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SAT ACT Test information

 

 

SAT ( format last changed March 2016 )  www.collegeboard.com

4 sections + 1 essay
154 questions ( 180 minutes ) + 1 essay ( 50 minutes )

Sections:
1 x Reading = 52 questions / 65 minutes ( 5 passages )
1 x Writing & Language = 44 questions / 35 minutes ( 4 passages )
2 x Math = 58 questions / 80 minutes ( 20 no calc + 38 calc )
1 x Essay = 50 minutes

Score Range = 400 to 1600

ACT ( format last changed September 2015 )  www.actstudent.org

4 sections + 1 essay
215 Questions ( 175 minutes ) + 1 essay (optional)  ( 40 minutes )

Sections:
1 x English = 75 questions / 45 minutes       ( 5 passages x 15 questions )
1 x Math = 60 questions / 60 minutes      
1 x Reading = 40 questions / 35 minutes       ( 4 passages x 10 questions )
1 x Science = 40 questions / 35 minutes       (  6 scenarios )
1 x Writing (Essay) = 40 minutes * NEW

Score Range = 1 to 36

 

SAT & ACT: The Great Debate:

Many colleges are dropping the SAT and ACT as an admission requirement because “they don’t predict first-year college success” “they are racist” “they discriminate again low-income and minority kids”…. Really?

 

Nope. Colleges are in fact big business. The colleges that are dropping the SAT & ACT requirement actually are using this to BOOST APPLICATIONS and INCREASE the number of students (  = profits ) enrolled in their universities. Then why did they have an SAT / ACT requirement before if they just wanted more students to make profits? Colleges are a competitive business. You want your college to appear, well, desirable to get into. How does it look if the college you run had such low standards of admissions that it didn't even require the SAT or ACT? You might as well be applying to community college. Only recently has it been more OK to be a college that didn't require the SAT or ACT.

 

Some think that the SAT & ACT are racist exams, poor predictors of college success, and that they should be dropped for admissions because the cheating scandal "only proves" the testing system can be gamed, but here are  the facts.

 

This is not about the fact that I tutor these exams. It’s about the fact that as a professional credentialed educator myself who has worked with thousands of high school students, I have seen first-hand what type of thinking is required to do well on these exams, at a level far deeper than any study thus far conducted. As a student myself who worked hard to get into a very high ranking university, I am saddened to see the admissions standard being compromised against what careful research has shown.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/editorial-uc-dumped-college-entrance-110048132.html

 

 

 

“But the results of the SAT say less about the test and more about high schools' failure to properly educate. Students across the country are failing to meet testing federal benchmarks, even before COVID-19 disrupted education. It’s our education system itself that needs improving and failing schools that need to be turned around. Blaming the tests doesn’t help anyone and, contrary to accusations of cultural bias, it is the math section that is hardest for students.”

 

 

   

“There's a national movement to remove SAT and ACT test scores from consideration for college admissions. If successfully implemented, this terrible idea will only encourage already widespread, unnecessary and unacceptable social engineering at American colleges, while doing nothing to help students of color who struggle academically. At the same time, it punishes students who do well.”

 

“So what would you look at for admissions, if not merit? We can expect universities to place an even bigger emphasis on extra-curriculars, personal stories and a student's identity.

 

That means college admissions officers, already focused on wokeness, will better shape incoming classes on the basis of what they'd prefer the campus to look like—and on what students believe. That makes it easier to turn students into activists, a direction colleges already appear to be willfully taking.” Newsweek 2021

 

 

 

 

Dropping the SAT & ACT requirement has never been about “equity & inclusion” or giving minority students access or reducing bias and racism. It was always a financial decision, and now the facts have come to light:

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/wealthy-high-schoolers-upping-application-165830172.html

 

https://thehill.com/opinion/education/504951-the-war-on-testing

 

 

The result of this is that college applications for every college will only increase because now the bar is lower. Anyone who previously was not qualified to apply can now apply. And that means more competition, and more of a need to stand out from the crowd.

 



April 10, 2021: As predicted, dropping SAT & ACT testing requirements only means that more students can apply to any college. Since the number of vacant spots do not increase, it means a lower acceptance rate for all colleges. Worse yet, since pretty much everyone has a 4.0 GPA anyways, grades don’t really mean anything.

READ HERE: https://www.tmj4.com/rebound/if-your-college-doesnt-require-the-act-or-sat-should-you-still-take-it

 

 

AND HERE: https://theolivebook.com/colleges-test-optional-act-sat-test/

 

 

Read More:

https://www.nj.com/opinion/2023/01/the-sat-act-are-equalizers-and-predictors-of-success-colleges-should-use-the-scores-opinion.html

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/no-excuse-to-continue-the-standardized-testing-waiver

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-10-26/us-colleges-should-bring-back-sat-and-act-test-requirements

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/04/mit-admissions-reinstates-sat-act-tests/629455/

https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/05/abandoning-the-sat-wont-help-disadvantaged-students/

https://nypost.com/2022/01/13/how-college-applicants-embellish-admission-essays/

https://www.ocregister.com/2022/01/13/ditching-standardized-tests-spells-disaster/amp/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/wealthy-high-schoolers-upping-application-165830172.html

https://www.yahoo.com/news/editorial-uc-dumped-college-entrance-110048132.html

https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/17/harvard-university-students-smart-iq

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/07/why-university-california-dropping-sat/619522/

https://www.city-journal.org/keep-the-sat-and-act

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/standardized-tests-increased-minority-admissions-in-california-but-state-universities-dropped-them-anyway-11622641540?siteid=yhoof2

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-17/killing-the-sat-and-act-isn-t-the-way-to-fix-college-admissions

https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/views/2021/08/02/keep-sat-and-act-opinion

 

(C) Solutions SAT ACT Tutoring   www.solutionsbayarea.com  info@solutionsbayarea.com