The SAT and ACT test is needed for a student to be accepted into college.  According to the sat.collegeboard website, “The SAT is a globally recognized college admission test that lets you show colleges what you know and how well you can apply that knowledge. It tests your knowledge of reading, writing and math — subjects that are taught every day in high school classrooms. Most students take the SAT during their junior or senior year of high school, and almost all colleges and universities use the SAT to make admission decisions.”  They are different because “the ACT is an achievement test, measuring what a student has learned in school. The SAT is more of an aptitude test, testing reasoning and verbal abilities.”  The problem is that some kids aren’t as strong in certain subjects as others.  It’s NOT a fair way to evaluate students.  If you pass, great, but if you fail or don’t pass then what?  Yeah students can retake the test, but maybe their families aren’t as fortunate as others and can’t afford to pay for another test.  Colleges should not accept or decline students based on whether they pass or fail to ACT or SAT.  A bunch of questions have been asked on the sat.collegeboard website; “Is the test at an advantage to certain people more so than others?” or “Is it fair to judge students on what they score on one test?” These questions are still up for debate and cause a rumpus. 

Some students may be strong in math and science but not english and that section of english could ruin their overall score, also in any variation of subjects.  It’s unfair to pass or deny someone by what they score if they do really good on certain subjects and does awful on another subject.  Studies show that the scores of the students on the SAT test does not match the where their GPA should be at their freshmen year of college.  A college should accept students based on their GPA, that consists of classes over 4 years instead of one test.

What happens if a family can afford to pay for their children to take the SAT or ACT a second time?  Well in the whole state of Minnesota, on April 28th all juniors will have to take the ACT in school.  The best thing about this is that it’s all free, the school pays for all the juniors.  On the other side, it can be awful because the state passed a law that if a student misses the test day and the make up day then they will not graduate!  Is that really fair to the juniors?  What if a student is sick or out of town?  According to the priorlake-savage website, “For the first time, all Minnesota juniors are required to take the ACT test. This requirement is based on Minnesota Statute 120B.30, which is intended to ensure all students are college and career ready. Prior Lake High School and Bridges ALC will be facilitating this statewide ACT test on Tuesday, April 28, 2015. All juniors at PLHS and Bridges will be able to take the same ACT test that is administered nationally at their high school. Scores are college reportable and the test is offered at no cost to the student. Students must take the ACT on April 28, 2015, even if they have already taken a paid version of the ACT test.”

Questions have been asked about which test is better?  Well the answer is neither, it depends on what college the student is interested in.  My brother is currently in his sophomore year at North Dakota State University studying pharmacy.  NDSU only requires their students to take the ACT.  Alex waited to take his test until his senior year, which was a mistake.  According to Alex Hauke he said “I wish i would have taken the test my junior year to give me a better opportunity to get a better score.”  Bringing up another frequently asked question: When should you take your ACT or SAT test?  All my teachers I have spoken to have recommended taking the tests my junior year.  According to the sat.collegeboard website, “Most students take the SAT during their junior or senior year in high school. At least half of all students take the SAT twice — in the spring of their junior year and in the fall of their senior year. Most students also improve their score the second time around.”

Work Cited
SAT.  2015 The College Board. Thur. 26 March 2015
Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools. 30 Oct. 2014. Thur. 26 March 2015
ACT. 2015 The college Board. Thur. 26 March 2015