ACT not relevant today

Kara Mercer

Columnist

The newly modified SAT will prove to be more beneficial to high school students applying for college.

To have two standardized tests for high school juniors can be inconvenient. The new SAT is accepted by all U.S colleges, according to the College Board website .

The College Board edited SAT questions so they can focus more on knowledge that research has identified as key to future success.

The new SAT will include free, downloadable practice tests and a mobile app that instantly scores paper tests. These tools will help students prepare for a test that can be a bit overwhelming without any practice.

Without a state budget, many schools had to bear the cost of offering the ACT to students for free. The proposal from the College Board to replace the ACT with the SAT was $1.37 million less than the ACT over three years.

To retake the SAT would cost students $54.50 with the optional essay portion of the test, while the ACT costs $56.50.

The SAT has improved its content and taking the SAT will prove to be in students’ best interest when applying for college.

SAT misses key concept

Kaylyn Zielinski

Columnist

High schools in Illinois should not switch from offering the ACT to offering the SAT.

Illinois plans to sign a contract that will administer the SAT instead of the ACT for high school juniors, according to a Dec. 21 Chicago Tribune article .

Both the ACT and the SAT are accepted at every four-year college, but the ACT is a better choice for high school juniors based on how well it tests all their abilities.

The ACT is a shorter test than the SAT. A shorter exam puts less stress on students already nervous about getting into the top colleges in the country.

The ACT includes all core subjects that every high school student is required to take: reading, English, math and science, while the SAT does not include a science section. Both these tests are meant to show a student’s readiness for college. By not including all subjects, the SAT is not doing its job.

The ACT lets students decide what scores they want to be sent to a college. The SAT sends all scores from the test taken whether good or bad. The ACT gives students a better chance at entering the college they want.