Quick question, what grade do students take the ACT?

[foxbridgeacademy]

I've tried to search and I'm still not sure. 

[Shelly in VA]

My kids take it in the spring of their junior year. I know some kids who wait until fall of their senior year, but typically kids take the ACT and SAT sometime in their junior year, which gives them time to study and retake it if necessary.

[Selkie]

My kids take it in February of their junior year.

[RootAnn]

I had one take it in spring of Sophomore year and then again in spring of Junior year. My next will probably not take it until Winter of Junior year & then again in spring of Junior year - giving her a little more time for math. You want them to take it early enough that they have time to take it again before early applications in the fall of Senior year but late enough that they have enough math (through Alg 2 and as much Trig as they can get) and have prepped sufficiently.

[regentrude]

I would do the first test no later than winter of junior year. This way, the student has a chance to retake the test spring of junior year and does not have to stress about taking it early in fall senior year and worry about getting scores back in time for early college applications.

[foxbridgeacademy]

Ok, what if you weren't worried about early applications?  DS will be going, at least his first year or two, to a community college. It's free here in TN.  All they require is a particular score, 21, and he's admitted. Would you still do it early Junior year?  Especially if he's dyslexic and has trouble with test taking? I probably won't be able to get him to take it more than once maybe twice if he bombs the first time.

[RootAnn]

Do you already have a test prep strategy? (If not, I'd definitely have him taking practice tests (maybe one section at a time at first with no time limit) at home starting now. Go over every answer - even those he got right. Eventually, have him take a whole practice test (untimed). Go over every answer. Then, have him take a whole practice test - timed. If his score is higher than 21 by a good margin on the timed test, he can just register for the next test. If close or under, he should keep working on test prep & take it as late as spring (May/June) of junior year or sometime in the fall of Senior year.)

[Mom22ns]

18 hours ago, foxbridgeacademy said:

Ok, what if you weren't worried about early applications?  DS will be going, at least his first year or two, to a community college. It's free here in TN.  All they require is a particular score, 21, and he's admitted. Would you still do it early Junior year?  Especially if he's dyslexic and has trouble with test taking? I probably won't be able to get him to take it more than once maybe twice if he bombs the first time.

If he will only be taking it once or at the most twice, I'd wait until spring of or even June after his Junior year. If it is really awful, he can retake in the fall. CC's typically have very late deadlines, so the pressure to be done early doesn't exist there. The only thing you should keep in mind is that you don't always have scores back from one testing before the deadline to sign up for the next passes, so you need to plan that wiggle room. I definitely wouldn't rush though in your circumstances. His ability to take a timed test will improve with age and practice (particularly true for those with issues like dyslexia), so I'd give him as much of both as you can. Any chance he could get accommodations? Extra time or a reader could be a life-saver for a dyslexic student.

[EKS]

My son took it in the spring of his senior year.  He did a gap year (and he did his college applications that fall).

But if your son is dyslexic, you could try to get accommodations for him.  

[catz]

I'd say it is nice to have 1 or better yet 2 test periods that would still be ok for your ultimate deadline after you take it.  If you know you just need 21, and aren't too worried, I think it's fine to just do a little practice and plan to do it once.

The reason I say that is that last year my kid as a sophomore was signed up for the April test.  Got the full fledged flu and had to reschedule to June.  This year he was signed up for April again as a junior as his last test.  We had a huge snow storm, he couldn't make the reschedule date for the next week, and again had to reschedule for June.  Sometimes problems happen without planning them!

[Lori D.]

On 5/10/2018 at 3:34 PM, foxbridgeacademy said:

Ok, what if you weren't worried about early applications?  DS will be going, at least his first year or two, to a community college. It's free here in TN.  All they require is a particular score, 21, and he's admitted. Would you still do it early Junior year?  Especially if he's dyslexic and has trouble with test taking? I probably won't be able to get him to take it more than once maybe twice if he bombs the first time.

FWIW, our experience with DS#2 who has mild LDs (stealth dyslexia), and did the tests with no accommodations, and was headed straight to the CC after graduation (so no early applications needed):

He prepped / practiced for 4-6 weeks before each test, and he took a total of 3 tests: PSAT in Oct. of 11th grade, and then took 1 each of the SAT and ACT in the fall of 12th grade. We did NOT do the essay for either, as at that time it was still optional. That was a good option for DS, as he really did not need the essay, and he DID need as reduced testing time as possible to make it through.

We thought he might do significantly better on one test (SAT/ACT) vs. the other, which is why we had him do one of each, but he was pretty much equivalent in his score on both. I'm glad we did the PSAT as a shorter in duration test-run for him. If we had known he was going to score the same on both SAT/ACT we would have only done one -- probably the ACT, which seems to be a little more factual based, rather than the "tips and tricks" based math portion of the SAT.

Like previous posters suggest, be sure to have some prep & practice in play before testing, and leave enough time in case something happens and you have to reschedule. And I'd say, be sure to reschedule no later than fall of 12th grade, as you REALLY don't want to have to do anything else in the spring of 12th grade -- so much going on for graduating, and they get a bad case of senior-itis in the spring (lol).

[Lanny]

My DD will take the ACT exam 4 weeks from today on June 9th.  She is finishing 11th grade  She took the SAT exam last Saturday.

She has scores in mind that if she meets or exceeds them, she will not    take those exams again.  If she is below those thresholds, she will retake the exam(s) later this year.

 

[foxbridgeacademy]

On 5/11/2018 at 6:06 PM, Lori D. said:

FWIW, our experience with DS#2 who has mild LDs (stealth dyslexia), and did the tests with no accommodations, and was headed straight to the CC after graduation (so no early applications needed):

He prepped / practiced for 4-6 weeks before each test, and he took a total of 3 tests: PSAT in Oct. of 11th grade, and then took 1 each of the SAT and ACT in the fall of 12th grade. We did NOT do the essay for either, as at that time it was still optional. That was a good option for DS, as he really did not need the essay, and he DID need as reduced testing time as possible to make it through.

We thought he might do significantly better on one test (SAT/ACT) vs. the other, which is why we had him do one of each, but he was pretty much equivalent in his score on both. I'm glad we did the PSAT as a shorter in duration test-run for him. If we had known he was going to score the same on both SAT/ACT we would have only done one -- probably the ACT, which seems to be a little more factual based, rather than the "tips and tricks" based math portion of the SAT.

Like previous posters suggest, be sure to have some prep & practice in play before testing, and leave enough time in case something happens and you have to reschedule. And I'd say, be sure to reschedule no later than fall of 12th grade, as you REALLY don't want to have to do anything else in the spring of 12th grade -- so much going on for graduating, and they get a bad case of senior-itis in the spring (lol).

DS is like your's (the bold part). Stealth dyslexia that shows up on testing but not as dyslexia.  All they will commit to is "general learning disability" and say he needs to practice more.?.  So no probably no accommodations.  He's taken a couple practice tests but has never actually finished a test, slow reader.  We need to get back to it definitely but this past year has been difficult in so many ways that school and some future testing has not been a priority at least not like it should. We'll be working through the Summer to make up for it and hopefully I can get him to take the ACT seriously.  It does have to be ACT to qualify for scholarships so no "tips and tricks" but also no essay which is a really good thing.  Thanks every one for the advice/help, much appreciated. 

[StillStanding]

Mine take it for the first time at the beginning of Sophomore year.  This gives them practice with the real test setting (Public School, people around them, early in the morning, timed, etc..). They take it at least once more in Junior year. If they want higher scores they keep taking until they are happy. My oldest took it three times. My second one will take it for the third time in June (will be the last). My youngest will take it next year for the first time.