Students of any age are able to take the American College Testing, also known as the ACT, on various dates throughout the year. This year, the ACT dates are September 10th, October 22nd, December 10th, February 11th, April 8th, and July 10th.

The ACT costs $42.50 if the student does not sign up for writing and it costs $58.50 with the writing portion. For Arrowhead students, the test will be held at Arrowhead North Campus.

Students in high school taking the ACT, such as sophomore Ellie Artone, must create an online ACT account to register to take the test. If a student in grades sixth through eighth are planning on taking the test, they must fill out a registration form because ACT accounts cannot be made for students not in high school, according to www.act.org.

According to college senior Anna Ryan, students prepare for the ACT in many ways.

“To prepare, I used an ACT prep book and I also found some online resources with practice questions. Getting an idea for the way they phrase their questions is really beneficial. To study, I did a lot of reading in the prep book and I also made flash cards. I often use this method to study but it was a bit overwhelming in this situation because there is so much information on the ACT. I highly recommend a prep book or course to help with studying. They tell you exactly what you should be focusing on,” says Ryan.

The official ACT website also offers online practice tests. The practice test offer tests that are similar to the ACT and prepare students for the upcoming test. The ACT practice exams also give students tips on how to prepare themselves. According to the ACT website, to prepare yourself for the test, you should familiarize yourself with the content, refresh your knowledge and skills in the content areas, and identify the content areas you have not studied.

The website also offers ways to mentally prepare yourself (such as getting a good night of sleep and having a good breakfast to mentally prepare yourself).

“I cope by making sure I prepare myself with studying and online practice tests. I also make sure I will have a good meal the night before and a good meal the morning of the test. After studying I practice deep breathing to calm myself,” says Artone.

Each student has different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to each subject says Ryan. Ryan is studying to become a teacher and says that each ACT score is different because each student has different methods of learning and understanding each subject.

“The hardest part of the ACT, for me, was time management. I’m someone who likes to go back and recheck answers and really think about a question in order to make sure I am making the correct decision. You could say I’m a perfectionist. With time constraints, this was definitely a challenge for me,” says Ryan.