In February of 2016, the Illinois State Board of Education announced it would forego the ACT as the college entrance exam that is given out (free of charge) by public high schools, and replace it with the SAT. This year, on April 5, students at Libertyville High School, as well as those across the state, took the free SAT, administered by the high schools.
The switch occurred after both the ACT and College Board (which oversees the SAT) redesigned their tests; this provided an opportunity for the state to sign a new contract with one of the two. College Board provided a cheaper option, so the state went with that.
The decision to no longer administer a free ACT has caused a change in the college entrance exams students have been taking. While everyone took the SAT on April 5, many students are still planning to take the ACT, and taking it multiple times; some are taking multiple SATs or taking just the one SAT.
How is the junior class reacting to the switch? According to LHS’s college counselor, Amy Belstra, many juniors are still taking both. However, she expects that to change.
“For the sophomore class and beyond, I predict the SAT will become the more popular test, as students, teachers, parents, and colleges all become more comfortable with how it is scored,” said Ms. Belstra in an interview conducted online. “It will take a few years.”
The tests are totally separate, but colleges do not care which one you take. According to Ms. Belstra, there is an easy way for colleges to convert scores between the two exams.
In the past, students have often prepped for the ACT, and the school even offered ACT tutoring classes at night. This year, the school provided classes to prep for the SAT, and students still did ACT prep on their own. For example, junior Nate Sanderson took the ACT multiple times this year and took prep classes for it at the Lake Forest library.
“I had heard more about the ACT and I knew the prep classes helped, so I thought it gave me the best chance to succeed,” Sanderson said.
The tests are structured pretty similarly but there are some differences. The ACT has four sections: English, math, reading and science and an optional essay. The SAT contains reading, writing (similar to English), a non-calculator math section, a calculator math section and an optional essay.
“Overall I thought the SAT was harder,” said Sanderson. “The reading questions were harder, and I did well on ACT science and there was no science on the SAT.”
The SAT is the state administered test now, but that does not mean it can’t shift back to ACT in a few years. “I’ve been doing this college admission thing for a long time, and I’ve seen the pendulum swing from SAT to ACT and back again,” said Ms. Belstra. Other states have the ACT as their state-administered test, so both tests will still be in existence. Ms. Belstra cited the state budget as the only thing that could put an end to either the SAT or ACT.
“My hope is that someday, colleges will be able to evaluate students beyond those test scores, and no longer require them,” said Ms. Belstra.
