The American College Testing (ACT) is a standardized test that all college-bound CA students will take either in their junior year, senior year or both. The test is used to dictate a student’s exact academic progress and achievement, and it gives a rational score accordingly. On Friday, September 20, many took the ACT for the first time this school year, and students will have opportunities to do so again in December and, later, in April.

Because the ACT is both urgent and frequent at CA, students tend to prepare either completely, stretching themselves to attain their objective score, or half-heartedly, falling short of their full academic potential. We approached the two types of students to discover their takes on ACT preparation and results.

CA graduates who took the test, whether they did well or not, had a basic idea of how a student who seeks a solid score should prepare for the test.

One graduate in particular who did well in the test, when asked to give advice to uncertain students, answered, “Don’t stress about it. Just make sure that you don’t procrastinate studying for it. If you pace your ACT studying, beginning well in advance (like a year), you’ll feel far less stressed come test time and will probably do better.”

In comparison, another graduate who scored lower than the aforementioned graduate responded to the question with this: “Don’t stress, Southern only requires an 18.”

Both of them urge that students do not get anxious over the test, but each of them had different motivations behind their laid-back attitudes toward the test.

Ultimately, between the two graduates, the one who felt confident about the test because of his or her preparation made a 32, while the one who felt confident about the test because he or she lacked the urge to work hard made a 26. This goes to show that preparation for such an undoubtedly important test will result in success.