The Latest News with the ACT

If you’ve been paying attention to news coming out of the college entrance exam world in the last several years, you’ve probably noticed that the headlines have largely focused on the redesign of the SAT. So, what about the ACT? Here are some of the latest happenings regarding the ACT college admissions exam and what your teen needs to know:

New test date – Beginning in 2018, students can take the ACT test in the summer (starting with the July 2018 test date). This increases the number of national ACT test dates from six to seven. Because the ACT is offered primarily at local high schools across the country, which are closed during the summer months, the July ACT tests centers will likely be located on college and university campuses. For your teen, this change is significant for several reasons:

• The July ACT offers an opportunity to use the early part of summer break (assuming students get out of school in June) to study for the July ACT instead of squeezing ACT prep into the school year.
• The July date means that your test taker can easily take the ACT twice before early-admission college deadlines, which are often in early November.
• The new date means a wider variety of testing opportunities for college-bound students.

Score report changes – In September 2016, the ACT made several enhancements to its test reports that students receive with their scores. Here’s a summary of what changed:

• Redesigned paper reports that are more visually engaging and offer more meaningful insights about students’ test results.
• Reporting categories only (for English, math, reading and science) but no more subject subscores (for algebra/coordinate geometry, for example).
• Readiness ranges that enable students to see how their performance on reporting categories compares to students who have met college readiness benchmarks for specific subjects.
• More reporting categories that share information like total number of points possible, total number of points achieved, and percentage of points correct.
• Additional indicators to guide students toward potential college majors and careers based on information students include during the test registration process.

To stay up on the latest information regarding changes or improvements to the ACT, visit www.act.org. To learn more about how Huntington Learning Center helps students prepare for the ACT, visit our ACT Test Prep page.

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