The ACT (American College Testing) test was administered at Griffith High School on October 6, 2020 for all juniors and seniors who wanted to take it. It wasn’t required, as there was a $30 entrance fee, but most juniors and some seniors who didn’t take it last year decided to take this opportunity in order to submit their scores to the colleges they want to apply for in the future. These days, most colleges don’t require you to submit your SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) scores. Instead, you have the option of just including your ACT scores. This is because the content and the scoring on the SAT and the ACT are both very different. The highest score you can get on the SAT is a 1600 and it includes your basic, core subjects of mathematics and English, whereas the highest score you can get on the ACT is a 36 and it includes test content over mathematics, English, and science. Both tests offer colleges the chance to look at how well students can understand different topics, and for most schools, test scores are the very first thing they look at to determine if a student is eligible to enroll there.

Senior Justin Perez said, “I took the ACT this year because I always believed standardized test scores were the first thing colleges looked at to see where students are academically. Personally, I thought the questions on the ACT were much easier than those on the PSAT (Practice Scholastic Assessment Test). It was much nicer having shorter math and English sections to make time for the science section.”

The ACT is beneficial to students in every way possible when it comes to applying for colleges. Part of Griffith High School’s initiative to increase their college acceptance rates for students is to administer the test every year, making it easily accessible to take for juniors and seniors alike. A good score gives students a greater chance of being accepted into the college of their choice, because most have a better idea of their academic standing after viewing their final scores. This makes it simpler for students so they can narrow down which colleges they want to apply to, depending on the minimum GPA they require. This, in turn, can be extremely helpful when planning educational pathways. ACT scores also highlight areas in which students may need to improve on a certain topic they’re struggling with, so they can enroll in the necessary classes needed to improve on this topic until they graduate.

Junior Jacoba Babin said, “I would definitely say that the ACT was easier than the PSAT/SAT, and because of this I would recommend it to any student looking to go to college. It’s super helpful to be in a good standing academically when taking standardized tests, and this can help students become successful in college if they try hard enough.”

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