The mandatory tests are slowly creeping up on juniors and seniors. One of those tests is the American College Test, or as it’s known by the school’s populace, the ACT. It is a mandatory test to take if any student wishes to go to a university. Students must either study on their own or with the help of the school from four to five.

“If they started reviewing [the ACT] in classes, that would take away class time when some people won’t even be taking it at that time,” junior Matthew Sanchez said.

There are two tests students must take in order to be accepted into college which are the ACT and the SAT. Students either took the ACT today or need to take it on a weekend at an LISD school. Some students think they should only be required to take one of them while students think both should be required.

“I feel it depends on the circumstances,” Sanchez said. “Because if you’re in the first quartile then only one, but if you’re in the second it should depend on how you do and for the third or fourth you should take both.”

The highest score a student can achieve on the ACT is a 36. Junior Jack Sutton shared his hopes for his score on the test.

“My goals for the test are to get a 30 or higher because I feel that if my score was that level, I could be accepted into most colleges of my choice,” Sutton said.

Another big discussion about the test is the idea of it being timed. The ACT is roughly five hours and encompasses science, english, and math. Sutton shared his thoughts on the matter.

“I don’t think [the ACT] should be timed. Although working under a time limit is a good skill to have, some people simply have trouble and get stressed out under a time limit,” Sutton said. “Not having a time limit could possibly improve scores, because students would be able to do all of the questions vs. only doing x amount in the set time limit.”

After the answers were bubbled and the pencils being sharpened to a fine point only to be dulled and it’s size decreasing and decreasing, Sutton explained what his thoughts on the test were.

“I thought that the test was easier than expected, and it was more similar to the SAT than I thought,” Sutton said. “I also felt it was more representative of essential high school than the SAT. So overall I felt that the ACT is better than the SAT.”