Students have a multiple choice when comes to college entrance exams
By Anthony Stoeckert, Staff Writer
When it comes to college admission tests, most people in New Jersey think the SAT is the main, perhaps only, choice. But students actually have another option — the ACT. And according to one expert, the two tests are quite different, and that can work to a student’s advantage.
Colin Schreiber, executive director of Huntington Learning Center in Lawrenceville, Hamilton and Pennington, says the SAT has traditionally been the primary college entrance exam in the East and West coasts, with the ACT being more popular in the Midwest, but that’s beginning to change.
"Over the last five to 10 years, the ACT has been gaining in popularity, to the point where right now it’s 50-50," Mr. Schreiber says. "There are actually a few more students taking the ACT now nationwide, then the SAT, so it’s gaining tremendously in popularity."
He adds that the two exams are quite different, and that students can be better suited for one test or another. That’s because the SAT is a reasoning test, requiring problem solving and reasoning, and those skills aren’t strengths for every student. The ACT, he continues, is a closer match to the high school core curriculum,
"If the student is a good student in terms of the core subjects in school, and they have a strong content knowledge, they could be good candidates for the ACT," Mr. Schreiber says. "It’s a much more straightforward test than the SAT."
The ACT covers four subjects: English, math, reading and science. According to Mr. Schreiber, the test is given one subject at a time. The SAT has 10 different sections, with students moving back and forth from topics such as math, critical reading and writing.
"That can be confusing for some students, or it can be stimulating," he says. "In other words, some students might thrive in that environment."
Adam Inbar is an 11th grader at Princeton High School. He says he was "uncomfortable" after taking the PSAT — a test to gauge a student’s preparation for the SAT — and went to Huntington, where he took a practice ACT. Based on that, he decided to take the ACT.
For students considering one or the other, Adam says, "Find out which one is more suited to you because there are specific ways to study for each. Junior year is so busy already and these tests are stressful."
Mr. Schreiber says Huntington Learning Center offers one-on-one prep classes for both tests, and that he doesn’t have a preference for either — it’s about which test fits each student.
In order to find out what test is better for a particular student, he says the center considers GPA, curriculum and a student’s strengths and weaknesses.
"We’ll ask them how they feel about their test-taking skills and also their confidence in test taking," he says. "We also ask them how much time they have available to prep."
Advisers then explain the differences between the tests, how the SAT is a critical thinking test with math conceptualization, strong vocabulary and reasoning. They also ask students to self-evaluate their performance. They also describe how the ACT is more knowledge-based, more content-knowledge-based and if they have a strong sense of science and math
"We determine with them where they feel more comfortable," Mr. Schreiber says.
He adds that educators in the area are getting behind the ACT but that because the East Coast was "SAT territory" for so long, parents are not as aware of it.
"From my perspective I don’t see as many parents calling about the ACT, it’s more about the SAT," he says.
And with opportunities to take tests coming up in the fall, Mr. Schreiber suggests that sophomores should think about taking prep courses in the summer.
"It’s a great time to prep because they’re going to have school schedules and sports schedules in the fall, so summer is perfect," he says. "And then they can schedule their first tests in the fall of their junior year — October, November, December. Students who are going to wait until the spring of their junior year will have to start prepping in the fall of their junior year, which is going to be more demanding on their time because they have school and sports and things like that."