Since the ACT was created in 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist as a general achievement test, it has always been a fierce rival to the SAT. In recent years, people have noticed the SAT going digital, which has been a huge change for the world of standardized testing. While the SAT made progress towards the future with their digital test, the ACT stayed behind, only offering their pen and paper tests with a packet and a scantron. That is, until recently, when the ACT finally announced that they would also be releasing a digital version of their test.
What is new about this digital ACT? Other than the obvious, of course, that the test is digital and on a computer, the new digital ACT has many differences. The new digital ACT is designed to shorten the test overall by reducing the full test time from 175 minutes to 165 minutes, assuming you take the science section. If you do not take the science section on the new digital test, it is only 125 minutes long. While the time in the digital version goes down overall, the time to complete each question is actually increased since the ACT reduced the question count more than they reduced the time. This means that students will have fewer questions in each section, giving them a better chance to put more effort into each question. Every section on the new digital ACT has a timing of one minute per question, except for the English section, which is 40 seconds per question for standard time.
While everything mentioned so far seems to be great, it seems some students are having more difficulty with the math section on the digital test. Even though the new math section is now only 45 questions, some students report seeing more pre-calculus material on the test rather than the usual Algebra 2 and Geometry questions. Other than the math section, students seem to be having an easier time with the digital English, reading, and science sections. What do you think? Are you going to play it safe and stick with the old classic paper ACT, or be brave and be one of the first people in your school to try out the new digital ACT?
