Forget Mayweather v. McGregor. The biggest fight of 2017 is SAT v. ACT, the two (heavily disputed) heavyweights of the standardized test world.
Each test has been around for decades and sequestered in its own nook of the country: SAT controlled the Northeast and California; ACT locked down the deep South & Midwest. But with the advent of “no preference” applications going national– that is, with the decision nationally by virtually all colleges to accept either exam without preference– the entire landscape has changed. Add to that the fact that the SAT was renovated last year (to reclaim some of the market share it had lost to ACT in recent years, mind you) and you have the making of a serious bout for hegemony between the two tests.
Millions of students take each exam every year– increasingly, those students are just as likely to be from Manila, Buenos Aires, or Rome as they are to be from Des Moines, Tallahassee, or Austin. ACT and SAT are competing for them all. Simply put, this fight has gone international in a BIG way.
There is much to know about how these tests are similar, how they are different, which might be better for you (or your child), etc., but we’ll save those discussions for future posts. For now, just sit tight, grab some popcorn (or a #2 pencil), and enjoy the fight.
This entry was posted in Brain Food, BrainStorm’s resource center for parents.
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