ACT Test & "no snacks"...are they serious?

[Cinderella94]

I took the ACT yesterday and they told us we'd get our results in 5-8 weeks.

 

[Pin Wizard]

This is a heads up for us. Thanks! No experience with the ACT for DS yet. But he took his SATs last weekend. They were allowed snacks and drinks during the 5 hours.

 

[ctinct]

My daughter felt the same way about the science. Said it was the hardest part. We'll see.

The ACT site says that some scores will be available online on June 28th--I think it is midnight CST. It says scores are added weekly, usually Wed. and Friday, until they are all done. It says the writing score is usually posted two weeks after the multiple choice scores. HTH.

Oh, it also gives Aug. 6 as the last date for scores from Saturday's test. Going to be tough waiting if we are in that group.

 

[klfrech]

My dd took the Acts in April and had her results in less than 3 weeks (not including the writing part). She also felt the science part was much more difficult than she anticipated. She got a 29 composite, but only a 23 on the science section. She took them yesterday for the second time and felt she was much better prepared.

We discovered a great website that has been very helpful in preparing for college. It's www.college confidential.com (one word).

BTW, as a third grade teacher, I have to chime in. My students eat lunch at 12:30. Figure they eat breakfast at 7:30, no snack time, and no one has died yet! Kids today have no coping skills whatsoever and adults teach kids to break rules constantly.

 

[agnes!]

...Does the ACT *really* mean that you can't bring a snack & leave it out in the hallway or someplace similar and retrieve your water/food during breaks? Do they REALLY mean you have to then buy whatever the test center *might* have available for purchase? ...

Yeah, not eating for five hours won't kill her, but I need to know what the experience with the ACT is. With the SAT and the APs, I think they are allowed to bring water/snacks they leave them in a common area (maybe out in the hallway or in the back of the gym?) and they're allowed to retrieve the items during any breaks.

So, anyone out there in DIS-land who has experience either taking the ACT themselves or if they have a kid who took it recently, etc...please post here.

Thankseversomuch.
agnes!

I'd like to repeat and re-iterate a few things here from my original post...
Thanks to everyone who posted their experiences with taking the test.
I did say that "yeah, not eating for five hours won't kill her."
I asked for feedback *because* we wanted to and intended to follow the rules.

Totally agree! I would be willing to bet most of these kids would be just fine with not eating/ drinking for 5 hours for something they wanted to do, say stand on line for concert tickets, etc.







My kids are only in their 20's so it wasn't so long ago that they were teens. But I can't believe how things have changed in the last 10 years or so. You hit it right on the head. These kids are preparing to go to college & not pre-k. They'll soon be out in the real world. 5 hours is nothing. I'm a nurse, I sometimes have to go 8- 10 hours without a break.

I actually want to know...Do you feel well and how is your performance when you go 8-10 hours without a break? Do you think that the situation is optimal? I'm not being snarky, I just would kind of like to know.

My dd took the Acts in April and had her results in less than 3 weeks (not including the writing part). She also felt the science part was much more difficult than she anticipated. She got a 29 composite, but only a 23 on the science section. She took them yesterday for the second time and felt she was much better prepared.

We discovered a great website that has been very helpful in preparing for college. It's www.college confidential.com (one word).

BTW, as a third grade teacher, I have to chime in. My students eat lunch at 12:30. Figure they eat breakfast at 7:30, no snack time, and no one has died yet! Kids today have no coping skills whatsoever and adults teach kids to break rules constantly.

Thanks for posting about your DD's experiences with when the results come back. As I mentioned above, the reason I asked for real-life experiences with taking the test was because I wanted to make sure that DD actually followed the rules, that I somehow hadn't misunderstood something. But I do kind of wish you had said "Most kids" or "many kids" or "some kids" rather than only the word "kids" in that "Kids today" sentence.

I agree, collegeconfidential is a great resource (yet I think it's sometimes kind of scary on some threads).

agnes!

 

[allison443]

OP what was the end result with your dd? Did she decide to bring water/snacks and was she allowed to have them during breaks?

If I wasn't sure and my kid wanted to bring it I probably would have just told her to bring it anyway...at worst she would have had to throw it out before the test started, right?

I agree collegeconfidential can be quite scary

 

[agnes!]

She decided to take a few small snacks in a separate bag and I told her it wasn't a problem to throw it out if they weren't allowed to leave things outside in the hallway or whatever.

But it all worked out. Now that I think about it (been a crazy couple of days), I *think* what happened was they were allowed to leave foodstuffs outside the room but were not allowed to bring any of it in to the test-room itself.

agnes!

 

[klfrech]

You are so right, OP! I sounded like my parents! I didn't mean "all kids today". I meant some kids, or even many kids.

 

[allison443]

She decided to take a few small snacks in a separate bag and I told her it wasn't a problem to throw it out if they weren't allowed to leave things outside in the hallway or whatever.

But it all worked out. Now that I think about it (been a crazy couple of days), I *think* what happened was they were allowed to leave foodstuffs outside the room but were not allowed to bring any of it in to the test-room itself.

agnes!

I'm glad it turned out to be no big deal! I think sometimes as parents we can get very caught up in worrying about things that either don't matter to our kids, or work out just fine after all.

Good luck with the college application process! I just wanted to mention that my dd graduated high school in 09. She took the SAT twice and the ACT with writing twice. She found a comparison chart which compares SAT and ACT scores to each other. She used that to decide whether to send SAT or ACT scores. She ended up sending only her ACT scores. (she didn't sign up for any schools when she took the tests, we sent the score reports later after she got the results and could decide which to send). I think the comparison chart might actually be on the ACT website itself, or you can google it....or I'm sure it is posted prominently on college confidential!

 

[elgerber]

So, has anyone found their kids scores online yet? For some reason I decided to look and they are there already!

 

[C.Ann]

Glad to hear it all turned out well..

I do have to say though that if the child eats a decent breakfast, 5 hours is not a long time to go without snacks or water in a classroom setting.. It wouldn't have even dawned on me to be concerned about that..

Hope the test results are good!

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

DD took it about 6 weeks ago.. No food. No bottled water. No nothing.

A break part way thru for bathroom and a drinking fountain.

She took the writing. Started test at 8 and was out at 12:50.

 

[ctinct]

Arrrgh. Scores are online, but my daughter is at Girls State for the week. She has no access to a computer, and she can't remember which password she used on the site so I can check.

 

[ctinct]

Boy, do I feel stupid. The reason she didn't know the password was that I set up the account. I found the password in my book of passwords. Overall, I think she did ok. Composite 32, ranging from a 36 in English to a 26 in math. I knew her math score or her science would be the lowest--math was the lowest on her SAT test. I need to find a site that compares SAT vs ACT scores because a few of the schools she would like to apply to accept either, and I'm not sure which of the two is a better score.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yea! 32 is a decent score.

 

[elgerber]

Yea! 32 is a decent score.

My son also got a 32. He got sunk by science, he ran out of time and just had to guess at some answers. If he would have had more time he probably could have upped that to a 34.

That's funny that you were the one that set up the account! Glad you were able to go in and find them!

Now to wait for the writing scores...