It is 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning.  A sense of anxiety rushes through the students as they get ready to start their practice ACT.  Regardless of whether they have taken it previously or not, each student wishes to improve their score.  They have until April of their junior year to do so.

Hosted by Sylvan Learning, the practice ACT took place on Jan. 23 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Huntley Area Public Library.  According to Jill Holtz, center director, Sylvan has been hosting the ACT at the Huntley Library for about 8 years.

“Sylvan offers about five free practice tests a year at our center in Algonquin,”  said Holtz.  “We also just hosted one at the Dundee Public Library and have one scheduled in February with the Algonquin Library.”

The library itself also has ACT preparation.  Not only does it house practice books, but it also offers HelpNow online practice tests and six-week courses from Gale.

One of the students who took the practice ACT was Freshman Akhil Prathivadi.

It was my third time taking it,” said Prathivadi.  “The first couple of questions are easy and then throughout the test it gets harder and harder.  For me, the hardest section was science.”

According to Prathivadi, the 35-minute time contraint makes the science section difficult to complete on time.  Having to read the graphs and tables before answering the questions also makes it so.

“If you really want to do good, I would start preparing early,” said Prathivadi.

Preparing ahead of time not only reduces stress, but also gives students more scholarship opportunities in the long run.