Regarding the ACT Exam

Every year, over one million school seniors take the ACT (American College Testing) Exam in hopes of meeting standards and improving their positioning for college and scholarship acceptance. This is an exam that is often compared to the SAT (Scholastic   Aptitude   Test ) as the two major standardized tests used in determining college admissions. There is a belief that east coast and west coast tend to prefer the SAT, while Midwestern schools put more emphasis on the ACT. In reality, both exams are accepted by all four year colleges in the United States, but this stigma has become a bit of a regional self fulfilling prophecy as to which tests students take (if they so choose to take only one) depending on where they want to go to school.

The ACT attempts to measure the general education and knowledge of the test taker. While the SAT traditionally focused its examination strictly on verbal and mathematical reasoning, the ACT contains sections on English, Math, Reading, Science, and even an optional writing section (which has been added to the SAT in recent years as well). The scoring system also differs from the SAT. While the SAT is scored on a scale between 900 to 2400 (traditionally, it was only scored up to 1600: 800 points for each of its two sections; but this was changed within the last decade), the ACT is scored on a scale of 11 to 36 (no change from traditional metrics). While 36 represents a perfect score, 90% of students receive a 27 or better and over 50% receive a 20 or better.

The importance of the ACT varies depending on the student’s other qualifications and future goals. For example, if the student is looking to go to an Ivy League institution, then receiving a high percentile score on the ACT (or SAT or both) is almost a must. With a school that might be considered lower tiered academically, then a lesser score would be more easily accepted. For most schools, a bit of a sliding scale is used. This means that strong high school academics and extra-curricular activities can be combined with a lower score and still allow for admission of the candidate. At the same time, a student who has weaker high school grades and an otherwise poor profile can help his or her chances significantly by getting a high score for the exam. All told, it is just one of many factors that are used by admissions offices to help differentiate a large number of applicants that may appear nearly identical otherwise.

If you are one of these students that has the ACT coming up in the future, there are a number of tips you can follow in order to maximize your score. Obtain practice exams to help learn the types of questions that will be asked and how to pace yourself through the test. If there are certain types of questions that you have problems with, gain some tutoring from your teachers or a private service in order to improve upon that knowledge (odds are that you will see it again in college as is). You may even want to look into test prep courses if you feel that a higher score is pivotal to your future plans. Ultimately, just do not stress out or panic. Everybody is in the same boat that you are and there will always be opportunities to take the test again if you struggle through the first time.

Regarding the ACT Exam