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

[jiminyC_fan]

Oh for petes sake- it was ONE day! Its not like they are making them starve and go without water every day of the school year. I think for ONE day a child can go 5 stinking hours without food- it won't ruin their "diet" any!!

 

[lilmissdisney216]

they didn't give me any snacks or drinks when I took my ACT's (I took them about 3 years ago) and I was perfectly fine and I myself am not a big breakfast eater either and I didn't do too bad at all (can't remember what my score was but its okay). It is an important day but not THE most important day of your life.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Five hours without food likely won't kill anyone, and of course in classic dis fashion someone will find some reason that a person cannot go without food for five hours.

See, this makes no sense to me. It would mean every day every person in the world eats more frequently than every five hours, all day. It means everybody must eat breakfast at 7:30, lunch at noon, and dinner at 4:30 (and then sleep from 9 PM to about 6 AM). No sense

 

[::Snow_White::]

I took the ACT plus writing for the 3rd time today and no, you're not allowed snacks or water. It's really not that big of a deal to me, none of my friends or I find the lack of food inbetween a problem. It doesn't bother my testing and I eat breakfast around an hour before. I might be hungry when I leave but it is not enough to alter my testing abilities, or at least not that I can tell. I do believe you can eat in the hall though.

I took the SAT last Saturday and brought a snack but did not eat it because I was not hungry until after we finished.

 

[TDC Nala]

I remember taking the bar exam, they wouldn't allow us to bring ANYTHING in and it took all day (actually two full days). Break in the middle of the day though.

 

[Holly]

Wow.


Maybe I'm a wretched mother because my oldest just took the SAT and ACT within the past few months and I never thought twice about the no food rule.

I fed him a good breakfast (at 7am) and took him to lunch when he was finished (between 12:30 and 1pm).

He did great on both tests despite not having a snack.

 

[kaytieeldr]

So, Holly - are you saying your son went... hold on, let me get the calculator... as long as SIX hours without food? TWICE? Within a period of just a few short months?

Just for the record, I disagree completely with your [tongue-in-cheek] self-assessment that you're a wretched mother! Such a person would never feed a test-taking child well before the test AND take the child out to lunch afterwards!

 

[ladycollector]

See, this makes no sense to me. It would mean every day every person in the world eats more frequently than every five hours, all day. It means everybody must eat breakfast at 7:30, lunch at noon, and dinner at 4:30 (and then sleep from 9 PM to about 6 AM). No sense

Actually, I eat at 8am,12pm,4pm,and 8pm... like clockwork. Sometimes a snack before bed if I'm feeling shaky. They're not huge meals but just enough to keep things level.

But no, every person in the world doesn't. Honestly I don't know how people do it. I'd love to not have to worry about eating so often, it makes things stressful if I forget to have a snack in my purse.

And OF COURSE this is not a problem for everyone, but there are quite a few ppl who do need food more often than every 5-7 hours.

It's been quite a while since I took it, but I'm thinking if the rules were like this (i don't really remember), I probably snuck a granola bar in the bathroom and scarfed it down.

Personally, I think it's rude to assume that those who can't go without food are spoiled or that we're being dramatic. Um, okay.

 

[disney1990]

I sit at my desk virtually everyday from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm with no food and no water. I guess I should be upset?

One day for 5 hours is not a tragedy.

 

[rgf207]

I sit at my desk virtually everyday from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm with no food and no water. I guess I should be upset?

One day for 5 hours is not a tragedy.

You would think that it was a tragedy

 

[agnes!]

So, agnes! how did it go? Does she think she did OK?

Thanks for asking punkin.

DD said the science portion was on another science completely different than what she had taken this past year, so that is somewhat of a concern to her. She thinks the writing portion went better for her than the SATs and the Reading & the Math were about at the same level as the SATs. Her SAT scores were fine (she'll take them one more time in the fall) so I am kind of thinking that she might have knocked this one out of the park. I read somewhere that the ACTs switch off between the two main HS sciences (Physics, Chemistry) so if she feels it's necessary to take the ACT again in the fall, her favorite science might be up in the rotation for the new testing-season.

I wish the ACT had a firm date for when the scores were available. Anybody here remember how many weeks after the test they got the scores?

agnes!
PS - It's funny to me how a thread can take off so violently different than what I might have supposed when I post the OP. Usually my threads die the same day they're started ...

 

[Planogirl]

It took forever to get DS' SAT scores so I wouldn't be surprised if ACT took as long. We waited a good month.

 

[HeatherH]

My daughter took the ACT yesterday as well. The online site says scores should be available online in 2 1/2 weeks. That is WAY faster than the SAT scores came. We'll be watching for them.

And oh, no snack or water needed for my kid. She's a camel. She did the writing portion as well and was done in 4 1/2 hours.

 

[elgerber]

My son said the science portion was a little tougher than the rest also. He said he had to guess on a few questions. We are a little concerned what that will score like. My son did the writing portion yesterday also, and he was starving when he came home. He ate at 6:30 and got home at 1:30, so that's 7 hours, a very long time in my opinion.
But he did survive (better than me I would have collapsed in that amount of time)

 

[Christine]

Thanks for asking punkin.

DD said the science portion was on another science completely different than what she had taken this past year, so that is somewhat of a concern to her.


I wish the ACT had a firm date for when the scores were available. Anybody here remember how many weeks after the test they got the score?...

After my daughter took the ACT last year, her biggest comments were about the science. She was sort of taken off guard by it. Otherwise, she enjoyed the test much more than the SAT.

I don't remember how many weeks it was to get the score but I do remember it was along the same lines as the waiting period for the SAT. I didn't really feel it took that long.

 

[::Snow_White::]

Thanks for asking punkin.

DD said the science portion was on another science completely different than what she had taken this past year, so that is somewhat of a concern to her. She thinks the writing portion went better for her than the SATs and the Reading & the Math were about at the same level as the SATs. Her SAT scores were fine (she'll take them one more time in the fall) so I am kind of thinking that she might have knocked this one out of the park. I read somewhere that the ACTs switch off between the two main HS sciences (Physics, Chemistry) so if she feels it's necessary to take the ACT again in the fall, her favorite science might be up in the rotation for the new testing-season.

I wish the ACT had a firm date for when the scores were available. Anybody here remember how many weeks after the test they got the scores?

agnes!
PS - It's funny to me how a thread can take off so violently different than what I might have supposed when I post the OP. Usually my threads die the same day they're started ...

Hope she did well.

Science has always been hard for my friends and me. I thought the SAT was easier than the ACT this time.

Right now I have June 28 for our ACT scores to be out. I don't remember where I read it but I'm pretty sure it was the actstudent website. For SAT I have them down as coming out on June 24.

 

[elgerber]

The ACT website has June 28- August something for results. Rather vague and not real helpful!! LOL.

 

[focusondisney]

Oh for petes sake- it was ONE day! Its not like they are making them starve and go without water every day of the school year. I think for ONE day a child can go 5 stinking hours without food- it won't ruin their "diet" any!!

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.

Dramatic much?? If a student has listened/participated throughout their school years, studied, and prepared for an entrance exam then food or lack thereof for 5 hours is not going to make a bit of difference. This angst and immediate rush to defend their "babies" from the evil system by parents is why our kiddos are not able to "handle" any type of adversity or discomfort. No one is being denied sustainance, they can bring a Powerbar or other snack and eat it during breaks! They can also get drinks during breaks and even bring their own water bottles to leave outside the testing area if they don't want the fountain. And to say that this is a control issue by test administrators is just absurd. We wonder why many, many kids don't have respect for authority figures.......

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.

 

[disney1990]

Thanks for asking punkin.

DD said the science portion was on another science completely different than what she had taken this past year, so that is somewhat of a concern to her. She thinks the writing portion went better for her than the SATs and the Reading & the Math were about at the same level as the SATs. Her SAT scores were fine (she'll take them one more time in the fall) so I am kind of thinking that she might have knocked this one out of the park. I read somewhere that the ACTs switch off between the two main HS sciences (Physics, Chemistry) so if she feels it's necessary to take the ACT again in the fall, her favorite science might be up in the rotation for the new testing-season.

I wish the ACT had a firm date for when the scores were available. Anybody here remember how many weeks after the test they got the scores?

agnes!
PS - It's funny to me how a thread can take off so violently different than what I might have supposed when I post the OP. Usually my threads die the same day they're started ...

Agnes, I hope your DD did better than she thinks she did on the science part. And I hope she did well overall.

 

[punkin]

Thanks for asking punkin.

DD said the science portion was on another science completely different than what she had taken this past year, so that is somewhat of a concern to her. She thinks the writing portion went better for her than the SATs and the Reading & the Math were about at the same level as the SATs. Her SAT scores were fine (she'll take them one more time in the fall) so I am kind of thinking that she might have knocked this one out of the park. I read somewhere that the ACTs switch off between the two main HS sciences (Physics, Chemistry) so if she feels it's necessary to take the ACT again in the fall, her favorite science might be up in the rotation for the new testing-season.

I wish the ACT had a firm date for when the scores were available. Anybody here remember how many weeks after the test they got the scores?

agnes!
PS - It's funny to me how a thread can take off so violently different than what I might have supposed when I post the OP. Usually my threads die the same day they're started ...

DD bombed her science, but did so well on the other sections that her composite was better than her SATs. I hope your DD does as well (other than science).

The writing score takes a little longer to get because that is hand scored, but the rest of the test is pretty fast if I recall - less than a month definitely.