Background
The ACT is known as the SAT‘s competitor. The standardized exam created in 1956 is used for college admissions – though not every college requires students to take it.
The test is developed by the U.S. non-profit ACT Inc. It says the ACT exam measures the general educational development of high school students and their ability to complete college-level work.
The current ACT version has four tests: English, mathematics, reading and science reasoning, and an optional writing test which was added to the ACT in 2005.
Each test is scored individually on a scale of 1-36.
Costs:
- $34 for students who don’t take the writing exam
- $49.50 for students who take the writing exam
- An extra $29 for international students
- $10 fee per school for sending test results to more than four colleges and universities.
Financial aid is available to some students.
Most U.S colleges don’t have their own college entrance exam like some colleges in other countries. Using ACT and SAT scores are supposed to help balance the differences in funding, curricula and grading in schools throughout the U.S., as well as among students who are home schooled or enrolled in private or specialty secondary schools.
