At the start of junior year, talk of the ACT begins quietly, but as the year moves along, the quiet chatter becomes a loud roar as students’ hopes, fears and dreams start to materialize.

The ACT is a standardized test that most high schoolers take in the spring of their junior year. This test is considered very important as most colleges require either it or the SAT, a similar standardized test, as a part of their application criteria. As spring rapidly approaches, many juniors are in the midst of the long road of preparation towards a score that could determine their future, and seniors are vividly remembering their journey of ACT prep.

There are a lot of different routes a student can take when preparing for the ACT: personal tutors, tutoring companies, online sources, practice tests, prep books and many others options. Some students stick to one strategy while others use every type of prep available to them. It is all about personal preference.

Senior Meagan Vicens prepared with different resources.

“I did group tutoring and then an individual, one-on-one tutoring for the subjects I was weakest in,” said Vicens.

Another senior, Camilla Fernandez, had a more streamlined course of action.

“I took a course at Huntington in downtown Arlington Heights starting the summer going into junior year up until the ACT in December,” said Fernandez.

After the ordeal of taking the ACT is completely over, many students wish they had done things differently in hindsight. Both seniors would have altered their course of action for the ACT, either taking more time on their weaker subjects or just making sure they got enough sleep the night before the exam.

While seniors can no longer alter their methods of preparation, many juniors are already getting a jump on studying.

“I am prepping by taking a tutoring course online from a company called Varsity Tutors,” said junior Madison Walker.

Another thing to keep in mind about studying for the ACT is that this type of preparation will be helpful in college when students need to figure out a course of action for college exams.

“Studying for the ACT helps you learn how you need to prepare in the future,” said counselor Mrs. Stephanie Spiewak.

The most important fact to remember as the ACT approaches is that studying is about what works best for the individual because everyone learns differently.