After over four hours of bubbling, calculating and reading graphs, finally the September ACTers were let free to relax and patiently wait for their scores. But after over a month of waiting testers became anxious; parents began to call ACT headquarters in hopes of resolving the issue. It was not until October 22^nd, over a month after the test and only a week before the early decision deadline for many schools, that the ACT announced that the tests of nearly 200 students, who took the exam at Upper Darby High School, had been lost.

One senior, Izzy Haslam gives a personal account of the weeks after the taking the ACT, “All of my friends who took it at other testing places around the area heard back within a week or so. When I still hadn’t heard back four weeks later, I started getting really nervous. My mom and I both called multiple times and they assured us the tests were ‘being processed’. When I heard they were missing I was devastated. Not only did the ACT know that the tests were missing since September 15^th and lied to us, but now I couldn’t see how I did on the exam that I studied relentlessly for and would’ve had such a huge impact on my future. It is so beyond frustrating because there is nothing I can do about it, and I feel like my hard work was for nothing.”

When questioned about the delayed announcement, the ACT said that they did not want to cause unnecessary panic, in case the tests turn up. The tests did not turn up, and now many testers are left without test scores to send to early decision and early action schools. The ACT has responded to this “inconvenience” by creating a new test, refunding test takers money and drawing up a letter for seniors to send to early action and early decision colleges to explain the situation.

Though it may seem the ACT has accounted for all damages, many testers still feel this incident has hindered their ability to get into colleges. The September ACT is a popular one because students have the opportunity to study over the summer, uninterrupted by schoolwork. Such studying may include paying for expensive summer courses and tutors, in addition to spending hours on practice tests and ACT worksheets.

The ACT’s retake was suggested for November 1^st but was not announced until October 23^rd. Surely the ACT could not expect students to regain months worth of studying in a mere week. Even if the testers retained knowledge from their previous summer work, the ACT is a time-based test, and getting re-accustomed to answering 75 questions in 45 minutes is no easy task. In addition, seniors – perhaps the most affected of the testers – are left at the mercy of college admission officers, who may choose not to look over applications that are “incomplete,” regardless of the circumstances.

Yes, perhaps there is nothing to do about the situation except sit back and laugh at the tragic irony of an establishment, that is entirely based on holding people accountable for their mistakes, making such a catastrophic mistake. Many parents have discussed the prospect of a lawsuit to rectify the anxiety endured by the testers. After all, is it really fair that testers bite their nails for an entire month waiting for scores that they will never actually get? Though, as testers have just sat for their make-up exam the weekend of November 1st, it is unlikely for anything to develop.