ACT Press Release: ACT Will Move to 2-to-12 Score Range for ACT Writing Test Results

IOWA CITY, Iowa-Beginning this fall with the September national test date, ACT will no longer report ACT writing test scores on a 1-to-36 scale. To reduce confusion among users, the writing score will instead be reported on a range of 2-to-12, with 12 being the highest possible score. The new reported score will be the average of the four 2-to-12 domain scores on the essay.

The writing test itself, which was revised last year, will remain unchanged. The essays will still be scored using the same rubric, on four domains (ideas and analysis, development and support, organization, and language use and conventions) by two independent readers. Scores on the four individual domains on the ACT writing test will continue to be reported on a 2-to-12 range as they are now.

Last year, ACT revised the optional writing test and began converting results to a 1-to-36 score scale to be consistent with the multiple-choice ACT test scores. This change, however, caused confusion among students who attempted to interpret their writing score in comparison to their multiple choice test scores. Each ACT subject test measures different skills, and many students earn higher scores on some tests than on others.

"Our customers have spoken, and we have listened," said ACT Chief Commercial Officer Suzana Delanghe. "Converting the writing results to a 1-to-36 scale made sense conceptually, but in practice it created confusion among some students. We clearly understand that now, and we are making this change to eliminate the confusion."

"Our research indicates that scores on the revised ACT writing test are performing no differently in comparison with scores on the other four ACT subject tests than they did on the previous writing test," said Wayne Camara, ACT senior vice president of research. "Converting the writing scores to the 1-to-36 scale may have made the differences in scores seem larger or more obvious. This is really a perceptual problem that we are addressing."

ACT advises that students can best interpret how well they scored on an individual subject test by looking at the percentile rank, rather than comparing the score on one subject test to the score on another.

Congratulations Class of 2016!

Our 46 wonderful graduates of the Class of 2016 were offered admission to the following colleges and universities. Names in bold indicate where these graduates have enrolled.

American University

Babson College

Binghamton University

Boston University

Brandeis University

Clark University

Emory University

Florida Atlantic University

Florida College of Natural Health

Florida Gulf Coast University

Florida State University

Fordham University

Furman University

Hood College

Indiana University at Bloomington

Indiana University at Bloomington (Kelley School of Business)

Marymount Manhattan College

New College of Florida

New York University

Northeastern University

Palm Beach State College

Parsons School of Design – The New School

Pennsylvania State University

Pratt Institute

Savannah College of Art and Design

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Syracuse University

Tallahassee Community College

Tel Aviv University

The George Washington University

The Ohio State University

Tulane University

Union College

University of Alabama

University of Arizona

University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, Santa Barbara

University of Central Florida

University of Colorado at Boulder

University of Florida

University of Florida (Honors College)

University of Iowa

University of Maine

University of Maryland, College Park

University of Maryland, College Park (Honors Program)

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

University of Miami

University of Michigan

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University of North Carolina at Wilmington

University of North Florida

University of Pennsylvania

University of Pittsburgh

University of South Florida, St. Pete

University of Texas, Austin

University of Texas, Austin (Honors Business)

University of Virginia

University of Washington

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Washington University in St. Louis

Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University (Honors)

Life Lessons From the College Admission Process

The college application process calls on our children to do something that they will need to do repeatedly: add value.  When selecting an incoming class, admission officers look for the applications who will add the most value to their college. Who adds the most value? In a sea of stellar applicants, the answer is athletes for sports teams, musicians for orchestras, researchers for labs, and leaders for student organizations.

Rather than doing as much as possible just to check off imaginary boxes for the college application process, our children should excel in areas that matter to them. Applicants that demonstrate a knack for creative writing, a keen interest in robotics, or a mean backhand on the Squash court earn admission. Your child’s passion, skills, and excitement enable her to stand out in the application process by demonstrating what she will bring to that college. Encourage your child to follow her passions and excel in them.

This leads us to the next lesson: specialization leads to further success. There are close to 375,000 women playing high school soccer this year. That is a lot of competition for the 38,000 women’s soccer spots at US colleges. For an applicant hoping to get recruited, soccer does not offer the best odds. On the other hand, there are just 4,200 high school women rowers and 7,800 college women crew spots. With such an unmet need for women rowers, applicants specializing in this niche sport offer more potential value to an admissions officer whose job is to ensure that her college’s crew team has enough athletes.

Instead of fighting the college admissions process, let’s embrace what it teaches us about succeeding in the face of fierce competition and position our children for success in applying to college and beyond.

Adapted from Greg Kaplan’s Post on HS Counselor Week

Social Media – think before you post

THIS IS A COPY OF THE COLLEGE ADMISSION STRATEGIES BLOG POST FROM 

HS Counselor Week South - June 2, 2016

By Lee Shulman Bierer

Stories abound of students and even teachers sharing inappropriate items on social media. You would think students who are about to apply to colleges and be evaluated by admissions officers would know better. The truth is that obviously the vast majority of high school students are very responsible about their social media presence but we only hear about the foolish ones whose mistakes live on as lessons for others.

The big question most parents ask me is whether or not colleges are fishing in the social media waters. Are colleges and universities proactively seeking out information on prospective applicants or not?

Recent research from Kaplan Test Prep, whose most recent survey of nearly 400 admissions officers, demonstrates that “the percentage of admissions officers who visit applicants’ social media pages to learn more about them has hit a record high of 40% — quadruple the percentage who did so in 2008,” when Kaplan first explored this issue. Further research also identified that only 11 percent of admissions officers do it “often.” Googling  an applicant to learn more about them has remained relatively stable over the past two years, at 29 percent.

Why are colleges looking?

It’s interesting to note that what triggers admissions officers to look beyond the traditional elements of the application (GPA, standardized test scores, extracurriculars) and turn to Google and Facebook are both positive and negative factors.

• Special talents -Students who are musicians, writers, models or poets will often invite admissions officers to view their social media presence in their applications. According to Kaplan’s research, 42 percent of admissions officers reported an increase in such invitations compared to two years ago.
• Award verification – There is no formal “fact-checking” process when students submit their applications. Colleges generally take at face-value whatever honors students list and the time commitments and leadership roles students state in their extracurricular activities and work experiences. However, a mention of a particularly distinguished award will sometimes trigger a search.
• Negative stuff – Some admissions officers say that if an applicant mentions they have a criminal background or a record of disciplinary action, they will do some online digging to get more details.
• Scholarship applications – Students applying for special scholarships can come under greater scrutiny, as schools want to ensure those receiving the scholarships are fully deserving; extra due diligence can come in the form of online checking.

The worst reason a student’s social media presence may be viewed is referred to as “Admissions Sabotage.” The ugly truth is that colleges admissions officers are occasionally anonymously alerted to social media postings by students or parents who are trying to sabotage another student’s chance of being accepted; presumably with the hope that they will instead be accepted. Admissions officers will typically follow-up to verify any accusations.

Bierer is an independent college adviser based in Charlotte.

SAT or ACT...How About Neither??

Did you know???

863 accredited bachelor-degree granting institutions are now test optional for most or all of their applicants!  This means that they will make admission decisions without regard to standardized test scores.

Quinnipiac University in Connecticut is the latest in this long line of schools that now have a test-optional admissions policy.  For the entire list go to the following website: 

     http://fairtest.org/university/optional

In addition, over 200 of the test-optional and test-flexible schools are listed here in the top tiers of their respective categories:

http://www.fairtest.org/sites/default/files/Optional-Schools-in-U.S.News-Top-Tiers.pdf


What does this mean???

Options for those students whose strengths are in areas other than their SAT or ACT scores.


This is a wonderful opportunity!  Students, investigate the schools that are of interest to you and speak with your college counselor to discuss further.