Should students take the ACT?

The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.

by Maxwell Matheny

Staff Writer

Student takes a multiple choice test. Photo Credit: Unsplash

Millions of students across the US attempt the ACT each year. For many, this is an opportunity to show colleges your ability and will allow them to get into exclusive colleges such as Harvard and Yale. The ACT will judge the ability in four core subjects, including Math, Science, Reading, and .When taking the ACT you have about an hour to complete each test which mostly consists of multiple choice questions. If you have a 504 they will give you time and a half which had come in handy when I took it. There is also an optional writing portion to the Test. While it is completely optional, it offers a boost to your score. I recommend only taking this part if you feel confident that you can do it in an hour.

When I took the ACT, I found that my results came in much faster than when I took other AP tests. I did prepare a lot but found that the questions themself weren't insanely hard as it may seem. The only difficult part of the test was the time limit which significantly constrains the amount of time you have on the test. Many people will not end up taking the ACT, instead preferring to take the SAT. This was the case for many Bradley students as well. Juniors Timothy Kim, and Tyler Phetlasymongkhon spoke to us and Tyler said that “I’ll take the SAT but I don’t think I’ll take the ACT.” Timothy Kim agreed with this assertion stating that “I don’t think I’ll end up taking the ACT.

Over spring break I visited Cedarville College and I was told that you had the option for academic scholarships if you obtained a good score on either test. They use a superscore system which means if you don’t do well on the SAT but do well on the ACT you could still qualify for higher scholarships despite the lower SAT score. Zakareya Qaisi, a Bradley senior who had taken the ACT had this piece of advice for us, “People should take it. I mean it would help with your college applications.” For those considering taking the ACT, I would highly recommend it. It can help bolster your application and could allow you to go to a better college. If you don’t do well on it then you could always go the test-optional route and choose to not show your score. College is a great opportunity for your future and you should have the best experience possible.