When you hear the word ACT you think of one word in your brain: impossible.

If you have ever taken an ACT or any kind of CERT Test, you know how painful it is to sit in the same room, in the same chair, staring at the same wall for almost four hours. On top of that, the questions are head wrenching and make you speculate your level of intelligence.

Let’s go all the way back to the beginning though. What is the ACT?

“The ACT is a standardized test designed to show colleges how prepared you are for higher education”, Alex Hiembach, ACT tutor and writer, said . 

She continued that the test measures your reading comprehension, knowledge of writing conventions, and your skill set with numbers and analysis. The exam serves almost as a nationwide college admissions test, though many colleges have put ACT scores on the back burner when looking to accept incoming students. This is due to the fact that colleges want more diversity in their admissions and students instead of just exponentially intelligent people, and /or people who can afford expensive tutoring to prepare.

“Research is mixed, but with a consensus that points toward a bit of increase the diversity of the applicant pool and pretty strong evidence that the overall number of applicants increases”, president emeritus of Missouri State University, Michael Nietzel said.

Over my years of being in high school (and for most students), the concept of doing well on the ACT overpowers the idea that I may pick a college that doesn’t even take a glance at my score.

So, stressing over the fact that I will forever make the same, below the benchmark score, seems to be my only option.

This process has had a major effect on student’s mental health. For some, taking a small quiz that is worth only about 10 percent is extremely mentally exhausting and causes intense pressures. You could imagine the anxiety the ACT brings to students’ lives. It feels as if this test will determine your education decisions for the rest of your life.

“If students don’t have good coping skills around stressful events such as taking a big test, I think it can be harmful to their mental health”, student counselor at Silver Creek High School, Kristi Ehle Parker said.

Unfortunately though, this broken system is likely to continue, and student’s mental health is sure to plummet down hill with it.

Another huge part of the mental health crisis surrounding the ACT is the actual components and concepts that are on the test. Questions like, “If the writer were to delete the underlined portion”, and “Find the key difference between Study 1 and Study 2”, are among the unbearable aching questions this test will ask you. You then begin to ask yourself the same question between each test, reaching to put the blame of this assessment on someone other than yourself.

Did I ever learn this in class?

The answer to that is, more than likely you did not.

“At the beginning of my career I feel like it [the ACT] was more indicative of what children were being taught in school. Now I feel that learning has changed to fit the society that we live in, and it’s not necessarily something that is needed to show the value of a student,” says Central Hardin English teacher, Angela Cannon.

She goes on to say that a student is not their ACT score, and that if a student is a thinker that they may not make the best score because of the scarcity of time that the ACT gives you.

“I don’t know that if living in the 21 century, the ACT is as necessary as it once was”, Cannon says. 

On the flip side, others would say that the ACT is a fair assessment and is needed to determine how much money students will be handed for college, or even if they get to go. 

Some even believe that getting rid of this standardized testing will not make the college admission process fair.

Erica L. Meltzer, an author, claims that the logic of eliminating the ACT could confuse people within the education system on what actually matters.

“If private school students have higher GPAs than public school students, should private schools be abolished?” Weltzer asks.

“And if AP scores happen to correlate with income, does that mean AP tests should be eliminated as well?”

Now eliminating the whole test all together is a big stretch, and a big ask from students; this test will always be an obstacle for students.

From a teacher point of view though, Central Hardin teacher, Samantha Dougherty, talks about how the test can be beneficial to a student’s learning process.

“I sort of understand why they have a standard so they can engage on how much math you know and how advanced your reading skills are so you can be placed in the correct class when you go to college”, Dougherty says.

Either side of the argument, though, does not change the fact that the broken system of the ACT will continue along with the plummet of students’ mental health. We cannot change that, but we can find ways to take care of ourselves while the ACT creeps up on us.

Make sure you are only studying ACT tests that are from actual ACT books. Other publications, such as the Princeton Review, will try to make mock ACT tests. These are inaccurate, since they cannot copy actual ACT tests and they are just making tests based on what they think the ACT will convey.

The day before your test, drink plenty of water, get lots of sleep, and prepare yourself the morning of by eating a healthy breakfast and bring a protein bar to eat in between the tests of the ACT. This is to keep up your energy and keep your brain awake.

Happy Testing!