Is The ACT Overrated?

**All media below is the opinion of an individual student and therefore does not represent or speak to the values of Vestavia Hills High School and Vestavia Hills City Schools**

In a community with such diverse interests as Vestavia, it's almost impossible to pinpoint one common activity among the students. Sure, there are the football games, pep rallies, and school dances attended by the bulk of our school body, but no singular event unites us all except for the ACT.

As part of an agreement between the ACT and the state, 100% of Alabama high school students take the ACT. This agreement is fulfilled through a school-day test, free of charge, exposing those who still need to take the ACT to its format and serving as an additional opportunity for those who have already taken it to raise their score. Also, to improve test scores, our school offers a semester-long ACT prep class that students may choose to take within their schedule. Evidently, Vestavia provides ample opportunity for their students to succeed on the ACT. Yet one other component of college admissions remains overlooked by Alabama schools: the SAT.

According to the 2022 SAT Suite of Assessments Annual Report, a mere 4% of Alabama's class of 2022 took the SAT. And this number is expected to decrease as SAT test centers in Alabama become more and more scarce each year. On the local level, students used to be able to take the SAT at Shades Valley High School. But as of this school year, they no longer offer the test. The closest test center to our area is now the University of Alabama. Those that still choose to take the SAT must wake up extra early, deprive themselves of precious sleep, and drive an hour to a college campus. Conversely, they could shell out additional money on top of the test fee and stay in a hotel on campus. Or lastly, students can take the much more convenient option and acquiesce to the ACT.

So why even take the SAT over the ACT? What is the difference?

• The SAT generally gives students more time per question, meaning those that find themselves struggling to finish sections of the ACT may benefit from its counterpart.

• The composite score of the SAT is composed of three subjects: English (25%), Reading (25%), and Math (50%). It forgoes the science section present on the ACT and more heavily weighs math skills. Certain people are better suited for the SAT depending on their strengths and weaknesses.

• Studying for and taking the SAT improves performance on the PSAT.

The most unifying activity among all American high schoolers is the PSAT. Sponsored by CollegeBoard, the PSAT is given to every single Junior in America on the same day, at the same time, using the same test material. After the draining four-hour test, students look forward to the memes and inside jokes pertaining to the PSAT that naturally arise. However, the esoteric social media posts referencing reading passages and word problems shouldn't be the only aspect of the PSAT that students look forward to.

CollegeBoard sponsors the PSAT as part of a nationwide scholarship competition–the National Merit Scholarship. Semifinalists are determined by the top test scores in each state. Alabama, alongside other states that favor the ACT, has lower qualification thresholds, as students are unfamiliar with the test's format. If our community had more opportunities to take and prepare for the SAT, more students could be achieving their goal test scores and earning incredible scholarships.