Taken by millions of high school students every year, the ACT is a college admissions test similar to the SAT. Scores for the test, which range from 1 to 36, are generally available four to six weeks after each testing, but can be viewed early on the Iowa-based testing company’s website for a fee after a set date. Unbeknownst to ACT, a group of cunning students have discovered a way to view ACT test results early for free, before they become officially available on the company’s site.

The hack was first announced in the College Confidential forums, a college admissions site meant to help users get into and find colleges. In actuality, the “hack” is more of a glitch, and can be done without performing any unauthorized actions on the ACT website. To view scores early, one only has to visit the following link and replace “xxxxxxx” with their seven-digit ACT ID. The ID may be found by logging on to ACT’s site. The number is located at the end of the URL in the address bar after entering your username and password.

Put your user ID in the link below to take advantage of the glitch.

https://services.actstudent.org/OA_HTML/actibeCAcdSecCk.jsp?regId=xxxxxx

This “hack” is perfectly legitimate to use because it does not involve accessing any unauthorized portions of the website. It instead forces the system in essence to retrieve your scores from the database. The glitch has been confirmed to work by PC Fastlane, and ACT should be looked down upon for letting such a glitch exist for so long if it wants to restrict viewing of test scores to a certain date after the test. First disclosed in December, the work-around has been a god-send for many college-bound seniors anxious to know if their scores will be high enough to get into their choice colleges. So, the next time you or someone you know takes the ACT, why not get your scores a bit early and avoid the early viewing fee?