Site intermittently down, then won’t recognize email/password combo, even if I reset it. Is this system-wide, or unique to my sign in?
The version of the site I see has the test registration option completely removed.
Now this appears on their website: NotificationsClose Notifications
We are in the process of soft-launching a new registration system, which is experiencing some performance degradation due to unusually high demand. Many students affected by COVID-19-related test center closures and cancellations are attempting to register for fall test dates. We are working diligently to improve the experience for all users. If you have been impacted by summer testing cancellations, you will receive an email from us with further instructions.
They soft-launched new software on the day that they opened registration for the September ACT, the day they KNEW they were going to be bombarded with requests??? Whose brilliant idea was this???
Meanwhile, I cannot get a seat for my senior who’s not yet been able to take an ACT or an SAT, who is applying early decision! So frustrating!
And now this:
Due to high demand, we’ve taken the MyACT registration page down in order to improve system performance. We’re sorry for the inconvenience. Please check back on our website and social media channels for updates.
No mention of when they will be back up, whether there are any seats left, whether they will add more sites and seats.
Well, today the ACT finally opened up registration. They put people into virtual “waiting rooms” for hours, and even those who were waiting to sign in right at the starting gun time, were unable to obtain seats for their kids to take the ACT this fall. Some people did manage to get a September test date, over a thousand miles away from where they live. I think that this spells the end of the ACT and SAT for college admission. Many schools had gone test optional, but now, I believe that for this year, schools will have to go test-blind, meaning that they won’t look at any applicant’s test, since so many applicants were denied the chance to take the test at all. And once they go test-blind, I don’t think that they’ll go back.
@parentologist
We had an interesting twist on the thousand-mile registration deal: we found a spot, on 9/13, “only” 107 miles away from Chicago. No problem, we’d be there in 90 minutes on a Sunday morning. We happily clicked through all that “find out who you really are” nonsense, entered the credit card info, and bang! We got registered in Kansas, 10 hrs from us.
I tried to change it, and when I did, it showed the spot 107 miles away as the one we registered for. But in the profile, we still have Kansas!
I e-mailed their customer service and got a case number. Let’s see if they ever respond.
ACT is a joke and should be charged with the all important task of administering a nationwide standardized test that literally affects millions of people each year.
Sure covid threw ACT and everyone a curve ball. But ACTs only objective since March had been to allow potential college students to take a test for which ACT is the gatekeeper. Being the gatekeeper not only comes with many responsibilities, duties and obligations, but also has many financial rewards.
ACT is clearly over its head and has no viable plan to carry out anything properly. It’s only been 6 months and the ACT is in the exact same ineffective role as it’s been since the pandemic began.
My D is experiencing the same thing with ACT. We live in Texas. After waiting virtually in line for an hour, the ACT registered my D to be able to take the test in whitewater, Wisconsin.
You can’t make this stuff up.
@dadof3and1dog
We are in complete agreement.
But if they only allowed people to trade testing sights! Within days, almost everybody affected would be OK.
For example, Whitewater WI is less than 2 hrs from our home.
Not sure how ACT does it but if you use a VPN and the website uses a geo finder it could place you where the VPN is located, not your home. Just throwing that out there.
What is becoming abundantly clear is that ACT does not have the ability nor wherewithal to properly administer a standardized test. A standardized test should be standardized on all matters including the content of test and the method of how the test is administered, monitored, graded, etc.
The responsibilities are voluminous and difficult. ACT is clearly not up to task and it’s inability to even offer the test compromises the standardized nature of the very standardized test being given.
For example, how uniform can the test be when students cannot dictate when and where to take the test? Does canceling test dates at the last minute hurt some test takers over others? Does test availability in rural areas prejudice students in urban areas?
Again ACT is a joke and has woefully failed in its only duty and mission to students and has caused irreparable harm to these students. 6 months is plenty of time to come up with a suitable alternative by ACT. As of today, those who want to take the test are shut out indefinitely. Those who have taken the test cannot get their results due to the website being down.
Again ACT is a joke that we all unfortunately cannot laugh at
@chmcnm
Interesting hypothesis but no, no VPN/anonymous connection, or anything like that. And even that would not explain the discrepancy between the two addresses I described.
Artsy, the exact same scenario affecting your child occurred with my D21. My D2 signed up for a test in Texas and was then provided a Whitewater, WI location after registering. Then when my D21 tried to immediately change the testing location, the prompt showed the location as being in Texas in conflict with the registered location. My D21 also opened a complaint via email and by phone. The complaint was lost in the abyss of the ACT and then the ACT website became inoperable.
None of us have recourse and the ACT is inept.
All we can do is wait and literally do nothing else
My daughter is a rising senior. We have only one test date available in Sept and one test date available in October in my region. The nearest site is a hour’s drive away from home, and the other 1+hrs away and both are full for Sept. Does anyone know if more dates or test sites will be made available later?
This whole situation is very frustrating.
@chanthor
Their site lists later dates, all the way to June, I believe.
You should look into it immediately, the spots will be gone in no time
@dadof3and1dog
Let’s see how it shapes up… I wouldn’t count on their prompt answer but perhaps in a few weeks?
The obvious problem for rising seniors is that these opportunities to take the ACT are very singular. There is only 1 month of August to take the ACT and only 1 month of September to take the ACT before the start of their senior years.
Once there opportunities are foreclosed upon for whatever reason, including ACT not having its act together, then these kids can never get this opportunity back.
The entire world understands that the pandemic causes unforeseen disruptions to the norm.
ACT has had ample time to adjust, prepare and respond to covid and has simply been terribly remiss in carrying out its responsibilities. For example, I can order a spike ball game on Amazon that can be delivered to my doorstep within 1-2 days. But it impossible to even sign up, much less take, an ACT for the last 6 months.
The big difference is that I don’t necessarily need a spike ball game. But taking the ACT is necessarily needed for most college applications.
I will quit complaining but agree that the ACT ordeal has been terribly frustrating and disappointing
Has anyone stayed on the registration site long enough to see any movement in the availability of seats? I just spent about 30 minutes on there and I saw one OK place available and then 10 minutes later it was gone. Then another about an hour a way popped up for September. Too bad it doesn’t look like you can put a bunch of dates in your cart and then choose the best one!
Also, there seems to be no choice for selection of one or two sections of the test - even for the 2021 dates. The choices are either full test with writing or full test without.
@CheddarcheeseMN - ACT announced a month or so ago that they will not be rolling out section tests this year for the HS class of 2021. I don’t recall if they committed to a date for section retakes since they backed away from offering them this Fall after telling everyone for a year + about this opportunity. You can only register for the full test with or without writing now.
Cheddar, yes the ACT made this announcement. Now we css as I only register and take an ACT test, any ACT test
I’m happy to report that from our standpoint, they did solve 1% of their problems last night, i.e. they sent my daughter an email saying: you are not in Kansas anymore. The mismatch between registration sites was fixed, we are merely 107 miles away so, on 9/13, we will have an early morning ride to Buckley, IL.
And just now, they teased the availability of a site in Chicago. But it was a mirage, we went through all the clicks to find out there was a system error and they cannot process the change request…
i just grabbed a September date in Southern NY. I’ve been checking multiple times per day and nothing until now…