The ACT is a standardized test students in High school must take if they are planning on going to college after they graduate.  The test is divided into four separate sections that will test the students skills.  The first section is English, there are 75 questions and 45 minutes  to complete it,  the second section is math, there are 60 questions along with 60 minutes to finish them, after half-way through there will be a brief 10 minute break before starting the last half of the test and once it is over students must return to their testing room to begin the third section which is reading, it contains 40 questions with 35 minutes on the clock and finally the last section is science, this area has 40 questions with 40 minutes to complete them.  Once the test is finished it is then graded on a scale from 0 being the lowest to 36 being the highest and the better your score is the higher the chances of a college accepting the student.

The reason this test is so important and why it is a good idea to take it more than once is because Mrs. Duran(Kearns High AP English teacher) stated “It determines college interest and some scholarships and in High school it helps determine the end of year academic awards, plus who will be the valedictorian, salutatorian, and the sterling scholar selection.”  Another important thing to know about the ACT is the first time students take it is during there junior year of High school and it is free, but if they wish to take it again it will cost them money, but Mrs. Duran said” If a student is on free or reduced lunch see your counselor about an ACT waver.”

Some important tips to know when taking the ACT and before you take it is do get prep books and study over them and take the practice tests that are in them and do the ones that are online, plus the night before the test just relax, don’t try and memorize a bunch of information all at once, and don’t do something that is outside of your routine because it could effect you negatively on test day, but one ot the most helpful things that could be done that Mrs. Duran said students could do is “Attend the classes provided by the college access adviser and take advantage of the online school preps.”  Hopefully this information will help all the students here at Kearns High with the ACT.