American college testing (ACT) is kind of test meant for high school achievement and new enrollment in colleges mostly for students in the United States. It was first introduced into the syllabus by Everett Franklin in 1959 to compete SAT meaning Scholastic Aptitude Test. Initially, ACT used to cover four test subjects namely English, Natural sciences, Mathematics and Social Studies. But in 1989 few changes were made in the naming system of test subject such as Social adding Studies Test to Reading Section. In this new course subsections of Social Studies were introduced. Another change involved Natural Science which was changed to Science Reasoning Test. It mostly dwelled on problem solving skills.

In February 2005, additional test subject was added. The test included writing test which was made optional. Most people have also argued that very soon probably in 2015 ACT may introduce computer-based test. Constructed Response Question is the kind of test where computer based questions can be fixed. The good thing is that the test can set in a paper format for schools or colleges that are reluctant in introducing computer test.

The good news is that the number of people enrolling for ACT test has increased over the years since its inception. In 2011 ACT recorded a huge enrollment by registering 1,666,017. This was the first time in history for ACT to take more students for the test exams as compared to SAT which sent 1,664,479. All universities and colleges in the USA have introduced the ACT into the curriculum. Only few different institutions are still using different factors of evaluation such as extracurricular activities, class rank and GPA. Any student taking ACT exams is entitled for four tests scored on a scale of 1-36. At the end of the test composite score is provided adding up to the average of the four score.

The ACT test can be taken by any student eligible for high school or college level. It is not like a serious or final exam that requires you to have prior knowledge in order to pass. Here everything is provided in the test booklets. If you are keen enough you can get most of the answers from the issued materials. When given the paper the first thing you should do is to go over it and specify topic to tackle. The test doesn’t require you to master the words as they appear in the dictionary but instead you are required to use your own critical thinking and application to analyze the questions.

The ACT test can come in two ways the first category is non-writing and the second category involves writing. Under non-writing test 75 questions are tested for 45 minutes to measure rhetorical skills and Standard English in general. In mathematics 60 questions are tested for a time limit of 60 minutes. The main intention here is to test mathematical skills leaners acquired from the beginning of grade 12. The last two tests Reading and Science are examine for the same period of time since they share the same number of questions. More information can be found in this link http://www.actstudent.org/testprep/descriptions/

The second category of CAT involves a 30 minutes test of writing. The main intention of the examiners here is to test your writing skills, evaluate you speed and test how you can interpret information through writing. What is being tested here is not unique some of them include what had already been taught in high school and compositions courses for college qualification. The nature of the question is always very simple. For instance an issue is define and described using two points of view. Therefore, as a learner you are expected to use your opinion to take suitable position while describing the prompt. The following link can provide more details. http://www.actstudent.org/testprep/descriptions/writingdescript.html

Students need to take their ACT test very seriously because this is what can help them to join higher institutions of their choice and their selective courses. The higher the score you get the more your chances of joining higher ranked universities. A score of 27-30 will lead you to higher selective universities. 25-27 selective universities, 22-24 traditional, 18-21 liberal and 17-20 are opened to every university students.

The test is usually offered in a time frame of four to six years but this varies depending with the states. These tests are mandatory to every student including those with genuine disability who can be assisted at some level. Due to their condition disabled students are normally given time extension averagely 50% of the normal time. In order to avoid any interference the tests are done of every Saturday of the following months: February, April and June. The second phase start from September, October and December. More explanations are available here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACT_(test).