With the number of students going in for college education increasing everyday, it is becoming difficult for colleges to choose the deserving candidates. They have thus come up with various testing methods to assess the ability of the students in handling the courses offered by colleges. The ‘Free education Guide’ gives complete information on the entire procedures.
The various standardized tests for colleges include SAT, SAT subjects, ACT, TOEFL, NMSQT, PSAT, AP etc. The scores of these tests are accepted by most colleges for degree programs.
In the United States, SAT is the most important test which is accepted by most of the universities and colleges for their undergraduate programs. SAT assesses the overall academic strength and reasoning power of the student while TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) tests the student’s proficiency in English. SAT requires the student to take exams in Mathematics, reading and writing while Sat subjects test the student in English, Math, Science, History and languages. Some schools ask for both Sat and TOEFL scores.
ACT is another exam which is recognized by most colleges and is a multiple choice test in Math, English, reading and science reasoning. ACT exams take place many times in a year and are offered at both colleges as well as high schools.
The above tests are the most widely recognized and common tests but many schools and colleges require the PSAT or the Preliminary SAT, NMSQT or the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test and the AP or the Advanced Placement tests. The PSAT and NMSQT are generally taken during the junior year of high school.
Gaining admission in prestigious colleges and universities of the US depends a lot on the scores of these above standardized tests. However, these exams are not looked upon favorably by everybody. Critics of this method argue that since the tests are standardized and uniform for everyone, students who may not be good test-givers or have psychological problems taking such exams lose out on the scoring and thus on the college admissions even while otherwise they may be good students. To tackle this criticism, some changes have been effected in the SAT test and a writing section has also been included in addition to Math and English.
Whatever the critics may have to say about these exams, they are an inevitable part of college admissions and students should be well-prepared for them. Hiring a private tutor or joining a preparatory tuition should help the students to a large extent. Mock tests can be availed of on the internet and it is a good idea to take them before sitting for the actual tests. Putting in that extra effort to ensure a seat in a good college for a bright future always pays off.