For twelve years now, I’ve been preparing students to dramatically raise their scores on the ACT…and so I’ve paid close attention to the ways that the ACT has changed in that time. And as I explained in that recent post, each change to the ACT and to the college standardized testing process has ALSO changed the calculus of how to CHOOSE between the ACT and the SAT in the first place!
But—surprise surprise—some of these changes to the tests and testing landscape have ALSO changed the calculus of when to take your first ACT! So that’s what today’s post is all about.
Before we get there, though, let’s drill down into the details of those changes, shall we? Specifically, the next section below outlines recent years’ changes to the ACT and to college admissions testing that alter how you should be thinking about your Testing Timeline…which, in turn, determines when you should register for and take your very first ACT.
Which Months Can You Take the ACT?
A few years back, the ACT was offered in February (US only, except NY State), April, June, September, October, and December. Now, however, the February test date has opened up to students in New York State, and an ADDITIONAL test date in July (US only except NY State) was introduced in 2018.
So in sum, the ACT is now offered in the US in February, April, June, July (except NY State), September, October and December.
No More SAT 2 Subject Tests
SAT 2 Subject Tests? I thought we were talking about the ACT here! Well, like many pieces of the college admissions puzzle, it’s interrelated:
Many colleges used to require applicants to take two or three SAT 2 Subject Tests in single subjects like “Italian,” or “Biology,” or “Math Level 1.” That meant that if a student needed to take those Subject Tests, he’d need to reserve a few months to prepare for them…and, thus, NOT study to for the ACT during that time. (He wouldn’t want to spread himself too thin by studying for multiple tests concurrently, after all!) Thus, he’d have to carefully plan WHEN he would focus on each test AND make sure that he had enough time to achieve his Target Score for the regular ACT.
Now, however, Subject Tests are a thing of the past. Which is a good thing for YOU, because it means you no longer have to juggle which months you’re studying for which type of test…and THAT means that high schoolers have ALL seven ACT test dates at their disposal.
Which Colleges Accept Superscoring for the ACT?
Many more colleges Superscore for the ACT now than they did even a few years ago. The reason Superscoring is great news for you is that—if a college permits it—you don’t have to get that 34 (or whatever your Target Score may be) all in one go. Instead, you can take the ACT multiple times and pluck your highest English, Math, Reading and Science scores and average THOSE, and present THAT Superscore as your final score, whether you earned those four section scores on different test attempts, or all in one go.
The ACT has even created a new Superscore report that you can send to colleges! Thus, even if some of your schools only do “weak” Superscoring—in which they look at your highest ACT section scores but don’t actually average them together to form a new Composite score—this new report will calculate your Superscore FOR you, and place it front and center to admissions officers.
All of these Superscoring updates aside, though, you can’t actually Superscore if you only took the ACT once! This trend has encouraged students to take the ACT at LEAST twice, because ANY variation in ANY section means they get a higher Superscore…which is what we’re aiming for!
That said, there are still MANY colleges that do NOT Superscore for the ACT. For these colleges, you’ll have to get your Target Score all in one test sitting…which means you might need to take the ACT more times than you originally thought you’d have to…which means you need to allow more time in your Testing Timeline for ACT retakes!
ACT Score Choice
The ACT has always offered its version of Score Choice, meaning that you only have to submit ACT scores from test dates that you want your colleges to see. Obviously, you have to make sure your colleges allow for Score Choice in their standardized testing policies if you want to take advantage of this option. So, this isn’t a “change” per se, but it’s still important to understand in order to figure out when to take the ACT in 2022.
What does this mean in terms of when YOU should take your first ACT? Well, if your colleges allow for Score Choice, you can take the ACT as many times as you need and don’t have to worry about flubbing one of your test attempts. Essentially, Score Choice gives you the ability to take and retake the ACT as many times as necessary to get your Target Composite Score or Target Superscore.
What Month in 2022 Should I Schedule My First ACT for?
So now that we’ve cleared up the ACT changes that affect when YOU should take your first ACT in 2022, there are four factors remaining that you need to consider. In fact, these are pretty much the only things you need to think about these days in order to choose your first ACT attempt date.
1. Improve Your ACT Score By Taking it Twice in a Row
Here’s why: preparing for the ACT is like running a marathon of sorts. You have to figure out what gaps in your knowledge you need to fill. You need to refresh content or learn new content. You need to learn strategies to answer certain question types. You need to learn the choreography of how to tackle whole sections or passages that comprise sections. Then you need to synthesize all of this knowledge and prowess and make sure that you’re firing on all cylinders and have built up your stamina for your actual test day.
And after you’ve put in so much time and effort, it’s kind of a waste to take a complete break and risk losing that momentum! Once you find out your test scores 10 days to a couple weeks later, you’ll more than likely have to take the ACT again (unless you’re one of my superstars who beat their Target Score or got a perfect score on their first try, meaning they got to cancel their next scheduled sitting!). And after taking that break, you likely won’t have very long to get BACK into study mode and make the improvements you need for your next ACT test sitting.
Instead, try this: register for TWO consecutive ACT test dates, and keep the ball rolling. Sure, maybe you take ONE week off after taking your first test, but start studying again and stay in the “zone” immediately afterwards. Just assume you’re going to take the ACT twice.
The worst (best?) case scenario is that you keep studying and THEN find out you surpassed your Target Score and get to cancel the next ACT test date. And if—like most students—you DO need that second sitting, you’ll make considerably more improvements by (almost) continuously studying than if you stopped and restarted your test prep.
2. What Is the Latest You Should Take Your First ACTs?
The answer is Junior year. Yes, this is likely the year where you’ll work harder academically than you ever have before, and the idea of also having to take two consecutive ACT attempts by the end of the year might seem stressful. But you know what’s even MORE stressful? Not having any ACT test score by the end of Junior year and putting all the pressure on yourself to perform during Senior summer or fall…when you SHOULD be writing your college application essays!
At the absolute VERY latest, you should take the April and June ACTs in the spring of Junior year.
3. How Much Math Should You Have Taken Before you Sit for the ACT?
There’s a simple answer to this one: complete Algebra 2 before you try the ACT. So if you’re a Junior who’s only in Algebra 2 this year, then you’ll want to take your first ACT as late in the year as you can so that you can learn all the math gold in Algebra 2—which is heavily tested in the ACT. So you might not be able to have “completed the entire year of Algebra 2” before your first (and second!) ACTs. That’s ok.
If, however, you took Algebra 2 as as Sophomore and are taking Pre-Calculus (or its equivalent) now, you have more flexibility. Yes, there’s Pre-Calculus (advanced Trigonometry, Functions, Matrices, Binomial Theorem, Polar Coordinates, and some advanced Coordinate Geometry) on the ACT, so having a firm grasp of it from your classwork WILL help you prepare naturally, but you can consider making your first ACT attempt earlier in your Junior year.
And if you’re currently a Sophomore who’s already taken Algebra 2 as a Freshman and is currently in Pre-Calculus, you can consider taking YOUR first attempts at the end of your Sophomore year or the beginning of your Junior year. Keep in mind that if you wait until Junior year, your adeptness at reading comprehension, grammar, data analysis and overall mathematical ability will only improve (and help you nab a higher score)…but if you HAD to take your first ACT now, you technically could.
Finally, are you a Junior who’s in Calculus right now? Great! You can take the ACT anytime this year that works for you…once you take into consideration Factors 1, 2 and 4.
4. How to Make Time for ACT Studying
If you know that you have certain “blackout” dates in your schedule—maybe you have debate tournaments in the spring, will be starring in the school play in the fall, or have 7 AP tests to study for in May—then don’t plan to take your first ACT then!
You have seven national ACT test dates to choose from, and you do NOT have to take them all. You’re allowed to take the ones that fit with your schedule, that allow you to take two consecutive ACTs back-to-back to maximize your study time, and that allow you to learn as much Math as you can before you take the test.
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Once you’ve determined when you should take your FIRST (and therefore, second!) ACT attempt, you can then work backwards to figure out how long it’ll take you to study for the ACT, weighing the factors I’ve discussed in this blog post.
And then, you can work backwards even further to make sure you determine that the ACT truly is the correct test for you in the first place BEFORE you start studying for it!
Obviously, there are still a lot of moving parts here, even if there are fewer moving parts than there used to be several years ago. And I acknowledge how overwhelming this whole ten-dimensional puzzle can be for someone who is new to the standardized testing process or college admissions! So, if you’d like to have an expert take care of all these details—which test, how long to study, first test date, testing timeline, target scores, etc.—FOR you, consider booking an Ace The Test: Game Plan™ with me. It’s a surfire way to take all the chaos off your plate…and to make your testing experience as fruitful and painless as possible!
