My son, who will be a senior when school starts back up, took the ACT test for his first time on Sat. It was at his high school. He came home dripping in sweat and when I asked how the test went, he said it was harder than the SAT and it was hard to concentrate because it was so hot. He was told the maintenance person who was supposed to come and turn on the air just never showed up. It was 81 degrees before the test even started and 100 degrees by noon when they were finishing up. I am extremely frustrated to say the least. I emailed his school counselor who was there to ask if my understanding was correct and she said unfortunately it was. She apologized and let me know that she had contacted the principal about it.
I filed a complaint about the testing center with ACT and got a canned response back about how they will look into the situation and get back to me within 5 weeks. Do you think he will be able to get a credit to retake the test again? The next test isn't until Sept and he will start applying to colleges next month in July. He got a 1320 on the SAT so should he just use that score and not worry about retaking the ACT?
One last question, now that I have filed a complaint will his test scores automatically be canceled? Thanks for any advice. I am so frustrated to have paid for the test, for my son who spent time preparing for it, and then to have to sit for four hours in such miserable conditions. This is Arizona. Indoor AC is not optional.
When DD took the test in winter, there was no heat and the room was cold. It was horrible…I didn’t think of filing a complaint though. I don’t know how she could concentrate…
Wait till he gets the result in about 10 days and see how he does…
Can your son take the SAT in August and ACT in September? I think the ACT release date would be September 19 and he still has time to decide for college…
The first time my D17 took the ACT, the community college it was at had a fire alarm go off and everyone had to leave the building for 10-15 minutes before it got shut off (false alarm). This happened during the Reading section. Naturally I and I presume a bunch of other parents complained, but this didn’t make the test scores automatically get cancelled. The person at the other end of the phone was very sympathetic and nice about the whole thing, FWIW, and since the kids all got to stay later and complete the Reading section, nothing came of it. As it turned out, my D17 got a 35 on that section, better by a few points than any other section…so I ended it there.
However that experience would have really rattled a kid with test anxiety and I imagine that I would have been extremely agitated if she’d “bombed” that section. Canceling the whole test score wouldn’t have been optimal, but it’s what I would have done.
I’m really sorry this happened to your son and every other kid in that situation. It really stinks.
The fire alarm thing happened in my area last year in the middle of SAT. The test was cancelled afterward.
Why is your son applying so early (July)? The ComApp doesn’t even open until August. Am I missing something here?
Your son can cancel his scores up to I think the next week after the test. You won’t get a refund. But then you can register for the September ACT and mark those scores to be sent to the schools your son is applying to.
Very curious about the July application thing.
Off topic but your avatar is scary, @mohammadmohd18 . Was that the winner of some ugliest cat contest or something?
I think the point may be tht all the kids that took that exam should be able to cancel yet be refunded, since the temperature was untenable and out of their control.
I definitely think all the kids who took the test should be refunded. There is a reason they don’t use hot yoga studios as testing centers. The temp was about the same as it would have been at hot yoga. I guess I will just have to wait and see what they say.
He is applying to Barrett honors college at ASU and can’t do that until he is accepted at ASU so he was going to apply as soon as it opens in July. He is my oldest so this is all new to me. Things have changed since I applied to college 22 years ago.