As a senior, testing is one of the biggest requirements. In fact, by now we’ve all been taking standardized tests our entire school career. Testing is important for many different reasons—for scholarship opportunities, college placement, and most college admissions.

Last year, I took the ACT and received the necessary score to qualify for Bright Futures, a scholarship that pays a nice portion of tuition. What I love about the ACT is that it’s based on things I’ve actually learned in school. There are no tricks involved. The best part is you don’t get penalized for marking the wrong answer.

Taking the tough classes is the best preparation for the ACT. Practice tests are a great way to familiarize yourself with the ACT. But if you are anything like me, sitting down and telling yourself you are going to open a practice ACT book when you get home from school every day sometimes doesn’t work. The first time I took a mock (practice) ACT using this method of preparation, I tanked.

The next time I took the ACT, I wanted to improve my score, so I opted to take a scheduled prep class. I went a few times a week and took a bunch of practice sections. The more I practiced, the more familiar I became with the test. This practice removed a lot of stress. Practice really does make perfect. I did a lot better and scored higher than my goal.

When you take the ACT, the most important thing to know is you are not the person next to you. Set a goal for yourself and don’t put yourself down if you don’t meet that goal. You can take the test more than one time. So don’t stress and do your best.