The Truth about Standardized Tests: How They Affect Your College Application?
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The United States education system has been following the standardised test norm for admissions since decades. However, the usage of these tests shot up significantly after the introduction of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2002 which made annual testing compulsory in 50 states. Over the decade, the standardised tests especially for college admissions have been gaining at most focus by the high school students to get into colleges of their choice.
The standardised test scores are one of the factors that contribute to the student’s eligibility for admission in college, but definitely not the only consideration for admission. In reality, the grades in the high school that show the proficiency level of the student in the curriculum is the major factor that colleges consider and give maximum importance for selecting students for the undergraduate programs. Therefore, what needs to be understood first is the importance that colleges and universities give to these scores for selection of candidates.
Importance of Standardised Test Scores for Evaluation of College Applications
With the increasing number of applications, selection of students for undergraduate programs is becoming more and more difficult for universities and colleges. The rise in application numbers is more due to the fact that every student is applying for more number of colleges; however, there is not much increase in the staffs involved in the admission process in the colleges. Hence, the scores of the standardised exams such as SAT and ACT become their primary selection criteria to make the selection process faster. The applicants, thus, need to get a score within the range specified by each college for being considered for admissions. Moreover, the college administration also understands that a student’s knowledgemust be judged on the basis of the performance over four years in the high school rather than the performance in the few hours test.
ACT vs SAT – Test with Better Prospects for Admission
In terms of importance given by colleges and universities, both ACT and SAT are considered at par for its effective in assessment of students.However, on the basis of the data of number of test taker in 2013, ACT seems to be more popular in the nation than SAT. From a test taker’s point of view, a good score in either of the test is would be of prime importance for getting admission into college of their choice. Achieving a good score in ACT or SAT would be completely based on the student’s proficiency in the content areas of the test and comfort with the question format of the tests.
The ACT test is divided into four sections including Reading, English, Mathematics and Science. The SAT test assesses the students in three content areas including Writing, Mathematics and Critical Reading. A student not good at science must definitely go with the SAT exam which does not science as testing parameter. On the contrary, students looking for higher education in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field can benefit from the ACT test for college admissions. In relation to other sections, ACT tests the students with a higher level math than SAT but the language related sections in ACT are easier compared to SAT.The students can, thus, choose the best-fit for themselves to get good scores in the college readiness tests by choosing test that would help in utilizing on their strong subject areas.
The ACT comprises of multiple-choice questions in all the sections and an optional writing section whereas SAT includes various types of formats of questions and an experimental section.Students who find multiple choice questions easier to score must definitely opt for the ACT test. The questions of the ACT are also more direct questions from thehigh school curriculum compared to questions in SAT which demand reasoning and critical thinking for arriving at answers.
Options with Test Scores
The students can make their best score reach the colleges of their choice but opting for Score Choice. The score choice option enables the student not to present a poor test score to the schools indicated by opting for Score Choice. The students can also choose to cancel their scores of a test with a poor score within few days after the day on which the test was taken.The students can choose the date of test whose score has to be sent for consideration for college admissions depending on the score-use policy of the college.
The score-use policy of every college varies with some preferring to get one composite test score while others preferring to get all the score of all the tests taken by the student. Some schools also have score policy where they consider the highest score of each section among all the tests taken by the student to arrive at a new composite score. This type of scoring, highly favourable for students, is known as superscoring. The superscore evaluation can also vary in different schools and the students must be well aware of the policies of the colleges before applying.
Alternative for Students without the Best Scores
Students whose score in the tests are not good enough but have performed well in the high school with good grades can opt for the test optional colleges. It is observed that the scores after taking the test more than three times do not show much difference in performance. Hence, the students should not attempt the test more than thrice if their score are not improving. These test optional colleges either place less importance or no importance at all to the test scores for their admission process and the number of test optional colleges are over 900. Students must, therefore, be well aware of the options available to them before being daunted by preparing for the standardised tests.