Getting There

Quick, grab your number two pencil and finish this sentence! College entrance tests are …

1. A necessary step on the road through high school.
2. Yet another reason for homeschool parents to stay up late worrying if they’ve covered all the bases.
3. College entrance tests? What are those?
4. None of the above.

If you answered (a), you passed! And if you answered (b), (c), or (d), don’t panic—you can retake the test after reading this article.

What are College Entrance Tests?

College entrance tests are one of the tools that colleges use to determine applicant eligibility for admission. “Entrance tests are an important part of the admissions decision,” says Rebekah Knable, Director of Admissions at Patrick Henry College. “PHC has students from 44 different states and various educational backgrounds. A standardized test provides the Admissions Review Committee with a common factor to use in reviewing applicants. The tests are also used to measure an applicant’s academic potential.”

“It is important to note that a standardized test is not the only means by which the Admissions Review Committee makes admissions decisions,” adds Knable. “They look at each applicant’s life as a whole and take all application materials (high school transcript, test scores, writing sample, reading list, references, and activities) into consideration when making their decision.”

Students should expect to take at least one college entrance test during high school, since nearly all colleges require the scores for admission. “Even if your child is not currently thinking about attending college, you may still want to consider having your child take either the SAT or ACT,” advise Home School Legal Defense Association High School Coordinators Becky Cooke and Diane Kummer. “Your child’s post-high school plans may change one day, and having an SAT or ACT score on file will facilitate the college entrance process.”¹

The SAT and the ACT

Both the SAT Reasoning Test and the ACT are accepted by most colleges in the United States, but they differ in a few basic ways. The SAT, administered by the College Board, is a reasoning or aptitude test, covering the critical-thinking, math, and writing skills needed in college and including a mandatory timed essay. The ACT is a knowledge or achievement test covering English, math, reading, and science, with an optional timed essay. Both tests are typically first taken during 11th grade, so that they can be retaken in the senior year to raise scores before college and scholarship applications are due. In deciding which college entrance exam your high schooler should take, your first step is to contact the colleges to which he or she plans to apply to find out their requirements. If both tests are accepted, your student may take either or both.

SAT Subject Tests

These tests are a slightly different type of entrance exam. Instead of covering general knowledge or skills, they examine particular subject areas and may be used for admission or course placement. Contact the colleges your student is interested in attending to find out which, if any, subject tests they require. The SAT Subject Tests are usually taken in 11th and 12th grade, but can be taken in any grade and retaken as often desired. The College Board advises students to take most of the tests “as soon as possible after completing the course in the subject, while the material is still fresh in your mind. For foreign language tests, you’ll do better after at least two years of study.” A student cannot take a subject test on the same day that he takes the SAT Reasoning Test.

The PSAT

Although the PSAT/NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) is not a college entrance exam, it is valuable as practice for the SAT and to qualify for a National Merit Scholarship. Since only the score received in the junior or third year of a traditional high school program qualifies students for the scholarship competition, they are typically encouraged to also take it in 10th grade as a dry run, although it can be taken even earlier. (If your student is on a five-year plan or will be graduating after less than four years of high school, go to www.nationalmerit.org to find out when he should take the test to qualify for the competition.) High schoolers who plan to take the ACT instead of the SAT may still find the PSAT to be useful in gaining test-taking experience.

Staying on Top of the Tests

Staying on top of college entrance tests may actually be your least complicated job as the parent of a homeschooled high schooler. Your main tasks are to decide which tests your student will take, help him prepare for them, and register him. The earlier in your student’s high school years that you get the ball rolling, the easier it will be. However, if it’s late in the game, remember that he can take the SAT and ACT anytime in his junior and senior years, and even after graduating. The chart on this page provides an overview of testing during high school.

How Can I Help my High Schooler Prepare for the Tests?

“I strongly urge parents not to have their students take these tests without preparation,” says Becky Cooke. Being prepared means not only knowing the material being tested, but also understanding the test format and how it will be administered. Your best starting points are the test prep sections of the College Board and ACT websites (see chart). The sites explain the tests in detail, provide sample questions, and list prep resources.

Check the library and bookstores for test prep books and software. You may want to find a tutor or have your student take a locally offered course. Be sure to visit the Homeschooling Thru High School testing web page for tips and resources. (Find out how HSLDA members can purchase SAT Power Prep at a deep discount.)

What Do I Need to Know about the Essay Portions of the SAT and ACT?

Unlike the mandatory SAT essay, the ACT essay portion is optional, so you may wish to check with the colleges your student wants to attend to find out if she should take it. During the test, students are given an essay prompt that assigns the topic and approximately half an hour to write the essay. The essay is scored on a scale of 1–6 by two trained readers, and is made available for review by the colleges that receive your student’s scores.

For test preparation, Diane Kummer emphasizes the importance of learning to write under a time limit: “It’s one thing to write an essay with unlimited time, but it’s another skill to brainstorm ideas, organize thoughts, and write up a final essay under time restraints.” Your high schooler should practice applying grammar and composition skills under a time limit. The College Board and ACT websites furnish detailed information on how the essays are scored and suggest essay-writing strategies.

What if My Student has Learning Disabilities or has Trouble Taking Tests?

Both the College Board and ACT have established guidelines for accommodating students with documented disabilities, whether learning or physical. Please visit the test websites for more details about obtaining accommodation.

Your student may simply be a poor test taker, without having any documented disabilities. How can you help him overcome this challenge? Make preparation a priority. “Taking time to work on practice problems (perhaps just 10–15 minutes a day) goes a long way towards helping a teen to know how to approach a given problem when he next encounters it,” says Diane Kummer. Obtain tutoring or have your student take a prep course if necessary. It is also perfectly acceptable to have your student take both the SAT and the ACT—he may test better in one format than in the other.

“If the scores, after much preparation and multiple tries, are still low, it is appropriate for the parent to write a letter of explanation to attach to the transcript or application,” adds Becky Cooke. “This would also explain to admissions the discrepancy between grades and test scores should the student’s grades be very high and the test scores low.”

You Passed!

Ready to take that test again? See, it wasn’t that hard! And now that you’ve aced the College Entrance Tests for Homeschoolers quiz, you can take off your guidance counselor hat and get back to the hard stuff. Just remember to add test registration to your calendar first.

Endnotes

1. HSLDA’s Homeschooling Thru High School Newsletter, October 2005, http://www.hslda.org/elert/archive/2005/10/20051006151350.asp.