Are you a high schooler who thinks—or knows—you might need extended time on the Digital SAT or ACT? You’re in the right place.
All too often, a student has a valid need for extended time, or other accommodations, on the SAT or ACT…but doesn’t receive them.
I think we can all agree that’s a sad prospect. But don’t lose hope: because after reading this guide, you’ll have the info you need to ensure you don’t miss out on accommodations you may be owed.
Applying for special testing conditions involves a series of tasks you need to complete ahead of time, well before you sit for the SAT or ACT. Don’t let this checklist of required appointments and conversations slip through the cracks during test-prep chaos—especially since if you wait too long, your application for accommodations may seem suspect (more on this below!).
In this post, I clarify the process of procuring extra time/accommodations, and provide you with a plan to get them in advance of your first SAT or ACT….so you can then get the score you deserve.
Table of Contents
1. Is it worth it to get extended time on the SAT/ACT?
2. What kinds of accommodations and extra time are offered on the SAT and ACT?
A. SAT
B. ACT
3. How do the College Board and the ACT decide whether you get extra time or accommodations?
A. How current should my neuropsych evaluation and other documents be for standardized testing accommodations?
B. Guide to applying for extended time on standardized tests once you’ve completed your evaluations
i. Digital SAT application process
4. Rejected for extra time or accommodations on the SAT/ACT?
A. How to appeal an SAT/ACT accommodations request denial
B. What if I STILL get denied extended time?
5. Best tips for successfully getting extended time and similar accommodations
6. Conclusion
Is it worth it to get extended time on the SAT/ACT?
As a full-time test prep tutor for over fifteen years, I’ve worked closely with many students with dyslexia, ADHD, visual/audio processing disorders, and related disabilities. And so I know for a fact that when a student genuinely warrants testing accommodations and/or extended time—but isn’t granted them—this can completely destroy her score, no matter how hard she’s studied.
This, in turn, may delay her whole Testing Timeline, pushing back her second attempt deep into junior year…and throwing off the rest of her study plan for the SAT/ACT!
So, is it important to seek extra time/accommodations if you’ve got a disability that might affect your testing? The answer is an unequivocal yes.
What kinds of accommodations and extra time are available on the SAT and ACT?
More Time on the SAT
On the DSAT, students may apply for the following quantities of extended time. The College Board will ask you to specify which subjects you need extra time for, and it won’t give you blanket extra time unless you specifically need it for “Reading” (because that skill is required in every section of the test):
extended time (50% more time)
double time (100% more time)
even MORE time (up to 150% more time).
SAT-takers can also request a range of other accommodations (full list here), such as:
having the computer, or a human reader, read test questions to you out loud
speech-to-text
having more breaks (up to an unlimited number of breaks)
taking your test across multiple days instead of in a single day
ACT Accommodations and Extended Time Policies
The ACT offers two options you can apply for:
National Extended Time (50% more time),
“Special Testing” (anything else, such as specific special accommodations and/or more than 50% additional time).
How do the SAT and ACT decide if you get accommodations?
Extended time and/or accommodations on the SAT and ACT are determined by two types of documentation:
A neuropsychological and/or educational evaluation administered by your school or by a private evaluator, AND
A record that the requested accommodations have actually been implemented by your school.
This means that you’ve had a neuropsychological evaluation AND that your school district has taken this into account by creating an “Individual Education Program” (IEP), “504 Plan,” or a “Response To Intervention” (RTI) plan. If you’re a private school student, this might also be called a “service plan.”
The test authorities are basically asking you to prove that 1) a professional has declared that you have a learning disability or medical issue that could affect performance during tests and merits extra time or accommodations, and 2) your high school has also implemented these accommodations into your daily school life.
For example, this would mean: you haven’t just gone and found one doctor who says you need double time; your school has also acted on this recommendation and has a track record of allowing you to USE double time for tests in class.
How recent should my neuropsych evaluation and other documents be for SAT and ACT extra time?
These are the timelines for College Board (Digital SAT) evaluations:
evaluations of ADHD and other learning disabilities must have occurred within 5 years before your request
evaluations of visual disabilities must have occurred within 2 years before your request
evaluations of medical and psychiatric conditions that affect testing must have occurred within the year before your request
And in terms of the ACT:
all neuropsychological testing for ADHD and learning disabilities must be performed within 3 years
all evaluations for visual impairments and psychiatric disorders must be completed within one year of the request
How to apply for extended time on standardized tests
Once you’ve successfully procured your documentations (within the above-noted time windows), it’s time to submit your request to the College Board (for extended time and/or other accommodations on the SAT), and/or to the ACT.
Note that I wrote “and/or”: because the ACT and the College Board are two separate companies, with two distinct processes and timelines. If you apply for and receive accommodations for one entity, that does NOT mean you’ve been granted accommodations from the other. If you’re taking both tests and want accommodations for both, you’ll have to apply for each separately.
Application process: extended time and accommodations on the SAT
In most cases, the College Board STRONGLY encourages you to apply for extended time and accommodations via your school (and I strongly encourage that, too!). When you have an IEP or other education plan in place and the school submits the request FOR you, this can speed up the process of getting your request approved—to three weeks or less. Otherwise, without a formal education plan in place, and you’re applying on your own, the request may take up to seven weeks.
NOTE: The College Board does not automatically require documentation when you make your request. For some accommodations, you may get what you need simply by completing your request. HOWEVER, though you might get a response faster this way, the downside is that if your request is denied, you’ll have to submit the documentation and start the whole submission process (and waiting period) over again.
For that reason, I recommend you start early, submit ALL of the requested documentation, and hopefully get it approved the first time.
Application process: extended time and accommodations on the ACT
The ACT requires that you submit all documentation along with your request for accommodations. In fact, they require you to register for a test date online FIRST, indicating whether you’ll be applying for National Extended Time or “Special Testing.” Once you’re done registering, they’ll email you information re: how to work with your local TC (“testing coordinator”) to submit your request and documentation. You can read about their application process in more detail here.
Rejected for extra time or accommodations on the SAT/ACT?
A few years ago, a string of college admissions cheating debacles caused the College Board and the ACT to become more selective about which students will be granted extended time and other special accommodations.
It’s true that if everyone who simply wanted more time automatically received it, EVERYONE’S scores would improve! Plus, extra time is meant to counterbalance the very real effects of a TRUE learning disability…NOT a way for wealthy students to bribe a family friend with an MD to say they have “test anxiety,” then get super-high scores because they have an unfair amount of time on the faster-paced sections of the ACT.
In fact, even when you DO have all your documentation in order, and you’ve presented a strong case, I’ve seen students get what I call a “knee-jerk ‘no’”: like, a swift negative first reaction to a request. I’m SURE you know a person who gives “knee-jerk ‘no’s IRL”: it doesn’t matter if you’re asking to borrow their pencil sharpener or their car—they default to “NO!”
In this case, don’t lose hope yet. You can still land your extra time. What you’re going to do is file an appeal, typically with additional documentation.
Can you appeal an SAT/ACT accommodations request denial?
The two most common reasons for which your initial request may have been denied are:
The College Board or the ACT deemed your documentation to be insufficient; or,
The evidence in your documentation doesn’t quite fit the request you’re making.
For instance, let’s say you have diabetes, a disease that means you may need to take extra breaks to replenish your blood sugar levels…but you requested something that the ACT doesn’t believe to be directly pertinent (e.g. a reader, a dictation tool, etc.). In this case, you may get denied. It’s not that you don’t deserve any accommodations, but they decided that you maybe don’t deserve the particular accommodations you asked for. However, if you had simply asked for unlimited breaks, in which they’ll pause the clock when you get up and start it again when you sit back down, your request would have likely been approved.
More often than not, if your documentation is recent enough, if you work with your high school to submit the appropriate requests to the ACT or College Board, and if you’ve built time into your Testing Timeline for an initial “knee jerk no” and to then make an appeal…you’ll more than likely get the accommodations you deserve.
What if my SECOND request gets denied?
Unfortunately, this does sometimes happen. But you’re still not without options. If your preferred test is the SAT and they repeatedly deny you the accommodations you need…that means it might be time to switch to the ACT and apply for accommodations with them, instead (or vice-versa). Sometimes, you don’t get to pick the test—the test picks YOU.
Tips for receiving SAT and ACT extended time and accommodations
Here are some parting words of wisdom from someone who’s seen a LOT of these application processes play out.
1. If your educational or neuropsychological evaluations are out of date (according to the deadlines laid out above), get them refreshed by the end of sophomore year! This will give you adequate time to take the PSAT/NMSQT with accommodations, which will at least set a precedent with the College Board. The absolute LATEST to get re-evaluated is fall of junior year, which would be too late for the PSAT/NMSQT.
2. If you’ve never had a neuropsych evaluation done, and you think you may have learning disabilities that could warrant accommodations on standardized tests, work with your school or with a private neuropsychologist AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Ideally freshman or sophomore year. If you’ve never had this done and you wait until junior year, I’ll give it to you straight: the timing looks a little too convenient to the College Board and to the ACT. No matter how legitimate your condition is, it may appear to the testing powers that be that you’re making up a disability just to gain advantages and increase your score. In recent years, too many unscrupulous students have lied in order to get accommodations they don’t need.
3. If you’ve completed your evaluations, take the extra step of securing an IEP, 504 Plan, RTI Plan or Service Plan. In other words, work with you school’s counselor or other authority to officially submit your evaluation and get it acknowledged in your school/school district as a formal education plan.
4. Actually use the high school testing accommodations you’re entitled to! Our goal here is to establish a track record: proof that you really NEED these accommodations and use them in real life…not just, y’know, spring of junior year when you are, what a coincidence, taking the SAT or ACT! If you’re entitled to extended time, make sure you make use of it for some of your tests in school. Don’t feel embarrassed about standing out as the one person who doesn’t leave when they ring the bell. Nervous about what your classmates think? Try not to be—after all, you deserve the same chance at a good score as they do, and your peers aren’t the ones taking the SAT or ACT for you!
Conclusion
The bottom line: if you truly deserve extra time and accommodations for the SAT or ACT, get started on this process early, get your documentation in order, and make sure your academic test-taking record reflects the standardized testing conditions you’re asking for.
Lately, the College Board and the ACT are working hard to distinguish between people who just want extra time from those who deserve and need it. If you’re confused by the process, hit up your school counselor and officials and ask questions.
Or, if you need help formulating your test prep plan after your get your extended time/accommodations sorted out, I’m here to help your score soar!
