On October 9^th many of Arrowhead’s students took either the ACT or SAT, and most will take these tests at least once more. The ACT and SAT are standardized tests, and nearly all four year colleges require one of them.

Most mid western schools prefer the ACT while most east coast schools prefer the SAT. However, schools can covert an SAT score to an ACT score and vice versa using the concordance chart.

                “Read, read, read!”  Kathie Mitich, a guidance councilor at north campus, says reading is the most important advice she gives to students.

“It doesn’t matter if it is for school or just for fun, but the more you read the better you will do on any standardized test,” she says.

Other major points of advice Mitich gives to students include taking rigorous academic courses throughout your high school career and thinking of the test not as just a one day thing.

 Daily preparation will generally help students more than a prep class. This is not suggesting that SAT and ACT prep courses are not beneficial, but they are not a high score magic pill.

“Practice for the situation of the test. Sit in an uncomfortable chair, time yourself, read unfamiliar literature, or make it into a pressure situation. Athletes generally do better on standardized testing because they are use to having to perform well under pressure. If a student is not an athlete or is not use to performing under pressure he or she should practice under pressure,” says Mrs. Mitich.

The Plan and Explore test students at Arrowhead take during their freshman and sophomore years, respectively, should be used as guidelines to how to better standardize testing scores. If a student does poorly in the math section for example, then he or she should consider taking extra math classes before taking the ACT/SAT.

                Sending scores to colleges can be tricky. High schools cannot send official scores from ACT or SAT, but some colleges do not require official scores. When applying to a school look carefully at the application to see if they require official scores or if unofficial scores are acceptable.