College Entrance Exams

The term "college entrance exam" for undergraduates in the United States refers to the SAT or ACT.

• The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a not-for-profit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still administers the exam. The test is intended to assess a student's readiness for college. It was first introduced in 1926, and its name and scoring have changed several times. It was first called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, then the Scholastic Assessment Test, but now SAT does not stand for anything. The current SAT Reasoning Test, introduced in 2005, takes three hours and forty-five minutes to finish, and costs $49 ($75-$100 for late registration). Possible scores range from 600 to 2400, combining test results from three 800-point sections (Mathematics, Critical Reading, and Writing).
• Go to the College Board website and register for the SAT test.
• 2011-2012 SAT Test Dates
• December 3, 2011-SAT Subject Tests also available
• January 28, 2012-SAT Subject Tests also available
• March 10, 2012
• May 5, 2012
• June 2, 2012
• Please note, for certain scholarship opportunities Juniors may want to consider taking the SAT one or more times in the spring of their Junior year.
• The ACT, originally an abbreviation of American College Testing) is a standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc. It was first administered in November 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist as a competitor to the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the SAT Reasoning Test. The ACT has historically consisted of four tests: English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science Reasoning. In February 2005, an optional Writing test was added to the ACT, mirroring changes to the SAT that took place later in March of the same year. All four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. accept the ACT, but different institutions place different emphases on standardized tests such as the ACT, compared to other factors of evaluation such as class rank, G.P.A., and extracurricular activities. The main four tests are scored individually on a scale of 1-36, and a Composite score is provided which is the whole number average of the four scores.  The cost of the ACT test is $34, or $49.50 for the ACT plus Writing.
• Go to the ACT website and register for the ACT test.
• 2011-2012 ACT Test Dates
• December 10, 2011
• February 11, 2012
• April 14, 2012
• June 9, 2012
• Please note, for certain scholarship opportunities Juniors may want to consider taking the ACT one or more times in the spring of their Junior year.