -- many colleges around here accept an ACT score in lieu of placement tests.

 

One of her friends took it once, was pleasantly surprised by a high score, and decided not to take it again. That's always an option!

 

There's a limit to how many times you can take it, by the way, although I forget the exact number.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a limit to how many times you can take it, by the way, although I forget the exact number.

I have been using the ACT for the last couple of years to satisfy my state's homeschooling testing requirement, so I wanted to make sure that I didn't "use up" the kids' allotted testing times by taking it so early.

 

The maximum a student can take the ACT is 12 times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have had ds take it in June after 9th and 10th grade. There are 3 times during the year that they can get their actual test back for review (Dec, Apr, Jun). I have him go over the problems he missed from the previous test. His score is now good enough and he may not take it again. He wants to retake it because there was an argument between the proctor and a student during the math section that distracted him. He is not happy with his math score. He also didn't do too well on the writing section. I wouldn't mind a retake because I imagine he can raise those scores, but I wonder if his other scores will decrease for overall no gain.

 

I originally planned for him to take it after 9th, 10th, 11th, and possibly early 12th if needed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...