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ACT

Southern Adventist University is an on-campus ACT assessment center for enrolled, admitted, or application students who are unable to test on a national test date. Results from residual testing are reported only to Southern and cannot be transferred to any other institution or agency. 

The ACT Assessment is composed of tests in English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science reasoning. 
  • The English Test (45 minutes) measures your understanding of the conventions of standard written English in punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure and your skill in making the kinds of decisions made by good writers related to strategy, organization, and style.
  • The Mathematics Test (60 minutes)measures the mathematical skills that you have acquired in courses taken up to the beginning of grade 12. The test requires you to use your reasoning skills to solve practical problems in mathematics. Knowledge of basic formulas and computational skills are assumed as background for the problems.
  • The Reading Test (35 minutes) measures reading comprehension as a product of your skill in referring and reasoning. The test items require you to derive meaning from several texts by referring to what is explicitly stated and by reasoning to determine implicit meanings and to draw conclusions, comparisons, and generalizations.
  • The Science Reasoning Test (35 minutes) measures your skills in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, reasoning, and problem solving required in natural science coursework. Test content is drawn from biology, chemistry, physics, and the Earth/space sciences (e.g., geology, astronomy, and meteorology).
Please call the Testing Office at 423.236.2782 for specific instructions regarding registration and admission protocols for upcoming ACT exams.
Scheduled ACT Test Dates
  • Thursday, July 18, 2024 (1 p.m.)
  • Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024 (1 p.m.)
  • Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024 (1 p.m.)
  • Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024 (1 p.m.)
  • Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024 (1 p.m)
  • Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 (1 p.m.
ACT On-Campus Testing
Southern Adventist University is an on-campus testing center for enrolled, admitted, or applicant students who were unable to test on a national test date. Results from on-campus testing are reported only to Southern Adventist University and cannot be transferred to any other institution or agency. Southern Adventist University and ACT Inc. will not issue reports to high schools, colleges, or scholarship agencies.
Retaking the ACT
Students may take the ACT no more than 12 times total. Additionally, a minimum of 60 days must elapse before repeating On-Campus ACT Testing. If the 60-day time limit is violated, the retest scores will be canceled automatically. No refund will be made for such canceled scores.
Preparing to Take the ACT
  • To review practice questions to help familiarize yourself with the ACT, go to Preparing for the ACT.  Additional information can be found at ACT Test Prep.
  • Get sufficient rest the night before taking the test so that you are in good physical and mental shape. (If you are driving to the test site from a distance, plan to spend the night before the test in the Collegedale/Chattanooga area. Your admission to the university may be contingent on your score, so plan to get sufficient rest).
  • Plan to report at the time designated by the Testing Office. You will not be admitted if you are late.
  • Plan to bring acceptable identification (photo ID), sharpened soft lead (No. 2) pencils with erasers, a silent watch to pace yourself, a permitted calculator (see "Use of Calculators"), a jacket or sweater, and $70 cash or check.
  • Do NOT bring: highlight pens, textbooks, foreign-language or other dictionaries, notes, other aids, pager/beeper, cellular phone, CD/tape player, reading material, food or drink (including water), or any timing device that makes noise.
  • Plan to pace yourself throughout each test. Do not spend too much time on any one question. If you find that a question is too hard, choose the answer you think is best and go on to the next question.
  • Plan to answer every question. There is no penalty for guessing.
Use of Calculators
ACT permits examinees to use a calculator on the Mathematics Test (test 2) but not on any of the other tests. Use of a calculator is optional. All problems can be solved without a calculator. Any four-function, scientific, or graphing calculator may be used, unless it is specifically prohibited as described below:
  • Handheld, tablet, laptop computers, including PDAs
  • Electronic writing pads or pen-input devices
  • Calculators built into cellular phones or other electronic communication devices
  • Calculators with a typewriter keypad (keys in QWERTY format)
  • Calculators that require a power cord
  • Calculators with paper tape
  • Calculators with an infrared data port
  • Calculators that make sound
For additional information on acceptable calculators, go to: ACT Calculator Policy .
Call the Counseling and Testing Services office to register for an ACT On-Campus Test appointment.
Call the Counseling and Testing Services office to register for an ACT On-Campus Test appointment.
If you have questions about the ACT assessment or related admission requirements, please call Counseling and Testing at 423.236.2782 or the Enrollment Management Office at 423.236.2835.

For additional information or to view sample questions and explanations, go to www.actstudent.org.

For directions to Counseling and Testing in the Bietz Center and parking information, go to Campus Safety.