Need more time for the ACT or SAT?

If you’ve been diagnosed with a learning disability, you may want to consider requesting special accommodations when you take the SAT or ACT. Depending on your learning disability, accommodations could include extended time to complete the test, testing over multiple days, access to an audio DVD, or a specific seating arrangement. Students with ADHD, for example, may be able to take the test with extended time in a room with fewer students. There’s no additional charge to complete an accommodated test, and because college admissions committees don’t know when tests were taken under modified circumstances, you shouldn’t hesitate to request accommodations if you need them.

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Hate the SAT and ACT? Me Too, But Colleges Still Love These Tests

Perhaps the most vexing aspect of college admissions in the United States today is the use and abuse of standardized tests.  While there is no solid research to support their pivotal role in determining who is accepted and who is rejected by the nation’s colleges and universities, the fact is that they are a competitive credential.  The better your scores, the better your chances of admission.  Of course, high scores alone will not guarantee you anything but a wet, sloppy kiss from your proud parents.  But all other things being equal, good scores are preferable to low ones.
Much has been written about the history of these tests, and we have described the differences between the ACT and the SAT elsewhere on this blog.  Suffice it to say that the growth of these two tests can be attributed to colleges’ need for some sort of thumbnail comparison of students across schools, across states, and across curricula.  The fact is that with 14,000 school districts and perhaps 2,000 more private high schools in the US, there is little standardization from one school to the next. So it has always been difficult to judge the correlation of 4.0 GPA from an inner-city high school on the South Side of Chicago from a 4.0 GPA from Phillips Exeter.  Supposedly, the standardized tests are a leveler–they help admissions folks compare students from different schools in different parts of the country.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.  Here’s some reasons why.
First, there is no correlation between success on these tests and success in college.  This correlation is generally assumed to exist:  if you do better on the exams, you are therefore smarter and better able to succeed in college.  In fact, research undertaken by Bates College in Maine demonstrates confirms the absence of any such correlation.
Second, the SAT and ACT tests are not “levelers.”  Quite the opposite.  What research we do have on these tests demonstrates that students of lower socio-economic classes do worse on these exams than do students from more affluent backgrounds.
Third, these tests do not really measure either intellectual capacity or aptitude; they  measure performance on these specific tests.  It is possible, therefore, to cram for these tests and improve scores–without taking more high school courses or taking steroids to improve brain capacity.  Thus, a multi-billion dollar test prep industry has developed to help students cram for the tests.  While not all test prep courses or tutoring will lead to a significant score increase, some test prep can lead to dramatic increases.  A recent study from the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) indicates that test prep courses and tutoring will raise scores, on average, by only 20 or 30 points on the SAT tests and perhaps only a point on the ACT.
However, I have seen students make very dramatic gains by working one-on-one with a very experienced, very talented private tutor. Thus my interpretation of the NACAC data is that most test prep is pretty lackluster.  If a student really wants to raise his score, he will have to seek stronger test prep services from those who know what they are doing.
I don’t recommend test preparation for all  my clients.  Much depends on what sort of schools interest them, and whether their first round of testing was good enough to allow them to achieve their goals.  But if their scores fall short of those goals, I will work with them to identify good resources to help them do their best.  For while I don’t think that these scores have much to say about a student’s abilities or potential, they have become very important in competitive college admissions.
Mark Montgomery
College Planner and Adviser
 
 
 
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Advice on College Admission, Standardized Testing from Michelle Obama

Students at Denver’s South High School played host to First Lady Michelle Obama this past Monday.  Students asked the First Lady about standardized tests, getting into college, and her advice to them as they enter the world as adults.

Here’s a snippet from the Denver Post article that reported on her visit.

The Princeton University graduate, in town for a day of mentoring, also let some of the students at South High School in on a secret: She never performed “great” on standardized tests. Straight A’s, student government, sports, teacher recommendations and her essays are what led her to the Ivy League.

But while Obama said she didn’t consider the tests a good indicator of future success, she told the students that they are “part of the system” and need to be taken seriously.

And she urged them to focus on the thing they have most control over: their grades.

“Fundamentally, the difference between an A and a B oftentimes is in your own hands,” she said, responding to a student’s question about whether it was fair to use test scores as the measure of school performance when many kids can’t speak English.

You can also view a video of her Q&A session, including some remarks about going to standardized tests at South High School.

Mark Montgomery
College Counselor


Average ACT Score Unchanged Despite Growing Numbers of Test Takers

A report released yesterday by ACT, Inc, indicates that the average national score on the college entrance test has held steady, even though the number of students taken the test has increased.

The national average score on the ACT is 21.1 on a 36 point scale. The test contains four components: math, science, English, and reading. The test also has an optional writing portion that is scored separately.  (The main competitor to the ACT is the SAT.  See our article for more on the differences  between the two tests.)

An article in today’s Chronicle of Higher Education (registration required) explains that the number of students taking the ACT has increased by 25% since 2005.

Much of this increase can be attributed to the fact that five states now require their high school students to take the exam. Those states are Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, and Wyoming.

So it’s interesting to  note that while more and more students are taking the ACT exam–especially in the five states above–not all of these students are flocking to college.  While the average ACT has gone up in Colorado, for example, the percentage of high school graduates going to college (and graduating!) has not gone up all that much.

Further, it’s interesting that with more people taking the test, the average has not fluctuated much.

You can also read about the ACT report in Jacques Steinberg’s article in the New York Times.


Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant


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New Admissions Test to Complement SAT, ACT, GRE

The education reporter at USA Today, Mary Beth Marklein, reported yesterday on her blog that ETS has developed a new test or tool for gathering more, better, and more consistent information about applicants to college and graduate school.  The idea is to assess more qualitative aspects of an applicant’s preparedness for academic study.  The focus at first is upon graduate school, but the plan at ETS is to roll out the test for use in undergraduate admissions within the next few years.

The basic idea is that students who sign up for the test are asked to name five people (usually professors or supervisors) to evaluate them on six criteria:  1) knowledge and creavity, 2) teamwork, 3) communication skills, 4) resilience, 5) planning and organization, and 6) ethics and integrity.  ETS then generates a report that reflects the opinion of these five reviewers.

I admit to some skepticism about a new admissions test, but I do like the fact that this test is actually a way to bring some rigor and consistency to letters of recommendation, to increase the inputs from two reference to five, and to give evaluators the opportunity to comment on important factors (like resilience and ethics) that may have more to do with a student’s success in academia than sheer brain power.

It will be important to follow the development and implementation of this new test over the next few years.

Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant


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‘Score Choice’: a Tempest in a Teapot? – Chronicle.com

The Chronicle of Higher Education has joined in the reporting on “Score Choice,” the new policy by the College Board to allow students the ability to choose which test scores are sent to college admissions offices. ‘Score Choice’: a Tempest in a Teapot? – Chronicle.com (subscription required).
The article makes the following helpful points.
1.  Much of the criticism stems from the fact that the College Board is an organization that everyone loves to hate.
2.  The College Board’s rival, the ACT, has offered the equivalent to “score choice” for years, without any hew and cry.
3.  There is a legitimate debate about who should “own” the scores:  students, the College Board, or the admissions offices.
4.  Colleges often average scores, and sometimes pick the highest scores anyway.
5.  Students with multiple scores are likely to be in a higher income bracket, which tells gives those colleges some useful information (which should make some students think twice about taking the tests more than twice).
6.  Colleges can still ask (or demand) that all scores be revealed to them.
I also feel that this new policy is, indeed, much ado about nothing.  There are, of course, ways in which to improve one’s test score.  I worry that too many parents–and students–fret too much that these test scores define them as learners and as human beings.  Even students with average test scores can get a great college education.
Mark Montgomery
College Counselor

SAT, Score Choice, and the Business of Standardized Testing

Today’s edition of Inside Higher Ed presents an excellent analysis of the College Board’s new policy allowing students to select which of their SAT scores they’d like to submit to colleges.

Ostensibly, this new policy is to alleviate the stress of taking the tests, and to give more power to students in the admissions process. However, at the same time, the College Board is telling colleges that they can have their own policies with regard to “Score Choice,” thereby eliminating any real “choice” by the students. Colleges still retain the right to see whatever scores they want to see.

As the article points out, the College Board is talking out of both sides of its mouth. To its student customers, it is saying, “we’re here for you…we care about your pain and suffering.” To it’s college and university customers, it is saying, “we’ll help you implement your policies and subvert student choice, if that’s what you want.”

Face it, folks. Higher education is a multi-billion dollar business in the USA. Colleges and universities act as businesses. The College Board is a company. It may be classified as a “non-profit” for tax purposes, but it has revenue goals like any other economic entity. And College Board competes in our capitalistic system alongside the ACT.

The problem is that the College Board has two sets of customers whose needs and interests are, if not diametrically opposed, at least in conflict. The College Board sits squarely between the colleges–who want ways to compare apples to oranges in an educational environment that is chaotically diverse–and high school students–who want the opportunity to present themselves in the best possible light with the minimum of stress.

My advice to clients is to not to get caught up in a frenzy. Test scores are important aspects of the overall application process, especially to the most selective colleges. While I have seen a few students make huge leaps in their performance on these tests, most make only modest gains–even after extensive (and often expensive) test preparation tutoring. I do not think that these tests are particularly fair. Nor do I believe that they are measures of aptitude or predictors of future success. And I applaud colleges who dare to move away from using them.

But it doesn’t do high school juniors and seniors much good to get agitated, indignant, stressed, or depressed. The tests aren’t fair? Well, life isn’t fair And it we may as well start learning this little fact at age 17.

So again, what do I tell my clients?
–Prepare the best you can.
–Make realistic goals based on the reality of the numbers.
–Develop a strategy to present yourself in the best light possible.
–Do not allow your test scores or grades to define you as human being.
–Remember that there are many paths to success–and it’s never too late to choose a different one.

In short, let the professional educators, policy makers, and people like me rail against the unfairness and silliness of it all. For now, just do your work, enjoy your life, and have confidence that you have many wonderful opportunities ahead.

 

Mark Montgomery
College Counselor

 

 

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