Notre Dame Underclassmen Testing Day

Underclassmen testing day takes place every October. Freshmen and sophomores take the Pre-ACT, while juniors take the ACT district test. The ACT district test is recognized in the same way by post-secondary institutions as the national Saturday ACT. ACT test information release (ordering your test questions and answers) is only available in September, December and February. The PSAT/NMSQT is also offered to juniors and provides SAT practice and serves as the official National Merit Qualifier. 

ACT & SAT Information

Junior year is the time to get a “baseline” ACT as well as additional practice. Students can take the test without formal or informal prep the first time they take it in order to see what areas really need work. In general, all areas will improve with time, practice, and learning more in class to increase their knowledge base. 

Students will need to register for the ACT at www.act.org. Studentswill set up an account and will need to upload a picture. This portion of registration includes a survey that asks multiple questions. Once an account is create, students will pick the test date and test site. Tests must be paid for online with a credit card. For the test, students will need to print the registration ticket that is generated after registration. This ticket and a picture ID, such as a driver’s license or school ID, is required for the test.

Students can order their test answers/booklet from ACT after they take the test. It is a simple set of their answers/correct answers and costs from $30-$40. This can help students to pinpoint where to focus their efforts for improving understanding of the material. This test score analysis is available for the September, April, and June test dates only. The link for information about test scores as well ACT prep information is: Test Information Release (TIR) | ACT

When it comes to senior year and the ACT, students should be aware that most automatic/merit scholarship deadlines (as well as housing priority deadlines) in Missouri are December 1. Some colleges may have earlier or later deadlines. Since December 1 is a major deadline for college applications in Missouri, this should factor into ACT test planning for students. Annual testing months are September, October, December, February, April, June and July.

Bright Flight is a scholarship program for those who plan to attend a Missouri college or university and earn in the top 5 percent or better on the ACT (31 and above).

ACT & SAT Resources

This is a free resource which provides ACT prep in each subject area. Students can work through practice problems from the convenience of any computer, but accounts must be set up through Notre Dame to connect to the server. Sign into the program with your Notre Dame Google account at Learning Express Library.

Students can get a full-sized practice test from the Counselors’ Office and work through problems at their leisure. This also allows students to get assistance from teachers. Students can also time themselves and score these tests. 

There are great ACT practice books students can purchase. These are available through reputable companies like Princeton Review, Barron’s, Kaplan, and directly from ACT. Amazon provides great reviews for purchase as well. A limited number of books are available in the Notre Dame Media Center. These books cover things like strategy, timing, etc. but also include practice questions as well.

There are some area class options, including Mrs. Layton’s class at Notre Dame.

If you are on social media, the Counselors’ Office recommends following ACT and SAT for the most up to date information.

ACT Academy
ACT Test Preparation

Additionally, College Board (the official SAT company) partners with Khan Academy to provide prep information for the SAT. Khan Academy SAT Prep: Official SAT® Practice | Khan Academy