Retaking the ACT ten years later

After being “out of the classroom” for several years, I have decided to retake the ACT.[^1]

So most of the learning I’ve done for years has been directly related to my occupation, web development.

Oh sure, once in a while I’ll visit a museum or something and get really interested in history/astronomy/aviation/etc. for a time, but it would be nice to have more of a rigid curriculum to guide my studies. It seems like a good place to start would be with all the stuff I should have learned in high school.

With this in mind, today I waded through the 45 minute process of signing up online to take the ACT again this summer.

The first snag I hit was when the website alerted me that it could not find any record of me previously taking the test.
After a good deal of frantically clicking around, I discovered that only test scores from 2007-present are available online.
Well, fine. I guess I can always order my previous test scores by sending a written request and a check for $32 through snail mail to the ACT office, and wait six business days for processing.

The second speed bump was when the registration process asked me to list every class I took in high school and what grade I got in each class. Not only do I have absolutely no idea, but it’s a bit difficult for me to even imagine what they would need with such information.
My guess is that they’d like to sell it to colleges and groups offering scholarships so that they can send me “targeted offers” that I may be qualified for.
I just left that section blank. Perhaps I’ll be able to request a copy of my high school transcript next time I’m in Des Moines, though I’m not exactly sure how I would explain that one to the guidance counselors.

The next - somewhat related - snag was when I was asked to supply up to five colleges or institutions where I would like a copy of my final scores to be sent.
Yeah, I guess I’m the only one who has ever wanted to take the ACT just for fun, but I really can’t think of anybody else who would be interested in receiving a copy of my scores.

Next, I had to answer all sorts of questions about what I plan to study in college.
Right…

The good news is that I was finally able to register, and am scheduled to take the ACT in June, so we’ll see what happens.

[^1]: While ACT was originally an abbreviation of American College Testing, it no longer stands for anything at all. It’s just the name of the test.