myUsearch blog

Although developed earlier, the first significant use of the SAT began in the 1930′s.  By the middle 1940′s, Educational Testing Service began in Princeton, New Jersey, and the college entrance testing industry, comprised primarily of the SAT and ACT organizations, now influences the admissions decisions of the vast majority of students applying to four-year colleges.

Interestingly, there has always been skepticism about the value of standardized testing in the college admissions process.  In fact, the Princeton psyschologist who developed the first SAT was not entirely sold on its use and this week a report was released that asked colleges to seriously consider eliminating them. However, these tests aren’t going away anytime soon. Millions of students take them annually, and they are used not only for college admission, but for course placement, scholarship eligibility, and honors college eligibility. So what should you do about them?

Students and parents frequently want answers to two questions.  The first is, which test should a student take?  While there is no definitive answer, my experience is that most educators willing to express an opinion seem to think that students who tend to do well on tests, especially those designed to measure native intelligence, may have an easier time with the SAT.  The ACT, on the other hand, is thought to reward students who have taken challenging courses and mastered them.  For the most part, students who sit for both tests score within comparable percentile ranges on each, but there is no real harm done by taking both.  

The second question students and parents ask is, “Do test prep courses work?”  For years, the SAT people claimed they did not.  Today, they and the ACT folks, as well as many other organizations including schools, offer test prep guides and/or classes.  Affluent families go as far as hiring specialized SAT or ACT tutors.  For some, it can be worth the cost in time, energy, and money.  For others, it makes less sense.

Generally speaking, if a student is within modest distance of the scores required to be a competitive applicant to the college(s) of his or her choice, a prep course may be worth the cost and the effort.  A better idea, however, for most students, is to carefully select colleges which are a good fit for them and are likely to offer them admission based on their second or third set of test scores and other criteria.

No responsible educator believes that ACT or SAT scores predict college success as well as grades, class rank, and completion of a challenging high school curriculum.  But, for now, approximately two-thirds of four-year colleges require them, making them a fact of life for college-bound students.  Thus, while they should not be feared, you should at least do some preparation for them, even if that just means purchasing an ACT/SAT guide or taking an inexpensive online test prep course.    

Remember, not all colleges that require test scores weigh them heavily.  And some colleges do not require ACT or SAT scores at all.  

The author, Dan Rosenfield, is a university dean who has created websites on subjects including online college programs, online degree options, and scholarships.