<p>My ACT was in my cafeteria. Let me tell you, that place is always freezing during lunch. It’s the weekend, so it was barely heated at all. Everyone was taking the ACT with their hoodies and varsity jackets on. Eventually, my toes and hands were freezing. I was shivering and my hands were blue, it was insane. I got to the reading test, and I finally went up to the proctor and said something along the lines of, “Listen, this room is way too cold. I’m freezing and I honestly can’t focus on the test. Can you scratch it and not score it?” She hated to do that, so she told me to put on a jacket, and I did. But me, and everyone else, were still freezing.</p>
<p>Soon after some other kids complained and we all switched out of the cafeteria to a room with a much nicer environment, and was much warmer, and I felt fine. I wasn’t nervous, stressed, and time wasn’t an issue. I was just freezing and couldn’t focus! So basically I feel like I did awesome on everything, but I had to guess on the whole Reading section.</p>
<p>1) Could I get a refund from ACT?
2) I’m not the whining time at ALL. I never complain, but considering that this test was really important to me, I decided to speak up. Was I crazy?
3) What were your rooms like?</p>
<p>My testing environment was awful as well. The desks that were in the testing area were even smaller than the testing booklets itself, so I had to fold the answer booklet and had to keep flipping back and forth. Additionally, I couldn’t put even a calculator on the desk since it was about 1/3 the size of a conventional desk, so I had to calculate on my lap. Just filed a complaint. For Michigan testers, AVOID the Bishop Foley testing site.</p>
<p>You’re at Bishop Foley!? Wow, what a coincidence. I live in Waterford, MI. I go to Waterford Kettering. I would think that Foley has a good testing environment, because it’s…well…Foley. My uncle used to teach Religion there for 25 years or so. I hear they have amazing sports teams too.</p>
<p>The fire alarm went off at my testing center, twice. Apparently some idiot doesn’t know how to make popcorn so it burnt and set off the alarm, twice! Both times were during the math test so we had like 80 minutes to do it, too bad I finished before 60.</p>
<p>My testing center was at my high school and we were in one of the science classrooms, unfortunately. The room was an okay temperature but the one working clock had a glare from where I was sitting (luckily I brought a watch). The biggest problem I had was with the table. Because it was a science classroom, we didn’t have smooth surface tables and were instead using the black laboratory tables that are textured on the top, so I had to put my answer document on top of my test so I could properly fill in the bubbles.</p>
<p>My experience was actually the opposite of yours.</p>
<p>My test center was actually moved to somewhere else about 3 weeks before, somewhere far from the original center. Still, I didn’t really mind.</p>
<p>First of all, the seats were horrible. They were the small metal ones with metal rods, metal desks and metal chairs. But it was okay to cope with.</p>
<p>Our proctor warned us right off the bat to tell us if we felt too warm or cold. During the test, she was constantly walking up and adjusting the thermostat. It got to a point where it was bloody hot, and a student asked her to turn off the heat. Other took off their jackets and sweaters too. Then the proctor opened the door and flies began flying in. Luckily, it was only during the essay part where they kept buzzing in my ear. Other students were swatting at them.</p>
<p>Overall it was a average environment, but I wouldn’t choose this location again.</p>
<p>You were not crazy to speak up. Considering how important your ACT test scores are when you apply to college, you need to have every chance to succeed on the test. What’s most worrisome is that some colleges require you to send every single ACT score you have, not just your best. Come college application time, you don’t want to have to send a score as low as 12 if you could have done much better under different circumstances.</p>
<p>File a complaint with the ACT (You must file within two weeks of the testing date). There were two majors issues:</p>
<p>A) The point of standardized testing is that everyone takes the same test under the same conditions. If during the reading section you are so cold you can’t concentrate on the task at hand, those conditions are unacceptable. </p>
<p>B) When you asked the proctor to cancel your test, she should have canceled it immediately. </p>
<p>As far as if you get your money back, it depends on what ACT determines is the correct action. If they find supporting evidence for your claim, they may offer everyone who was affected by the compromised conditions a retest at no additional fee. You can read more about it here:</p>
<p>As I was just finishing up my writing section, proofreading actually, I noticed I had this pretty mad runny nose. As to not break my concentration I just did a quick wipe with my free hand. When I look at my hand, I noticed it was covered in blood. Turns out I had a HORRIBLE bloody nose, luckily though, with only about two minutes left in the test. We’re talking multiple streams here!</p>