Pssst…This is part 3 of a three-part series on the coming ACT makeover. Read installments 1 and 2 here for a breakdown of what exactly is changing and what’s staying the same.
The ACT is changing in some big ways starting spring of 2025. But how do these adjustments affect YOU, specifically? The answer to that important question varies depending on your class year and where you are in your prep. So whether you're in the Class of 2025, 2026, 2027, or beyond, I’m going to outline my specific advice to you below.
ARTICLE CONTENTS
1. Watch this article as a video
3. What to do about the new ACT if you’re in….
D. The Class of 2028 and younger
3. Conclusion
Video version of this article:
When is the ACT changing?
Before we get into what you should do based on your graduating class year, let's go over the timeline of the rollout of the new format of the test. Depending on how you’re taking the test, there are three different points in time when the new version of the test kicks in:
April 2025: online ACT gets the update. Currently, a relatively small number of students takes the ACT on a computer. If you’re in that minority, you’ll be taking the new version of the test before anyone else, in spring 2025.
September 2025: paper-and-pencil ACT gets the update. So that means that up until the July 2025 sitting, you’d be taking the current version of the test.
Spring 2026: school-day ACT testing gets the update. (In case you’re not familiar with this option: some schools administer the test in school because it’s a way to offer the test for free to all students, and in an environment they’re familiar with.)
Does the New ACT Affect the Class of 2025?
Students in the Class of 2025: the ACT revolution does NOT impact you. If you're about to be a high school Senior in academic year 2025-26, you’ll be sending in your college applications this fall. Thus, any version of the ACT that you might still take would be administered this September or October 2024 (or maybe December at the latest). That means the test you take will be the current/“old” version, whether you opt for the online or paper-and-pencil format. So if you're a rising Senior, you can safely skip the rest of this post (and instead check out my ACT courses and guides).
ACT Changes and the Class of 2026
If you’re in the Class of 2026, listen up carefully, because you’re in the most complex situation of any class year.
Caveat: IF and only if you are in the minority of students who wants to take the ACT online, then the coming changes probably don’t impact your decision-making TOO much. They still affect you somewhat, but not dramatically. Because here's the deal:
If you're about to be a Junior, this means that the fall of your Junior year will use the current version of the ACT. Come spring of your Junior year, though, the test version you’ll encounter depends on whether you’re taking the thing digitally or manually:
Online test-takers will be taking the NEW edition of the ACT in spring 2026.
Paper-and-pencil test-takers will be taking the same, current edition of the ACT in spring 2025. So you’ll take the test that we know well and have official practice tests for.
But then what happens when we get to Fall of your Senior year? Starting in September of 2025, you’ll be faced with the newly-minted version of the ACT regardless of which medium (paper or paperless) in which you choose to take the test.
Of course, paper-and-pencil students COULD theoretically just take the current version of the ACT their Junior Spring and then, when the test changes after that, switch to the new version of the test.
I just don't love that for my students because it’s very inefficient. It typically takes time, and multiple test sittings, to get used to the pace of the test. You’d train differently for a marathon vs. a half-marathon vs. a 5K, right? But what if Junior Spring ends and my student is still not done getting the score that he or she needs? Well, then they need to take the test Senior Fall—and the test format has changed, so the pacing is different. It’s quite possible they need to study and sit for the test MORE just to get a handle on the new version of the test.
So, here's what I would do, for the sake of greater efficiency and in the name of not having to learn two different pacings of the test:
Option 1: Fast-track Class of 2026 and ACT Timing
Let’s say you’re a hot-shot junior. By this I mean you're always in the 99th or 98th percentile of whatever standardized tests you take, AND you're way ahead in math. So as a Junior, you're taking Calculus AB or something equivalently ahead of the pack.
Maybe you’re such a person and you start studying ACT content…and then decide you DO want to do the online test your Junior spring. With this arrangement, you figure, you’ll get more time per question, yet (theoretically) not see an increase in difficulty level for the questions.
Yes, that could be a good opportunity to seize. But here’s the thing: it's a gamble. Because we haven't seen a practice test yet from the ACT powers that be. So we don’t know for certain whether the questions will, in practice, get more (or less) challenging, nor will we be prepared for whatever other eccentricities may arise with the new testing process.
So, if you choose to take the new version of the test (and it would have to be on a computer, remember), the spring of your Junior year, you’d effectively be acting as a guinea pig for the new ACT. And sure, maybe you’ll end up with a great score, better than you normally would get, because you’ll have strategically exploited that “more time per question, same difficulty level per question” formula. Maybe.
If you go this path, I'd encourage you to take the test in April or June, because after that, the ACT will have used students like you as its guinea pigs to calculate the appropriate grading rubric for “X number of questions correct equals Y score.” So, again, this option makes sense ONLY if you're truly on top of your game and you really feel like it’s worth it to roll the dice in order to possibly get an extra high score.
Option 2: When Should Most Juniors take the ACT?
Alternatively, here's what I recommend for 99% of the class of 2026—pretty much all of you who aren’t out at the very very front of the pack in terms of standardized testing and Math. I would suggest you give yourself your entire Junior year to prep for and take all your ACT sittings, paper and pencil.
Now this means that before or at the very very beginning of Junior year, you need to have figured out if you are an SAT or an ACT person in the first place. That’s because if you end up concluding that you’re an ACT person, you’ll want to get all of your test sittings done by the July right after your Junior academic year ends (so, by July 2025).
This will allow you to continue using the same version of the ACT that you're used to, the one that we have many practice tests available for, the one whose pacing you’ve been practicing. You won't have to interrupt and confuse your prep progression with a new version of the test.
So here are your two action items if you’re in the Class of 2026 and NOT in that top 1% of test-takers and math learners:
If you haven’t already, you need to figure out ASAP—like, RIGHT now, after you finish reading this post—whether you’re a Digital SAT or an ACT person. Fortunately, my free quiz will help you determine this.
Once you do know that the ACT is your test, then plan to get all of your test sittings done by July 2025.
How the new ACT affects the Class of 2027
If you are in the Class of 2027, that means you're currently about to start your Sophomore year. Sometimes, depending on whether you're super advanced for your grade level and whether you have certain sports or activities that take up certain parts of your calendar, I may recommend you start test prep during your Sophomore spring. However, for your particular class of Sophomores, I would not recommend that because of the rollout schedule of the new ACT. Those changes will hit between the July after your Sophomore year and September of your Junior year.
So what I would do is: don’t do anything test prep-wise the spring of your Sophomore year. Wait until the summer between Sophomore and Junior years (summer 2025). That's when you should figure out if you are an ACT or a Digital SAT person. If the conclusion you draw at that point is that the ACT is your best test, then, sure, you start prepping the summer before your Junior year, and you would start doing your test sittings as early as fall semester of Junior year.
By that point, all of the ACT students' tests will be in the new format. So you will NOT be switching between two different formats, which is what we want to avoid. Yay!
Class of 2028 and the next ACT
And finally, are you about to be a freshman (class of 2028), or are you not even in high school yet? Well, much like high school Seniors, this ACT revolution doesn't affect your decision-making. Because by the time that you would ever even consider doing test prep, which might be spring of your Sophomore year, every ACT administered will be converted to the new format. So don’t sweat it!
Conclusion
So, friends, that is how the switch to the new version of the ACT will affect you depending on what grade you're in right now.
And if you are one of those people in the Class of 2026 who read this post and found yourself thinking, “Yup, I want to make sure I get my ACT done this coming year”—good for you! I have loads of self-directed digital courses and ebooks that can help you raise your score in every single section of the ACT. Check them out, or if you’d prefer a personalized month-by-month study plan, learn more about working with me one-on-one.
