ACTs and More Tests

As most everyone who knows me well is aware, I am in the process of reapplying to West Point. I do not intend to write about the various aspects of this process each week, but it’s just been all consuming in some ways the past few weeks. I completed my nomination packets just before leaving for college, which took a lot of work, but have had to continue to work on this application process since arriving at Tech, such as the Candidate Fitness Assessment I wrote about earlier, and communicating with and coordinating other people’s roles in the process, like my high school counselor, my local Liaison Officer, and the USMA South Eastern Regional Representative (MAJ Tolman). Because any improvement in my combined applicant score would boost my standing in the appointment process, I had hoped to retake the ACT test this fall. I did very well on the ACT last year, scoring in the 90th percentile, but after discussing every possible way of improving my combined applicant score with MAJ Tolman earlier this summer, I decided that I would re-take the ACT again this fall at Tech. Unfortunately, the nearest test location is at a high school in Roanoke, approximately 50 miles away by bus and would also involve walking or a taxi to get to the test site. (Even then, public transportation gets me to the Roanoke bus station after the start of the test time.)

Virginia Tech is not a registered ACT testing center. The ACT Arranged Testing Office requires that a list of conditions be met before allowing one to take an ACT test at a location that had not previously been approved as a certified testing center. Individuals may arrange a special test session if their religious faith prohibits them from taking a Saturday test, if they reside in countries where there is no certified testing center, if they are confined to a hospital, or if they do not have a testing center within 50 miles of their current location. If approved, the special testing arrangement would also have to be scheduled during an ACT testing window.

Dr. Brandon Phillips, the Arranged Testing Supervisor at the Counseling Center here at Virginia Tech, agreed to proctor the test if it was approved by the ACT. Before classes started, I drafted a letter to the ACT explaining my transportation issues, filled out their forms, and met with Dr. Phillips to get all of the paperwork completed and signed. Dr. Phillips had to certify that his testing center met all of the ACT requirements, such as the proctor being fluent in English, having experience giving similar tests, being a staff member of the institution where the test would be given, having access to a safe to securely store the testing materials, and agreeing to proctor the test. Dr. Phillips completed his part of the forms and signed everything, agreeing to the conditions. I mailed the packet with a check for the registration fee and waited.

Just yesterday, I received an email from Dr. Phillips informing me that the ACT Arranged Testing Office had contacted him to say that they had denied my request to take the ACT test at Virginia Tech. They stated that my request did not meet their requirement that I was over 50 miles from a registered testing center. Dr. Phillips checked MapQuest and said that a direct route indicated that Blacksburg is only 40 miles from Roanoke. Unfortunately, even if public transportation was an option (it is not because it would get me to the Roanoke bus station after the test begins), the ACT must have ignored my letter. I feel that a reasonable person would understand that by taking a bus route, the route is longer than a direct route by car, and then walking or taking a taxi to the high school where the test would be given adds miles to the distance traveled.

I am disappointed that I will not be able to retake the ACTs, but I am becoming more and more relieved now, mostly because of the amount of work I have been assigned from my other classes. In the next two weeks, I have four major tests. Most of the tests should go well because I am already reading the material and studying for them, but something like Chemistry, I could use the extra time preparing for. (I took an accelerated math and science program in high school so I have not had Chemistry for three years, making the material almost foreign to me. I mostly dislike having to name elements from their given formulas and getting the formula from the given names.) I am looking forward to taking the other tests, though. I have to take my Linear Algebra test by the Monday evening deadline, and I also have a big Calculus test later in the week. I have been scoring well on all of my linear algebra quizzes so far and took AP Calculus in high school and really understand the material, so I am confident that I won’t have any problems on either of those tests. A week from now, I have my Engineering Exploration test, which I have also begun studying for. Engineering exploration is the “weed out” course for engineering students, so there is a lot of pressure to do very well in that class.

These next two weeks and after will be very busy, and with the extra time I intend to spend on Chemistry and Engineering Exploration, it is probably a good thing that the ACT Arranged Testing Office denied my request. Never mind that I am not familiar with Roanoke and that this would have been my first trip using public transportation, really increasing the chance that I would not arrive on time even if the buses from Blacksburg began their routes earlier than they do on Saturdays. I guess there is a chance too that had ACT approved my request and the bus schedule ran earlier, I could have still been late to the test since I am not familiar with public transportation or Roanoke. That would have been horrible to put time, money and effort into retaking the ACT and then missing the test, costing me sleep and half a Saturday study time as well. Instead, I will think positive and assume that this denial is for the best and will focus on my grades now instead of worrying about retaking a test that I already have decent scores on. Doing well on these tests will be very satisfying, and I intend to give it my full effort.