Standardized Testing in 2023— What’s New
Jack Beecher, High School Senior Here
When I tell people I scored a 36 on my ACT, they typically respond with one of three things:
-"Oh wow, you can go to any school you want huh."
-"You must be a genius."
-"How much studying did you have to do, must’ve been a lot."
Weirdly, in this distorted age of college admissions, all three of those remarks are actually incorrect.
Standardized testing no longer guarantees your admission into any school
You don’t have to be a genius to score well
You can score well without dedicating tons of hours to studying
Since I’m tired of all the incorrect comments people make about my score, I’d like to dedicate this blog to covering all things standardized testing. Because, let’s face it, this new era of college admissions places significantly less value on standardized testing than previous eras (although, as you’ll see below, it still carries serious weight with admissions, especially at the top schools).
Feel free to jump around to the sections you see fit.
Standardized Testing Does NOT (On Its Own) Get you into Top Schools
There might be no one better fit to explain this lesson. As I said, I achieved a 36 on the ACT (a perfect score), and many assume that means I could've gone to any school of my choice. Harvard, Stanford, MIT, you name it. Sadly, that could not be further from the truth. I not only got rejected from those three schools but many other top schools as well. Take UPenn, Northwestern, U Chicago, and even Georgia Tech, for example.
Why is that though? Why do perfect scores not mean as much anymore? Well, first of all, perfect scores are a lot more common than people think. Although the percentage of test takers (on the ACT) earning a 36 is less than .5%, that’s still over 6,000 kids per year. And guess what, Harvard can only admit 1,000-2,000 kids a year. This means 4,000 of those perfect score kids are getting rejected, and that’s only the ACT.
For the second reason, imagine all the talented kids who just aren’t as good at standardized tests. These are the kids who excel in school, have numerous impressive extracurriculars, but maybe stress out about tests too much, and score a respectable (32-34). These kids are still very much in the running for spots at top universities now that we live in a mostly test-optional era, as colleges know that impressive kids often don’t earn the most impressive scores. That doesn’t mean they don’t still want to admit them though.
All around, test scores now fall into the following category: they’ll increase your admissions chances if you do well…but no longer are they mandatory to submit.
When a student does submit, colleges see good scores (32-36) on standardized tests more as a baseline to get into top colleges than a deciding factor. Do what you want with that information.
You Don’t Have to be a Genius to Score Well
Despite popular opinion, scoring well on a standardized test is not only due to intelligence. It has just as much to do with studying. Take the English section of the ACT, for example. The first time I took the test in High School (sophomore year) I scored a 30 on the section, which isn’t bad, but not great. Instead of chalking that score up to my lack of intellect, I decided to retake the test with an emphasis on studying for English. Lo and behold, in my most recent attempt, I scored a 35 on the section.
Although a lot of the information on standardized tests is a call back to what you learned in high school, not all of it is. It’s just as, if not more, important to study the topics you don’t know (take comma rules in my case) than refresh on the information you do know. This leads to my next point.
You Don’t Have to Study for Hours on End to Get a Good Score
I know. I know. My last tip was about studying. This tip probably seems a little contradictory. Trust me, it’s not. Just because I say you don’t have to study for hours on end doesn’t mean you don’t have to study at all.
To illustrate this, I’d like to call back to something I mentioned in a past blog: Pareto’s Principle. Pareto’s Principle states that 20% of effort accounts for 80% of the results. Or, in the case of studying for standardized tests, 20% of the studying accounts for 80% of the score. So, if we're not trying to overstudy, it’s important to focus on that 20%.
For me, as I said, that 20% was English, but everyone has different weaknesses, so it’s important to take your own into account. To overcome my English hump, I set aside 30 minutes of focused English studying every morning for a month before my test. That might sound like a lot, but it’s really not, only 15 hours in total.
With those 15 hours, I improved my score by 5 points, not too bad. The important thing about those 15 hours was I was focused on studying the entire time. I didn’t set aside 30 minutes and then look at my phone for half of it. No. I set my phone aside. Focused on English. Then happily checked my Snapchat and Instagram 30 minutes later. So make sure to focus while studying. It saves tons of wasted time context switching and allows you to devote less time to studying in the end.
Are you interested in talking through standardized testing in greater depth? If so, schedule a free 45-minute call with Jack Delehey to discuss how your family can approach standardized tests, or whatever else you're struggling through. For added support, you can also join the free College Confidence Community dedicated exclusively to helping families like yours crush college admissions.
Have a good one,
Jack Beecher
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