I just finished taking my ACT at The university of Southern Mississippi. During the science portion of the test, our proctor called out 5 minutes remaining when the test was only 10 minutes in. We started the test at 11:15 and 5 minutes remaining was called at 11:25. I checked my watch and saw others doing the same with a look of confusion on their faces. With panic, I started bubbling in answers on the answer document in an attempt to have all the questions answered, regardless of if they were right or not. This was my First ACT test to take. I was distracted by the fear of not finishing and could not think for the next few minutes as I tried to work. But after 5 minutes went by, nothing was said and I knew she messed up but she didn’t say anything after 5 minutes. I struggled understanding the questions due to my overwhelming thoughts of fear and anxiety over the whole situation. I started to erase the false answers I had put earlier and continued to work. My concentration was gone. At 11:45, the proctor called 5 minutes remaining. I was only half way finished and had no choice but to rebubble the answers I had put earlier. At this point, I was frustrated and confused. At the conclusion of the ACT, I approached the proctor and explained to her that she had mistakenly called 5 minutes remaining during the science portion and that it will cause a major inconvenience to my science score. She denied everything and told me she said everything correctly and that she was just reading the prompter on her computer. I talked with 5 other people afterwards and they said the same thing as me. While not wanting a full dismissal of my scores, restitution is deserved. I tried to call ACT afterwards and ended up sending an email because they are closed right now.
What do y’all think should happen? I want the opportunity to retake it for free in July because this issue will mess up my entire score and they aren’t doing individual Section retesting until fall of 2021.
You’ll have to actually talk with ACT to ask if they will let you do this. Good luck getting through to them right now, though you are in the right.
You probably should have raised your hand and called out the proctor on the spot.
True, I should’ve raised my hand during the test. I was too nervous and caught up in my own world to say anything because I was focused on finishing on time. I wasn’t sure if she had made a mistake or if I looked at my watch wrong when we started. I began to realize that she had indeed made an error after about 10 minutes of her not saying anything; and I was only on question 15.