Now that the more “intense” years of school have jump-started, many students have decided to turn their visions from what their next test grade is going to be, to what their next step is going to be.

You guessed it — college.

Aside from the SAT, many colleges also request that the ACT be taken as well, as an additional test score to judge students’ performance.

This year, NAI is hosting a PreACT for all sophomores. The SAT and the ACT are a big factor for colleges, often deciding whether they will accept someone or not. These standardized tests are not required for students to take, but rather are an optional test that displays a students knowledge on Math, Science, and (on SAT) English. To prepare for these important standardized tests, North Allegheny gives students the option to take a practice test for the ACT.

NAEye interviewed students to see whether they are taking the PreACT or not, and why.

Twenty-one sophomores were interviewed, all with ranging academic levels. Most of the students who said they were not going to take it concluded that the practice test took too much time, and it would not be worth what they thought was a meager benefit.

For the students that said they were going to take the PreACT or had already taken a similar test, the majority of them believed it would improve their final SAT and ACT test scores. 57% of the students surveyed said they were going to take some form of a practice test for the SAT and/or the ACT.

Among these students, several had compelling points about why or why not they made the decision to take the PreACT.

Allie Krieger, a sophomore who is taking the practice test on Saturday, November 17th, said, “I’m taking the ACT so that I can get the whole packet, and study, and then do well on the actual ACTs.”

Many other students are taking this test for other reasons, but this is an essential factor for most students. The proctors of the test allow one to access the packet with the answers, so students can utilize this as a practice resource for the actual test.

Contrary to this, nearly half of the sophomores interviewed did not think the PreACT would have many benefits.

One student, Caroline Kasunich stated, “I don’t want to waste three hours of a Saturday, it doesn’t count, and I don’t want to have to pay for it.”

Among students who decided to not take the test, many said something similar. The test does take up almost three hours of a Saturday morning and costs $35.00, which many students view as a deterrent to the positives this test may provide.

To get an expert’s thoughts on the PreACT, NAEye went to Mr. Butler, a student counselor here at NAI. He explained the benefits of the PreACT as, “…good for kids at the tenth-grade level so they can begin to practice the remediate skills that they might see on the ACT. The nice thing that the PreACT does is it’s scored on the same scale that the ACT is scored on, the 1-36 grading scale. They can use it as practice for the real ACT, or, colleges will look at the practice scores, and you can qualify for different scholarships and stuff based on that score. It’s just a good predictor to see how you might do. The nice thing that it has is that it has a kind of interest inventory to it. Kids will go through and fill out what their interests are, and what they’ll try to do, is that they’ll find colleges and interests and see maybe how you can align those two. It can benefit you if you use all the material that it gives you, and all the results that come with it. I think what it does is that it helps kids get an idea of what their range is, and base their preparation level off of that.”

Overall, the opinions on taking the PreACT differ between the students of NAI. Those who are taking it believe it will help them to prepare for the actual test, because the practice test provides a test packet with answers. Others argue that the test length and cost do not balance out with the potential benefits of taking the test.

Whether or not students take the PreACT, the actual ACT is a key component in a college application.

For more information on PreACT, students should meet with their guidance counselors.