This week in our Foreign Student
Series, we continue our discussion of college entrance tests
in the United States. There are two competing admissions tests
at the undergraduate level: the SAT and the ACT.
We talked last week about the
SAT. The reasoning test involves mathematics and language and
includes writing an essay. You can also take SAT subject tests.
The ACT is designed to measure what a student learned in high
school. There are questions in four skill areas: math, English,
reading and science. The ACT takes just over four hours. It
costs fifty-six dollars to take outside the United States. A
writing test -- which is not required -- adds thirty minutes
and fifteen dollars. Details about the ACT can be found at act.org.
ACT used to be short for American
College Testing; SAT once meant Scholastic Aptitude Test. But
today the letters no longer stand for anything.
Most American colleges and universities
require applicants for a bachelor's degree to take one of the
tests. Some students take both.
The ACT is advertised as "America's
most widely accepted college entrance exam." The SAT is
advertised as the one "most widely taken" and, combined
with high school grades, "the best predictor of college
success."
Yet activists have long debated
the fairness of these tests and what they really show. The issue
has intensified as the test preparation industry has grown.
Now, some colleges and universities
have stopped requiring the tests. A group called FairTest has
found almost eight hundred schools where students may be able
to gain admission without the SAT or ACT. The list is at fairtest.org.
For graduate-level programs,
applicants often have to take the Graduate Record Examinations,
or GRE. The general test measures reasoning, thinking and writing
skills.
The cost outside the United
States is one hundred seventy dollars -- except in China, Taiwan
and South Korea. The cost there is one hundred ninety-five dollars.
Students can also take GRE subject
tests. Information about the GRE can be found on the Educational
Testing Service Web site, ets.org.
The two major language tests
for non-native English speakers are the TOEFL and the IELTS.
These will be our subject next week.
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