The American College Test, better known as the ACT, challenges students to perform at a high level on a high stakes test.

There are several resources available for students who plan to test. For Powell High School juniors, April 11 will be the day the test is administered here.

So how should students prepare?

“OpenEd is a free resource,” said Mr. Trevor Lee,the PHS ACT coordinator. “It goes along with your Aspire results so most of the juniors and sophomores took the Aspire last year it connects with the ACT; and we use those scores and we put them in OpenEd … and it will build you a study program to help in your weak areas.”

Shmoop is another resource used by Mr. Scott McKenzie in his ACT prep class. It is online and anyone can use it anyone at any time, so if you’re a sophomore and you want to get a head start on Shmoop and gain a better understanding on how the ACT will go, all you need to do is talk to Mr. McKenzie and he will help you.

“I use it in the classroom because it makes it kid friendly, like the language and learning,” said Mr. McKenzie. “You could use Shmoop at any grade level or age level.”

Something else you can do the night before and day of the ACT, Mr. Lee said is, “Get a really good night sleep, don’t go to bed at 1 o’clock in the morning, eat a really good breakfast just keeping your energy levels up, for when you’re sitting in a chair for 6 hours, is really important. Don’t cram for the test either, if you find yourself a night or two before the ACT test happens, just take it easy. Do what you can to relax and prepare yourself mentally for it.”

A student’s ACT score, combined with their GPA, determines which Hathaway scholarship a Wyoming student will be eligible for (see chart). There are four levels of qualification. To be considered in the Honors category you’d need a 3.5 GPA and then get a 25 on the test. Then you’d earn $1,680 in scholarships. If you have a 3.0 GPA then you’ll need to get a 21 on the ACT. This is for the performance category and you’d earn $1,260. Then if you have a 2.5 GPA you need 19 on the ACT. For the Opportunity and Provisional you’d earn $840 for both.

Mr. Lee also said potential Division I student-athletes must need to make sure their GPA is high, even if your ACT scores aren’t the best. It also works vice versa, if your GPA is low you’d want to try and score high on your ACT. If you have a 4.0 GPA the least you could get on the ACT is a 20. If you have a 2.5 GPA you would still want your score above a 20. For your ACT sum score, the NCAA adds up the four core areas English, math, reading and science and if you have a 3.5 GPA you’d need a sum score of 37. The lowest GPA you can have and still be considered Division one is 2.3 then you’d need a sum score of 75. So the higher you can get your GPA the less you have to score on your ACT for qualifying

“If kids are wanting to know exactly what they need to get, they’ll need to come talk to their counselor. More specifically me, because I am in charge of the NCAA as well,” said Mr. Lee.