By Charles Hallett
staff writer

March is a time dreaded by high school juniors across the state. In March, juniors take the ACT and the MME in a three day period of testing.

The ACT can determine what colleges a student might be able to get into, and the importance of the test is not lost on students, many of whom focus on preparation.

For most, preparing begins in sophomore year with the PLAN test, which gives students an estimate on how they will perform on the ACT.

In the months leading up to the test, however, many students prepare in their own ways.

“I took a few practice tests and read a book about it,” junior Patricia Bartlett said.

Many students partake in some sort of preparation ranging from practice tests to mental preparation and good rest the week and night before.

“I plan on getting a good night sleep the night before,” junior Marcus Hjalber said before he took the ACT.

Along with the actual ACT test on the first day, juniors have to take the MME on the last two days. The MME is recognized as being less challenging than the ACT, and scores are not seen by colleges. The MME offers the State of Michigan indicators on how schools are achieving.

Some students were unaware of the details of the test.

“I haven’t heard anything about it,” Bartlett said.

Some juniors thought the MME was part of the ACT and not a separate test.

“I only just found out about it [being a separate test] last week,” Hjalber said.

Testing took place March 1-3 at DHS.