All four-year U.S. colleges now accept ACT test
www.usatoday.com
- Education Section
19 March 2007
by Mary Beth Marklein
The ACT college entrance exam, long the Avis ("We try harder") to the SAT's Hertz, is celebrating a bit of a milestone this year: It now says it is accepted by every four-year college and university in the USA that requires such a test. ...
Even so, the SAT remains the dominant test nationally. Not only does it serve more students each year, the number of graduating seniors taking the SAT overall increased at a faster rate since 2001. Last year, nearly 1.5 million high school graduates had taken the SAT; 1.2 million had taken the ACT.
But two notable wrinkles surfaced when last year's test data were released. The College Board reported a drop in SAT takers of nearly 10,000 students; the ACT was up more than 20,000. And the SAT national average scores dropped; ACT scores rose significantly. ...
But Ned Johnson, founder of PrepMatters, a test-prep company that serves the Washington, D.C., area, says he wouldn't be surprised if even more students in SAT-dominant regions like his turn to the ACT.
One reason, he says, has to do with the College Board's handling of a scoring error that affected more than 4,000 students. Colleges and students were notified of the problem at the height of the ultra-anxiety-producing admissions season. Some critics say the College Board should have spoken up sooner.
The ACT is a "more straightforward test," Johnson says, but he adds, "the way the College Board stumbled did more to elevate the ACT than the ACT ever could have done of its own accord."
19 March 2007
by Mary Beth Marklein
The ACT college entrance exam, long the Avis ("We try harder") to the SAT's Hertz, is celebrating a bit of a milestone this year: It now says it is accepted by every four-year college and university in the USA that requires such a test. ...
Even so, the SAT remains the dominant test nationally. Not only does it serve more students each year, the number of graduating seniors taking the SAT overall increased at a faster rate since 2001. Last year, nearly 1.5 million high school graduates had taken the SAT; 1.2 million had taken the ACT.
But two notable wrinkles surfaced when last year's test data were released. The College Board reported a drop in SAT takers of nearly 10,000 students; the ACT was up more than 20,000. And the SAT national average scores dropped; ACT scores rose significantly. ...
But Ned Johnson, founder of PrepMatters, a test-prep company that serves the Washington, D.C., area, says he wouldn't be surprised if even more students in SAT-dominant regions like his turn to the ACT.
One reason, he says, has to do with the College Board's handling of a scoring error that affected more than 4,000 students. Colleges and students were notified of the problem at the height of the ultra-anxiety-producing admissions season. Some critics say the College Board should have spoken up sooner.
The ACT is a "more straightforward test," Johnson says, but he adds, "the way the College Board stumbled did more to elevate the ACT than the ACT ever could have done of its own accord."
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