Wednesday, March 19, 2014

College Entrance Test - Which is Which?



Getting into most colleges requires taking entrance tests.  Check the college your interested in applying to for their entrance test requirements. But what are these tests? 

PSAT: Usually taken in your junior year in high school.  You might want to take it earlier to practice.

Description: Two 25 minute critical reading sections, two 25 minute math sectionsk one 30 minute writing skills section.  The PSAT was designed more to prepare you for the SAT (more on SAT later).  It looks the same as the SAT but shorter.  Score range is between 20 and 80.  A score of 80 would be a perfect score.  Average score for juniors is 49.  

SAT: Usually taken in the spring of your junior year or fall of your senior year. 

Description: Has a 70 minute critical reading secion, a 70 minute math section and a 60 minute writing section.  The scores for each section range 200 to 800 points.  Scores on the essay range from 1 to 6 points.  Keep in mind the SAT penalizes you for a wrong piont.  If you guess correctly you get a point.  You can the SAT more than once but your high school will send the results of each test you took.

ACT: Usually taken in the spring of your junior year or the fall of your senior year.

Description: The ACT is a three hour test in English, math, reading and science.  The ACT Plus has a 30 minute writing test.  The scores of each section are averaged (scores are added up and the divided by the number of sections) to get a composite score.  A perfect score is 36.  The score is based on the number of correct answers only.  Wrong answers do not count against you so take a guess it might help you. 

    Plan ahead: Look into test preparation courses.  Some high schools offer free or lower cost courses. Ask a teacher or a counselor. 

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