The word “studying” is synonymous with school, so it makes sense that many students would assume the ACT and SAT are only offered during the school year. This, however, is not true. It’s actually a common myth that students have to take the SAT or ACT during the school year. Consider taking a summer SAT or ACT test session.
Summer Testing Dates
In fact, there are a number of summer-oriented testing dates available. For this year (2018) both the ACT and SAT are offered in June, in July there’s another ACT date, for August an SAT. Be sure to check-in at the ACT and SAT websites for full listings. Either way, there are plenty of opportunities for you to take the SAT and ACT in the summer.
During the summer, some schools still offer to act as testing centers. Otherwise, you may find another nearby place offering the test—it could be a community college, another school, or even a university!
Why You Should Consider a Summer Test
The school year is busy—between classes, tests, sports, extracurriculars, special events, conferences, etc. There’s little time for regular homework let alone college prep.
Therefore, it could be worthwhile to save your ACT and SAT studying and testing for the warmer months when you’ve got much less academic commitments. This way your mental focus can be entirely on the entrance exams. Not only that, you’ll be less stressed since you’re not juggling multiple commitments at once. There are also fewer distractions over the summer. You’ll have plenty of time to study, unwind, and then take the SAT or ACT.
There are even summer SAT and ACT camps if you really want to study hard!
Check out how your ACT/SAT scores affect your acceptance odds with College Raptor’s free match tool!