Our suggestions about whether or not to finish the ACT or SAT Essay

A blog that is recent by certainly one of our fellow members of this Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) exposed with this particular advice to many other IECA users:

It is time to stop telling pupils to publish the ACT or SAT essay. Really. Simply stop.

The identification regarding the composer of that weblog won’t be disclosed in this article for reasons we have to say about his post, his facts, and his conclusions that you may infer from what.

Their basis for providing such advice is the sheer number of

US universites and colleges that want candidates to accomplish the essay part of SAT or ACT…has been dwindling in the last many years and we have been now kept with…eighteen colleges/universities that want stated essay…and…eighteen represents less than one per cent of most four-year schools in the us.

There are two main issues with the aforementioned, the very first of which can be the declaration that only 18 colleges/universities need completion associated with the essay that is ACT just exactly what ACT relates to as the “Writing Section”) or the SAT Essay. (Due to the fact ACT in addition to SAT are accepted interchangeably by practically all universities, we’ll concentrate on the ACT Writing area with what follows.) Predicated on our personal research regarding the ACT internet site, you will find 44 universities in nyc, Texas, and California, alone, that want the ACT section that is writing area of the admissions procedure. Therefore, while we’ll grant that the amount of universities that want conclusion for the ACT Writing or the SAT Essay is a rather little portion associated with the final amount of universities, 18 is apparently dramatically too low.

The next – and a lot more severe – problem with all the blog author’s advice is just just how it ignores the fact several things that students aren’t necessary to do would nevertheless be quite definitely inside their needs to accomplish. As an example, pupils aren’t necessary to learn difficult for tests, and job seekers aren’t expected to wear clean clothing to work interviews, but…

…while a reasonably tiny quantity of colleges need completion associated with ACT Writing area or even the SAT Essay Section, it could nevertheless very well be up to a student’s advantage to take action. Our analysis of information presented within an April 21, 2019 post regarding the prepscholar blog discloses that while just 67 universities need conclusion regarding the ACT Writing Section, another 408 universities advise that it be finished. Give consideration to, for a second, trying to get work and never doing a thing that the potential boss recommends that you are doing. This omission does strike us as n’t a noise strategy in the event that goal is to obtain employed. And think about what the possibility could be if a number of other candidates for the positioning do what exactly is recommended – and take action well – whilst you have actuallyn’t done it after all.

It gets far worse:

As well as those schools that want or suggest conclusion associated with the SAT Essay or ACT Writing area, you will find an unknown (and likely hard to quantify) wide range of colleges that neither require nor suggest conclusion of SAT/ACT essays but will look at the ratings of the essays whenever making admissions choices. Considercarefully what your odds of admission will be if a number of other applicants finished those essays and scored well on it, even though you have actuallyn’t submitted any essay together with your test ratings.

In regards to the scenario that is only can see right now by which students shouldn’t complete a SAT/ACT essay is when those pupils are good site very sure that most of the schools to that they might conceivably apply won’t consider the score — and that is likely one thing you’d discover just on a case-by-case foundation by going to specific college’s websites and/or calling admissions at those schools.

Therefore, as to the colleague’s statement, “It’s time to fully stop telling pupils to create the ACT or SAT essay,” we disagree.

Pin down your preferences now. University admissions offices tend to be more than ready to set their record right about their essay needs. Let them have a call in the event that college internet site does answer your question n’t.

If there’s the doubt that is slightest going to just what schools you may be using, perform some safe thing by finishing the SAT or ACT essay.