College Counseling NewsBy Scott Thigpen, Director of College CounselingAs the gardenias bloom and the daysstart to get warmer, tis the season forour juniors to take a standardizedtest…or two. <strong>The</strong>refore I want to usethis month’s Courier edition to discussthese tests and what all the fuss is about.A college admissions officer takesmultiple things into account whenreviewing a prospective student’sapplication, one of those being howthe student performed on the SAT orACT. Although there is no hard sciencethat proves one test is easier than theother, it is important for students tounderstand the structure of both examsso they can decide which one they arebetter suited for.<strong>The</strong> SAT, originally called the ScholasticAptitude Test, is an aptitude testmeasuring literacy and writing skillsand reasoning and verbal abilities. <strong>The</strong>SAT has 140 questions plus a requiredessay and is 3 hours and 45 minuteslong. <strong>The</strong> test is made up of threesections: critical reading, writing, andmath with a maximum score of 800 ineach section making up a perfect scoreof 2400. <strong>The</strong> writing section, added tothe exam in 2005, is still considerednew, and most colleges are interested inhow well a student fairs in the criticalreading and math sections.<strong>The</strong> ACT, or American College Test, isan achievement test whose purpose is toPage 24measure what a student has learned inschool. <strong>The</strong> ACT is comprised of foursections: English, math, reading, andscience. Each section is graded separatelywith a score range of 1–36. <strong>The</strong> averageof the four sections rounded to thenearest whole number makes up thestudent’s composite score. Unlike theSAT, which doles out a ¼ point penaltyfor each wrong answer on the multiplechoice questions, the ACT is scoredbased on the number of correct answerswith no penalty for wrong answers(or guessing). It is 215 questions longand the essay is optional; however I dorecommend that you register to take theessay, given that many colleges requireit. <strong>The</strong> actual testing time is 3 hours and25 minutes.Since the majority of colleges accepteither test, which one should you take?Let’s discuss how they are different.How do you do with science andtrigonometry? <strong>The</strong> SAT has neither;the ACT has both. However, there areonly about four trigonometry questionsthat will cover the basics such as righttriangles, sine, and cosine. In additionto this, the math portion of the ACTis all multiple choice. <strong>The</strong> SAT mathsection has some questions that requirewritten answers. As for science, thissection of the ACT will include areassuch as biology, chemistry, physics, andearth science. <strong>The</strong> SAT has no sciencequestions. Also, the grammar emphasisis a little different for each exam. Whatis similar is that students should bewell prepared to know the rules forsubject/verb agreement, proper nounusage, identifying run-ons, and so on.If you are an ardent wordsmith, you’lllove the SAT. <strong>The</strong> ACT places moreemphasis on punctuation and syntax.It also includes questions on rhetoricstrategies. Another notable difference isthat the questions on the SAT becomemore difficult as they progress. <strong>The</strong>ACT’s difficulty remains constantthroughout. In the event that you havetaken both these exams and simplycan’t earn a respectable score, there areroughly 850 test-optional schools thatdo not require that you submit testscores for consideration for admission.Visit www.fairtest.org to review the list.Finally, allow me to briefly explainwhat an SAT subject test is, alsoknown as an SAT II. <strong>The</strong>se hourlongtests are content-based examsthat test a student’s knowledge in aspecific area. <strong>The</strong> majority of collegesdo not require them; however, the IvyLeague schools do, along with otherhighly selective universities such asUniversity of Virginia and Washingtonand Lee University. <strong>The</strong>se tests addanother dimension to your applicationand show college admission officersthat you are aptly prepared to tacklea specific major. <strong>The</strong> College Boardoffers 20 of these subjects tests in fivegeneral subject areas: English, history,language, mathematics, and science. Itis a good idea for students to take theseexams shortly after they have completeda particular course of study so that theinformation is still fresh in their mind.For example, if a student is interestedin taking the SAT II Chemistry test,they should take it at the end of orjust after their 10th grade year. Visitcollegeboard.org for more information.What is considered a good SAT orACT score? National average scoresare around 500 for each section of theSAT and a 21 composite score for theACT. <strong>The</strong> chart on the next page willhelp parents and students gain a morerealistic picture of where their testscores place them. Thanks for hangingout on the college page. Do not hesitateto call or email if you have questions.
SAT Reading SAT Math SAT Writing ACT Composite25 % 75 % 25 % 75 % 25 % 75 % 25 % 75 %Samford University 520 630 510 630 510 620 23 29University of Central Florida 530 630 550 650 510 610 23 28Rollins College 550 640 540 640 540 640 24 29Florida State University 560 640 560 640 560 640 25 29Furman University 550 650 560 660 540 650 25 29University of Florida 580 670 590 690 570 670 26 31University of Virginia 620 720 640 740 630 730 28 32Harvard University 700 800 710 790 710 800 32 35Date source: collegeboard.org<strong>The</strong> 25/75 percentiles for the SAT and ACT scores show the range in which half the students scored: 25 percentscored below the lower score and 25 percent scored above the higher score. Another way to look at it is if a studentscores 600 on the SAT Reading and 600 on the SAT Math that would place them in the mid-range of Samford’sadmission class. This would make Samford University a good match for this student. Looking at Universityof Virginia with the same scores, the student would be in the bottom 25 percent of applicants. This would makeUVA a “reach” school for this student.Page 25
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