The ACT is becoming more popular not only in the USA but also globally.

While the SAT college testing has experienced some setbacks over the past few years, the ACT is growing and even expanding beyond the US borders.

International

Europe is very interested in the ACT. A large population of European students is interested in attending colleges in the USA. The college door opens with the ACT and more students want to attend college in the United States each year. Testing centers are filled on testing days turning students away, and ACT is in the process of expanding testing centers to allow more students to take the ACT.

Last year, 100 countries had students taking the ACT. Some countries were

• Australia
• Belize
• Brazil
• China
• France
• Germany
• Hong Kong
• India
• Indonesia
• Japan
• Kenya
• Mexico
• Pakistan
• Qatar
• Thailand
• United Kingdom

Students may register for the ACT online. With the burden of registering shifting to the website, more testing sites are popping up all over the world. Switzerland is interested in becoming a testing center, as is Santiago, Chile. Inner Mongolia has expressed interest in having an ACT testing center.

ACT vs. SAT

While both the ACT and the SAT are used for college entrance, they are somewhat different. The SAT is more popular on the east and west coasts. When you think Ivy League, you think SAT. However, the ACT is more popular in the Midwest and South. Most colleges accept both tests.

The SAT is more global and the ACT is more concrete. Some think the SAT is similar to an ability screening and the ACT actually tests over facts. The ACT tests more advanced math facts, also. The questions on the SAT are arranged in the order of difficulty and there is a penalty for guessing or getting answers wrong. The ACT has no order of difficulty and there is no penalty for wrong answers.

ACT Scores

The average ACT score in the US is consistently around 21-22 with the ACT range being 1-36. Colleges prefer seeing an 18 in English, 24 in Science, 22 in Math and 21 in Reading or higher. These scores seem to be the platform for success in doing well at the college level at many colleges. However, many colleges have higher standards and expect students to have much higher scores.

The average recent score of a female is 22.1 and males average a 22.3. However, a girl will usually perform slightly higher than a boy in college. The concern is that 53% of the test takers are girls and only 45% are boys. College campuses are becoming predominately female.

Take It Twice

It is a very good idea to take the ACT twice or even three times. The first time is a trial on the test structure. The second time is more relaxed testing. Colleges will often take the best scores from each content area so there is little to lose by taking the test multiple times.

The ACT has earned the respect in the college arena. The tests are solid and based on high school basics.

Source: ACTIVITY, Spring 2008, ACT Quarterly Newsletter

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