Early this morning my DS and I discovered that he mistakenly signed up for ACT with writing (he wanted just the ACT alone). He had already taken the writing section in the Fall of 2015 and did fine. He has worked hard over the past few weeks to prep for today’s test, hoping to bring his score up (just one point is all he hoped for). He didn’t prep for writing and just wasn’t ready.
I jumped on the ACT website and in the FAQs it says that, if it’s past the deadline, you can ask at the test center if there is room in a “non-writing” room. Of course it was past the deadline as it was the morning of the test.
So, I sent him off with that information and encouraged him to get there early and ask.
When he arrived, he approached a test center worker who’s response was “Nice try. You have to take what you signed up for.” He said she was rude as well.
Yes, it was our error that he was signed up for the wrong test, and yes, he has a writing score that works ok. And, yes, I know that many schools don’t even use or look at the writing score.
But it’s just rude and misinformed and not a great way for a student to start a long day of testing.
(My DS thinks he did fine and he wasn’t rattled. I just think workers should know the rules so that things go smoothly for everyone. It’s a stressful enough day for them.)