Secrets of the City

I’d prefer to judge the smarts of the state by ACT tests, then, instead of newspaper website comments.

ACT tests are fine, but maybe not the test taken by most of the country’s elite student field.

Just sayin’.

I got a 27. Suck it.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-08-19-act-college-prep_N.htm

And yet, only 23% of test takers can get a C or better.

And the ACT is still only a test for those going to schools in the midwest. Most schools on the coasts want SAT.

Ironic, that’s not true. The only coastal school I know that doesn’t accept the ACT is Harvey Mudd in California. And that may have changed. I am absolutely certain that east and west coast schools accept the ACT and/or SAT I, as I submitted it in place of my SAT I scores to a ton of east coast schools and many of my classmates in high school submitted it to schools on both coasts.

It is true, however, that mainly midwestern kids sit for the ACT and SAT while students elsewhere often just sit for the SAT.

It’s a shame because the ACT is mad easy compared to the SAT.

*oh, actually in ‘07 Harvey Mudd started accepting the ACT. So, everyone accepts it.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-03-18-life-cover-acts_N.htm

This was many, many years ago but we sat for both the SAT and ACT. Most of my overseas classmates at the time applied to coastal schools (e.g. UC-Berkley, Stanford, Yale, Wesleyan, etc.). All I remember of my results was that it would’ve been foolish of me to apply to anything remotely approaching the Ivy League.

My story as to why standardized tests like the ACT and SAT mean nothing:

I took the SAT one Saturday my junior year and the ACT the following weekend. I had a very high GPA from challenging classes and was not worried about the tests at all.

I got my SAT scores back first. I don’t remember the numbers, but I was in the bottom 12% in the country. My life was ruined. I wouldn’t get into college. I started looking at community colleges.

The next week I got my ACT scores back. I was in the top 5% of the country with a perfect score in one of the areas.

How can one weekend make for such dramatic differences in tests?

One of my problems with standardized tests, is that they discriminate against dyslexics. For instance, the science portion of the ACT asks for you to read this paragraph and answer some questions. You are restricted on time, so a slow reader (because of a learning disability or other factor) is at a HUGE disadvantage. (I didn’t read the paragraph and got a perfect score in science — go figure!)

They have extended time on the standardized tests for people with documented disabilities.

@kc!: Our testing began our sophmore year with the PSAT — the pre-SAT. It was the SAT on training wheels. Our teachers had told us that SAT was almost as much about knowing how to take a test as it was about any knowledge we had … or lacked.

It’s really just a test to see if you can… take a test. That’s it.

Bixby, I know they will take it, but the coast schools prefer the SAT. Several of my students turned ACT scores to schools in California, Florida, and the Northeast and were asked to send SAT scores. One kid got a letter from University of Florida saying, “If you do not have an SAT score, please take the test at your earliest convenience.”

The midwest prefers the ACT. Most of my students apply to UM(TC) and are asked to provide their ACT score first.

I find it interesting, however, that more and more people MUST take the written part of the test. No writing, no looks.

And we’re sort of number one. It has to do with the amount of kids who took the test. That makes me happy as more kids are taking the test. Most kids take the test for colleges, which means we have more kids applying…maybe.

I rememver one girl in my class got so nervous during the ACT, she had to run out of the room to vomit.

One other bit of SAT testing advice we were given: If you don’t know an answer, move on. You won’t be penalized so much for not answering than if you were to incorrectly answer a question.

So, yeah, the SAT was as much about test-taking as a test of “smarts.”

Ironic: I’m talking about pre-SAT revamp. I know tons of kids who went to top coast colleges and universities in 2000 and later (pre SAT revamp) and submited the ACT in place of the SAT I. For the written part, before the revamp of the SAT, we submitted the SAT II writing.

Even now, there are plenty of top coast schools that say that they want either exam, and if you submit the ACT, you must submit 2 SAT II exams and the ACT writing test. I’m really curious what schools you’re talking about specifically that express a preference. I just checked out a couple of universities and liberal arts colleges.

Moving on…

One of my friends feel asleep for an entire section during the ACT and still scored a 28. I have no idea how she couldn’t stay awake as it’s not like there wasn’t something to keep her awake like the freakin’ exam. So ridiculous.

My actual SAT I score and my converted ACT to SAT were way different. Although, my SAT II writing score was pretty good. I wonder how I’d combine all that data to get what my 2400 SAT score would roughly be.

And then there is the GRE. I did super poorly on the math part, 7 years after my last math class, that I thought I was screwed. But no, I got into every school I applied for.

I taught the LSAT. As a sophomore in college. Which pretty much tells you everything about that BS test.

I took it after a night of partying and scored a 31. Lick it!

I would have scored higher if I had know that unanswered questions didn’t count.