 The ACT, formerly the American College Testing Program or American College Test, is a college-entrance achievement test that emerged in 1959 as a competitor to the SAT. Mirroring the changes undergone by the SAT in 2005, the ACT started offering a writing test in February, 2005. Almost every college accepts and treats the ACT and SAT equally.
Format
The ACT is consists of four sections: English, Reading, Mathematics, and Science Reasoning. The maximum sub-section score is 36, while sub scores, which are only given in English, Mathematics, and Reading, range from 1-18. The total score is the average of all four sections. In addition, the person taking the test may receive a writing score ranging from 1 to 12. The writing score does not affect the total score directly, but is averaged with the English score for an English/writing score.
The average score is around 20 to 21. Any total score over 30 is considered to be in the 99th percentile. In the 2004-2005 testing cycle, 251 students nationwide received a perfect ACT composite score of 36, a lower number than perfect scores on the SAT, mostly because of the lesser number of ACT test test-takers. Math Section
There are 60 questions on the ACT math section, which must be completed during an hour. The math section covers pre-algebra, elementary algebra, intermediate algebra, coordinate geometry, geometry, and trigonometry.
Acceptance
The ACT is commonly used for college admissions, but it is also sometimes used for class placement. The vast majority of colleges treats the SAT and ACT the same. In the past, coastal universities tended to prefer SAT scores over ACT, but that has changed during the past couple of decades. Now, even Harvard admissions officers, as reported in a New York Times story, admit that they don't prefer one test over the other, and more students on the East and West Coasts are discovering the ACT.
Organization
The ACT is guided by a private not-for-profit organization under the same name. The headquarters is located in Iowa City, Iowa. E.F. Lindquist and Ted McCarrel, faculty members of the University of Iowa, founded the organization in 1959 (ACT does not have any official affiliation with the university). ACT received its current name following a name change in 1997. Besides the ACT, it also administers several assessment tests in other fields. While the SAT is more popular in the northeast and the west coast, the ACT is more widely used in the Midwest and southeast United States. Usage of the ACT by colleges has risen as a result of various criticisms of the effectiveness and fairness of the SAT.
 In Colorado and Illinois, the ACT is taken by all high school juniors as a standard to measure schools and the students, and Michigan is in the process of doing the same.[1] This exam is like the regular test except that the NCAA will not accept it; ironically the ACT administers the NCAA athlete eligibility system. In most states however, the ACT is an optional test for college acceptance.
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