The New York Times printed a story today, in Education Life, that said many students are taking both the ACT and SAT college admissions tests and then they’re retaking the tests as needed to get into the schools they want to attend.
The SAT used to be a sort of “gold standard” when it came to college admissions test, while until recently, the ACT had been an also-ran in the category. But today, only three states require every high school student to take the SAT—Maine, Delaware, and Idaho—and 12 require the ACT:
- Colorado
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Montana
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Wyoming
Clearly, the smaller number of smaller states that require the SAT and the larger number of a few larger states that require the ACT propelled the ACT past the SAT. In 2012, the ACT had more test takers than the SAT for the first time ever.
The tests are a little different in character, but for the most part, colleges and universities accept either score with equal weight.
“The tests predict college performance equally well, and despite urban legend, most people do about as well on one as on the other,” the Times quoted William R Fitzsimmons, Harvard’s dean of admissions and financial aid, as saying. “We see a lot of test results between the ACT, the SAT, the subject tests, Advanced Placement and the International Baccalaureate, so it doesn’t concern us at all whether students send the SAT, the ACT or both.”
Different students may feel they have an advantage using one test instead of the other, though, despite the experience-driven idea that they’ll probably achieve about the same ranking among their classmates regardless of the test used. The SAT, for example, heavily favors vocabulary, while the ACT tests science and some more advanced math, including trigonometry. So, students who have a strong vocabulary will probably feel more comfortable taking the SAT than the ACT, but students who excel in science will probably feel more comfortable with the ACT.
There are also a few technical scoring differences between the SAT and ACT. The ACT doesn’t penalize students for guessing an incorrect multiple-choice response, while the SAT does. In other words, if students aren’t completely certain of the correct answer, they practice leaving it blank on the SAT, where a wrong answer will deduct points, and doing their best job of guessing for the ACT, where even an incorrect response can’t hurt their score.
There is some possibility that high schools will consider including one of the two tests in their state testing regimen, as the 15 states listed above do. Arkansas, for example, will pay for students to take the ACT if individual school districts want students to take it. As the economy improves, this type of subsidy may become more common.
Finally, as students stress over college admissions, one of the biggest sources of that stress is undoubtedly their scores on college admissions tests. This has created a huge test preparation market with educators selling tutoring sessions, publishers selling guides to the tests, and so on. My advice to students is that if they feel they received a score that is inconsistent with their ability, find a tutor or get a small guide at a bookstore, and try a second time. Scores aren’t likely to increase by much after the second time taking the same test, so after that, there’s no use stressing out over it.
The article quoted one student as saying, “I had kind of a panic attack in spring of junior year. I honest to God went into therapy to work on my anxiety about the math, because for the amount I worked, my score should have been higher.”
This student did improve her scores by retaking the test, but going college admissions should not require therapy. Also, many more opportunities for going to college will cross their paths in the future, probably many times. For some 17-year-old juniors, college isn’t the right thing at that point in their lives. A panic attack would be the first sign that this is the case.
Retaking tests is basically grade-grubbing. It only sets a precedent for patterns later in life, when students like this will be more likely to engage in unethical behavior on the job when it comes to getting a promotion. It’s really not all that important what score you get, and it’s even less important where you get your bachelor’s degree. In some cases, a bachelor’s degree is the terminal degree, but in most cases, it isn’t. Graduate and post-graduate work is much more important and worth stressing out over. Employment after college is even more deserving of your self-improvement efforts. Of course, then you’ll be 22 or older and a little better equipped to handle the stress.
Finally, my bottom line: college is expensive, no matter where you go. And no matter where you go or what scores you get, you’ll make your college experience into whatever you want to make it, regardless of the name of the school or the minimum test score they accept.
