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 o you’re thinking about going to college?
That’s great! A good education is important.
But what’s even more important is going to
the right college, one where you’ll be happy
and successful. Today, more minority
students than ever before are pursuing
higher education. That means there’s a
college out there for you, too. It might be
right around the corner, or it might be
halfway across the country. It could very
well be one of those described in this
magazine.
College spells the chance for a more
fulfilling life. First, there’s nothing
quite like the experience of being on
campus:
Then there are the benefits that come later:
These are facts, and they can make a large
investment of time and money well worth it.
But it’s also an unfortunate fact that not
everyone does well in college. Many freshmen
drop out before they become sophomores. It
might be due to homesickness or lack of
money or a feeling that you just don’t fit
in. It might, however, be due to struggling
with class work and poor grades. Please
remember this: No matter how familiar they
may seem at first, college classes are very
different from high school classes. They’re
generally much tougher. And, in most cases,
your teachers won’t know you like your high
school teachers do. So, you need to be
ready. You should make sure, before you get
to campus, that you have the skills and
knowledge you’ll need to succeed.
ACT scores from recent high school
graduating classes suggest that only around
half (51%) have the reading skills they’ll
need to keep up with the reading demands of
social studies courses during the first year
of college. Even more disturbing, fewer than
half (41%) of these college-bound students
were prepared to earn a “C” or higher in
college algebra, and only around a fourth
(26%) were prepared to earn a “C” or higher
in college biology. Far too many students
are graduating from high school unprepared
for college-level coursework. Don’t be one
of them.
What
can you do to ensure that you are prepared
for college? The best way is to take high
school courses designed to get you ready for
college. If you take those courses and study
hard, you’ll probably acquire most of what
you’ll need to get started. If you haven’t
yet taken enough of those courses — Algebra
II, geometry, trigonometry, calculus,
chemistry, physics, etc. — now is your
chance to make up for lost time. Read books
that contain complex material and develop
your skills of comprehension. If you don’t
make good decisions now, you are likely to
find your options for higher education and
careers significantly narrowed when you
leave high school.
For example, let’s say you’ve heard about
the great opportunities that exist for
computer programmers, and you think you’d
like a solid, well-paying career like that.
If you go off to college without a strong
background in math, you’ll probably be told
that you can’t enroll right away in the
computer classes you want. Computer science
classes require strong math skills. Before
you can get to those classes, you may have
to take remedial math to fill in the gaps.
That’s not necessarily the end of the world,
but it can be frustrating. So it’s best to
take all the recommended math courses before
you get to college. If that doesn’t appeal
to you, maybe you should take a realistic
look at your academic strengths, as well as
your interests, and then rethink your career
goals.
A solid college-prep curriculum usually
includes at least:
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four years of English (grammar, writing,
literature, etc.),
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three years of math (starting with
Algebra I),
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three years of science (earth science,
biology, chemistry, etc.),
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and three years of social studies
(history, economics, psychology,
government, etc.).
Take these courses, study hard, learn all
you can, and you’ll be in a good position to
make a solid score on your entrance exam and
do well in your first year of college.
Better yet, however, go beyond these core
courses, taking advanced classes like
trigonometry, physics, and calculus.
Students who do so tend to earn
significantly higher scores on the ACT. The
more challenging courses you take in high
school, the better prepared you will be to
succeed in college — and the more impressed
college admission officials will be with
you.
Some students shy away from taking more
difficult classes because they’re afraid
they might hurt their GPA. Instead, they
take easier courses to be better assured of
earning high grades. Colleges are impressed
by a high GPA, right?
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Yes and no. All colleges will want to see
your high school transcript in deciding
whether or not to accept you as a student.
They’ll look at the grades you earned, of
course, but they’ll also look at what
specific courses you took. They’ll
especially look at whether you took tough
courses or easier courses. Earning a “B” in
a tough, advanced class such as
trigonometry or physics can mean more to a
college
admission official than earning an “A” in a
less
challenging class such as business math or
general science. Your high school transcript
is more important to colleges than anything
else, even than your ACT score. The test
score is generally the second or sometimes
even the third thing that colleges look at.
But what about that college entrance exam?
The good news is that the best preparation
for college—taking the types of classes I
just described—is also the best preparation
for taking the ACT. You can’t learn any
“tricks” to do well on the ACT. We test your
academic
skills in English, math, reading,
science, and writing. (The ACT Writing Test,
however, is optional—you can choose to take
it if your prospective colleges require or
recommend a writing score. The majority of
colleges don’t, so you should check the
requirements of the colleges you’re
considering before registering for the ACT.)
If you know the material, you’ll do fine; if
you don’t, you’ll likely have some trouble.
Some parents insist on paying hundreds or
even thousands of dollars for
test-preparation classes for their children.
The choice is theirs, if they have the
money, but many of those classes aren’t
particularly helpful. And they’re certainly
not necessary to do well on the ACT. The
only type of test preparation that helps
students do better on the ACT is that which
focuses on
reviewing class materials and
content — what you’ve learned in school. If
you haven’t studied the math and science
already, paying for test-prep advice won’t
raise your score.
Of course, you do want to be familiar with
the test—what it looks like, how the
questions are designed, how much time is
allowed for each section, etc. That’s why we
send high school counselors a free booklet —
Preparing for the ACT — to distribute to you
and your fellow students. This booklet
contains a complete, actual ACT test that
you can take for practice. You can also take
and study ACT sample test questions for free
on our student website,
www.actstudent.org.
If you want even more practice, you can buy
The Real ACT Prep Guide at your local
bookstore or online. You’ll probably find
similar books, but this is the only one that
contains real ACT material put together by
the same people who make the tests. If you’d
rather use the Internet, ACT Online Prep™,
our online test prep service, may be
available through your high school. If not,
you can sign up for it on our website or
purchase it when you register to take the
ACT.
There’s a lot of free information about
preparing and registering for the ACT on our
website,
www.actstudent.org. The website
includes a database of colleges so you can
find out which ones require — or don’t
require — a writing test score. You can even
estimate how much financial aid you qualify
for and what your family’s expected
contribution will be.
Another good idea is to take the ACT once
just for practice, preferably when you’re a
junior so you can take it again as a senior
and still meet application deadlines. A
trial run will really let you know what it’s
like to take the test. And you’ll also have
a better idea of how close you are to being
ready for college in each of the subject
areas tested. If you’re worried about how
your scores will turn out, wait until you
see them before you have them sent to a
college. With the ACT, you can take the test
as many times as you want and send only your
best score to colleges.
If you’ve taken the ACT, you’ll be surprised
how much easier it is the second time
around. If your income is limited, ask your
guidance counselor or contact ACT for a fee
waiver application, which lets you take the
ACT once free of charge.
Every year, millions of high school students
have their ACT scores sent to colleges all
over the country. From the Ivy League
schools to large state universities to small
liberal arts colleges, the ACT is America’s
most widely accepted college admission test.
What’s more, the ACT alone can do the job of
three or four other tests, reducing both
your costs and the time you need to spend
reviewing and then nervously filling in
bubbles with a No. 2 pencil. As you read
about the colleges in this magazine, for
example, you’ll notice that some will accept
ACT scores instead of scores from another
test and as many as three achievement tests.
The ACT can save you money, time and trouble
because the exam measures more than just one
or two skills. ACT combines, in one report,
all the information that colleges want about
you:
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your skills in the critical areas of
English, math, reading, and science
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your high school classes and grades
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your extracurricular activities
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your interests in regard to a college
major or a career.
The college will use this information to
advise you about your course of study and
what classes you should enroll in.
There are over 2,000 four-year colleges in
the United States, some very exclusive and
many open to almost anyone. But not one of
them uses test scores alone to decide
whether or not you’ll be admitted. The
colleges know that many of your best
qualities aren’t measured by tests. So don’t
get discouraged or give up on the college of
your dreams before you’ve even started.
Challenge yourself now, while you’re still
in high school, to be prepared, and you’ll
succeed in meeting the challenge of getting
into the college that’s right for you. |
