A-HTS® Testing Updates

For juniors who have not taken their first official SAT or ACT.

If your first official SAT was one that was cancelled, we strongly recommend that you register for the August 2020 and September 2020 SAT knowing that you can take it again in October 2020, if needed. For each of these 3 test dates, you will have scores back in time for a November 1, 2020 early decision deadline. For the regular decision deadline you could potentially test in November 2020 or December 2020 (if needed). Registration for these tests will open in May with priority given to students who registered for June 2020 SAT and have not taken an official SAT.

If you are on the ACT path, the June 13, 2020 and July 18, 2020 tests are still on (along with makeup dates of June 20 and July 25, respectively). As all Texas schools schools are closed until the end of this academic year, this has eliminated certain test center locations from the June dates. If you haven’t done so, register for a July test date in case the June ACT is canceled.  We can begin planning your fall testing plan, with the September 2020 ACT as your next opportunity. ACT may add an August test date but no announcement has been made.

Whether you are on an SAT or ACT path, we strongly encourage you to take a full length practice test under realistic conditions soon.  We are offering virtual proctoring online so please call us to set this up for your student. 

A-HTS™ provides practice tests that will establish your student’s baseline score.  Our Program Director develops a detailed score analysis and works with our test preparation team to advise your student how and when to take an official test. 

For juniors who have taken at least one official test.

Our Test Preparation Team we will analyze your student’s score report to devise a personalized test preparation plan.  

For students on an SAT path whose test plan was to retest in June 2020, choose one of the fall dates based on your score goals. We anticipate high demand for all tests in fall 2020 so we encourage you to secure a test date when registration opens in May. Keep in mind that for the November 1, 2020 early decision deadlines, the August 2020, September 2020, or October 2020 SAT dates will get your scores back in time. You could also potentially test in November or December and still meet regular decision deadlines.

If you are on the ACT path, the June 13, 2020 and July 18, 2020 tests are still on (along with makeup dates of June 20 and July 25, respectively). As all Texas schools schools are closed until the end of this academic year, this has eliminated certain test center locations from the June dates. If you haven’t done so, register for a July test date in case the June ACT is canceled.  We can begin planning your fall testing plan, with the September 2020 ACT as your next opportunity. ACT may add an August test date but no announcement has been made.

If your test plan was to SAT retest in the fall, then using one of the other fall dates for SAT Subject Tests can be a good option. We want to emphasize though that taking your final SAT should take precedence over Subject Tests.

For AP Exam Prep Support

We have adapted our AP tutoring programs to match the new format as set forth by the College Board. Beginning with a rigorous self-assessment, our expert tutors will customize online sessions to address the most immediate needs of the individual student. Focus will be split between content review and real practice with free-response questions that have appeared on past AP tests. Our engaging tutors work with your student in real-time on shared documents and teach strategies that help break down the free-response tasks into easier, manageable steps. Homework assignments will help bolster key content mastery and familiarity with the new test format. 

High School Sophomores

Most of the Class of 2022 should be unaffected by the recent test cancellations. Both the SAT and ACT are curriculum based tests and a student’s performance correlates with age, maturity, and time spent in school. 

Anticipating a high demand for seats at testing centers in fall 2020, we want to emphasize that having a clearly defined testing plan is important. We usually recommend that sophomores take a practice SAT and ACT in the summer months leading up to junior year, then use these tests to decide between the SAT-ACT and create a test plan with target test dates and a study schedule. Taking these practice tests gives students an exposure to the type of content and difficulty level of the material, a sense of their strengths and weaknesses, and can uncover underlying skills of which to improve.  

The few situations where we diverge from our standard recommendation of targeting spring test dates are when a sophomore is a strong scoring student, a recruited athlete, or knows that their spring of junior year is too full of other commitments to make time for test prep. These sophomores typically move their testing timeline up to take advantage of the December test dates as their first opportunity to take the test.

These sophomores, the “early testers”, may want to consider registering for the December test when registration for the fall testing season opens up in a few short weeks (at this writing, in May for SAT and July for ACT). At A-HTS™, we anticipate there will be a larger demand for seats at the fall test dates due to the seniors who were impacted by the spring 2020 cancellations. For early testers, taking an SAT and ACT practice test in the next few weeks might be beneficial so when the registration for these fall tests open, they know whether they are pursuing an SAT or ACT path.

Calendar of Test Administrations

Dates are subject to change. Always check the test administrators’ website.

* Fall SAT registration opens at the end of May, the College Board recently announced.
** Fall ACT registration typically opens after the July 18 test and, at this writing, ACT has not announced any changes to this.