The ACT (American College Testing Assessment)
The American College Testing Assessment (ACT) is considered by many to be a rival of or even superior to the SAT. The ACT tests college entering students on math, reading, English and scientific reasoning. The test runs for two hours and 55 minutes. There are a variety of multiple choice questions in four sections, each based around one of the subject areas. There are five to fifteen questions per passage, except for the math section which has 60 questions.
The ACT and the SAT
The trend in the past has been that the Act was the entrance exam of choice for schools in the Midwest, and the SAT was the test chosen by more schools in the Northeast. In recent years, that trend has changed, and both are used widely. Each test focuses on particular strengths. If you know your strengths or weaknesses and want to use differences between the SAT and the ACT to your advantage, you may want to read closely about differences between the SAT and the ACT.
Scoring
The ACT renders 12 separate scores – 1 composite, 4 subject scores (each category of English, reading, mathematics and scientific reasoning) and seven sub-scores. Of course, the composite score (in essence, it’s an average) is the most important of these. The composite score is ranged from 1 to 36. Nearly half of all ACT takers score in the range of 17 to 23.
ACT Test Dates
| 2005–2006 | ||
| Test Date | Registration Deadline |
Late Registration Date (penalty required) |
| December 10, 2005 | November 4, 2005 | November 5–17, 2005 |
| February 11, 2006** | January 6, 2006 | January 7–20, 2006 |
| April 8, 2006 | March 3, 2006 | March 4–17, 2006 |
| June 10, 2006 | May 5, 2006 | May 6–19, 2006 |
**Except in the state of New York
