ACT 2022

ACT+2022

Kaitlyn Wildoner, Staff Writer - The Mustang Messenger

This week the MCHS seniors took their ACTs. If you don’t know much about the ACT, the highest score you can receive is a 36, and the lowest is a 1. The average score for females in 2021 was 20.6. The average for males was 20.3 in 2021 as well. The test lasts a total of four hours. To get some genuine perspective of the testing experience, here are some seniors who have taken it.

Seniors were asked to rate the test 1 out of 10, 1 being easy and 10 being very difficult. Krislyn Carty gave the ACT a 3/10 and said it was not extremely difficult. The math portion was the hardest for her, and the reading comprehension section was the easiest. She said it took her the entire time to finish, and she worked diligently throughout the test. She used several tips and tricks in preparation for the ACT: Attending senior studies, she didn’t read every passage on the science and immediately went to the chart it states, and when clueless about the answer, she guessed the same letter answer for each question (ex: only A’s or B’s.) She encourages all students to take practice standardized tests. If you are interested, it takes $50 to take each practice test. She also mentioned that unless your major has something to do with writing then do not take the writing portion of the ACT. She also advises those upcoming test takers not to stress too hard over the ACT, and as long as you prepare you should be fine.

Katie Courtney was asked these same questions. She rated the difficulty of the test a 6/10 and says the test went by quickly. Math was the hardest for her and science came the easiest since most answers on the science portion were obvious to her. It took her the entire time as well to complete the ACT, and she thinks she did decently. Her advice is to skip the ones you don’t know and move on to those you do know, then come back to the others later. She said that to study for the ACT, she paid extra attention during class, but as far as extra preparation goes, that’s all she did, which is just fine if it works for her. 

Matthew Scheer rated the test a 7/10. He said science was the hardest for him and the English portion was the easiest. It did not take him the entire time, and in total, he had about thirty minutes left. He believes he did well on the test overall and passed on each portion. He did not do anything specific to prepare for the test, and his advice to the students who will take the ACT is to pay for the practice courses. 

“The environment made it hard to concentrate because the air kept kicking on.” Says Scheer. 

Fawwaz Turkmani was interviewed as well, and he rated this test a 5/10 in difficulty. Math and English were the hardest to complete for him and he said he had trouble remembering grammar rules. His advice to those taking the test is to read the last passage on the science portion since it is the most difficult, then go to the first passage and read the graph attached. It took him the entire time, and he thinks he did well. He says the repetitive temperature change made it difficult to take the test.