As the fourth week of school dawns, we have tasted only a glimpse of the school year.

While freshmen bond during Freshman Retreat and seniors struggle through college applications, sophomores sampled the American College Testing (ACT) Plan Sept. 18 from 8-11:30 a.m. in the Peter V. Ueberroth Gymnasium.

What is the Plan exam? Frank Smith, director of College Counseling, describes it as a “practice or preliminary ACT exam.”

ACT Plan is an abridged, 115-minute version of the ACT exam and covers four multiple choice sections: English, math, reading and science. It prepares sophomores to take the ACT exam as juniors and identifies possible career choices for test takers based on an opening questionnaire.

“It is a comprehensive guidance resource that helps students measure their current academic development, explore career/training options and make plans for the remaining years of high school and beyond,” explains ACT.org., the test’s website.

ACT Plan also translates the Plan’s 1 to 32 scale to the ACT’s 1 to 36 scale and provides an estimated ACT Composite score range of how “you are likely to do as an 11th or 12th grader.”

For juniors and seniors, the ACT is not required. College Board presents students with an option of two standardized tests for college applications, either the SAT or ACT.

ACT provides some tips for doing your best in any test situation:

• Get plenty of sleep the night before the test.
• Follow directions exactly, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
• Mark your answer folder carefully. Fill in the ovals neatly.
• Don’t spend too much time on any single question. For hard ones, choose the answer you think is best and move on.