Taking it in high school is a good opportunity for students to gauge where they are so they can get any help they need before they graduate. If your high school doesn't offer the Accuplacer, ask your guidance counselor and principal if they can arrange it. Here's another hidden danger students should know about. Calculators are not allowed for the Accuplacer. You need to know those pesky math facts, so if you've been avoiding them by using a calculator, there's no time like now to do a bit of review.
Flashcards are remarkably effective and can be studied on bus rides to and from school.
Eventually the problem of conflicting standards between high schools and higher education will be resolved because Grasmick and Langenberg have agreed to align high school graduation standards with University of Maryland entrance and placement standards. But that will take another few years to be fully in place. Students who are in high school now should avoid getting caught in the middle by making sure they take a college preparatory curriculum all four years of high school. High school students and their parents should realize that even in Montgomery County, many high schools haven't caught up with the fact that all their students need to be prepared for college. Or close enough.