The ACT is America's most widely accepted college entrance exam. It assesses high school students' general educational development and their ability to complete college-level work.
The concept for the American College Testing Program emerged in the 1950s, and the organization itself was founded in 1959. At the time, U.S. political and demographic developments were inspiring major changes in attitudes about, and approaches to, higher education.

Prior to 1959, there was just one national college-entrance testing program, a program that focused on identifying the most academically able students for admission to the nation's selective universities.
In the late 1950s, large numbers of students were approaching college age and wanted to attend college. Financial aid to students was increasing, and most colleges desired increasing enrollments. It was in this environment that ACT's founders established The American College Testing Program, Inc., now known as ACT.

ACT's first testing program, the ACT Assessment, was designed to serve two purposes:
- to help students make better decisions about which colleges to attend and which programs to study, and
- to provide information helpful to colleges both in the process of admitting students and in ensuring their success after enrollment.
As the nation's view of education evolved to embrace lifelong learning, ACT's programs and services have similarly grown and evolved—helping people plan for, and assess, learning and training throughout their lives, while in school or the workplace. As a result, ACT has played an increasingly important role in the nation's educational enterprise, by contributing to the scope of the nation's educational vision and delivering programs that support that vision.
In late 1996, it changed its name from The American College Testing Program to ACT (pronounced "A - C - T").

 The weight placed on ACT scores varies from school to school. Other important factors that schools consider in their admissions decisions are your high school GPA and academic transcript, letters of recommendation, interviews, and personal essays. In addition, virtually all U.S. colleges and universities will accept SAT scores in lieu of ACT scores.
For more specific information on the importance of ACT scores at the schools to which you are applying, contact the admissions offices at those schools.

The ACT is offered nationally every year in October, December, February, April, and June (see chart below). In select states it is also given in September. Students have traditionally taken the ACT in the spring of their junior year and, if necessary, again in the fall of their senior year. However, more and more students are choosing to take their first ACT at an earlier point, such as during the fall of their junior year. This gives them more flexibility to retake the ACT one or more times, or to take the SAT or SAT IIs.

For more information and tips visit:
www.act.org, www.actstudent.org, www.act-secrets.com.

For online test preparation visit www.actonlineprep.com or www.actol.net

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