The mandatory Columbia Public Schools (CPS) funded American College Test (ACT) will take place Feb. 25, more than a month earlier than last year’s testing date.  

Director of counseling Rachel Reed said the earlier scheduling came after the ACT testing company choose a date that clashes with RBHS’ spring break. Reed went on to say that RBHS plays no role in choosing the non-Saturday test date. Reed, who said RBHS plays no role in choosing the on-Saturday test date, recommends all students take the free February ACT

Guidance recommends all students to take the February ACT. 

Beginning this year, students cannot withdraw from the test  unless they have a 36, or a perfect score on the exam. Counselor Carrie McKee said students are not able to opt out because of a district policy put in place this year. The previous policy allowed students to opt out of the test as long as they had an adequate score.

“It really doesn’t do you any harm to take it again. It really doesn’t harm [juniors] if they take it again,” McKee said. 

 Junior Charlotte Tolly said although she was satisfied with her score, she is still required to take the test.

“It’s irritating. [For the April ACT], students had more time to prepare and possible score better,” Tolly said. “I already took it and got the score that I liked. It’s upsetting because I got above a 30, and I feel like I don’t need to take it.”

Guidance secretary Theresa Geyer said students typically begin to take the ACT at the end of their junior year, and as long as the ACT is in the second semester of their junior year, it caters toward students.

“A lot of students are hesitant of taking the ACT their junior year, as they think it will impact their college,” McKee said.

On top of affecting student’s study plan, the date change also affects preparatory ACT classes. Angela Jacquin, who teaches the semester-long ACT Prep class at RBHS, believes the change will affect students’ preparedness for the test as she was not informed until the beginning of this school year. Jaquin said she was unaware of the date change until the start of the school year.

“My course is a semester course and it takes the majority of the semester to teach the content. We also do college readiness things as well,” Jacquin said. “If taught in a way that allows students time to practice the tips and tricks thoroughly to learn the material April or March even, would be a much better time to take the ACT.”

Jacquin’s semester long ACT Prep course prepares students to take the standardized test. 

Jacquin also said the new testing date leaves students overwhelmed. The ACT Prep curriculum is designed for three months to study to score adequately. With this recent change, Jacquin said she is uncertain if her students will be prepared enough.

“I teach a lot of juniors and even in my math classes. [precalculus and geometry] We won’t get through all the math curriculum that could be seen on the ACT,” Jacquin said. “So as teachers we sat down and discussed whether or not we needed to switch units around to expose students to crucial concepts before the ACT.  Realizing, of course, we won’t get through all the crucial material because it is all on the ACT.”

Jacquin said the school ACT test date is usually the same, and ACT Prep’s curriculum in previous years was adequate to score well on the test. Lei said he understands the schools choice to mandate the tests, but does not believe the earlier ACT date plays to a student’s strengths.

Jacquin also said the new testing date leaves students overwhelmed. The ACT Prep curriculum is designed for three months to study to score adequately. With this recent change, Jacquin said she is uncertain if her students will be prepared enough.

“I teach a lot of juniors and even in my math classes. [precalculus and geometry] We won’t get through all the math curriculum that could be seen on the ACT,” Jacquin said. “So as teachers we sat down and discussed whether or not we needed to switch units around to expose students to crucial concepts before the ACT.  Realizing, of course, we won’t get through all the crucial material because it is all on the ACT.”

Jacquin said the school ACT test date is usually the same, and ACT Prep’s curriculum in previous years was adequate to score well on the test. Lei said he understands the schools choice to mandate the tests, but does not believe the earlier ACT date plays to a student’s strengths.

Junior Phillip Lei, however, said he believed the early test date may benefit his score, as the April ACT date nears Advanced Placement (AP) exams. Lei said and April ACT date would mean require him to stay diligent with his time management skills.

“I don’t think the date change will alter my score for this upcoming one,” Lei said. “If anything, [the February ACT] might help my score since the April date was near all the end-of-year activities and closing in on finals.”

Although the school ACT is earlier in the year, Reed said she, also, does not believe scores will shift. Super Saturday sessions, which Reed said can help better prepare students to score well,  are available for signup in guidance.

“We offer a Super Saturday test prep class before the February session. There’s all sorts of different opportunities online that students can take advantage of for test prep,” Reed said. “I don’t know if a couple months difference is going to make enough of a difference to make a major impact in scores.”

Lei, who plans on taking five AP exams at the end of the year, said he will have more time to spend on preparing for those tests. AP exams are composed of rigorous topics from physics to world history, testing students over a year’s worth of work. Lei said he previously took the ACT and would prefer to study for AP exams during April.

“This might be an unfortunate change, though; for some since it could cut much needed classes or prep time between February and April,” Lei said. “I don’t think I can generalize what impact [changing the ACT date] would have, but I’d guess that for future classes, and students who already knew of this change, winter break will give them a good opportunity to prepare for this new date compared to the April date.”

Do you prefer the new district funded ACT date? Let us know in the comments below.