Ah, I see. What scores do people need, to earn a place at universities, such as Harvard, Stanford, MIT, etc, ect? Close to 1600? How is the ACT, different from the SAT? Do these tests, only test English & maths, not science, history, etc? Thank-you, again.
Many colleges publish their
Common Data Set on their websites to provide comprehensive data about the test scores and grades of their admitted applicants, and their admission criteria. The majority of colleges in the United States require applicants to take the SAT or the ACT, which are standardized college readiness assessment tests. We have a diverse range of schooling options (public, private independent, parochial, charter, virtual, coop, homeschool) with incredible variations in their teaching methods, so a uniform measure can be beneficial. A handful colleges have discontinued using it, though, to have a more holistic approach to evaluating students.
I'm sort of tacking on a response to your question in another post here about admissions criteria. State universities tend to have a more regimented and straightforward admissions specifications, such as needing specific grades in specific academic subjects, and achieving set test score minimums. That process is more similar to universities in some other countries. I applied to Oxford in the UK, and it was exponentially less stressful than the application process for some of the private colleges in the US I applied to, despite the intensity of their requirements. Since American candidates to Oxford generally don't take A levels, we're expected to have a minimum composite SAT score of 2100 with a 700 or higher on each of the three components, or a 32 or higher on the ACT. Plus top grades.
Plus a score of 5 in three or more Advanced Placement tests in subjects relevant to our course, or SAT Subject Tests in three subjects at 700 or better. Whew. Some programs require additional testing. I had to trek all the way out to Pasadena to take the LNET (Law National Admissions Test) because I was applying for Law. Then after I was short-listed I had an interview via Skype. It was all still less anxiety-producing because it was formulaic. If you made it through each obstacle in the course you actually have a decent chance of admission.
With Stanford, Harvard, Yale and other fiercely competitive colleges in the United States you need all the academic achievements in addition to personal accolades, strong college essays, and excellent letters of recommendation. You also need an enigmatic "it" factor to make your star shine a bit brighter amongst all the other stars. I devoted a portion of last summer to the writing supplements for the applications. I also submitted the optional arts supplement to boost my "it" appeal, and that upped the application deadline and required additional work to put together dance and art portfolios.
My friends in Australia said that there is a standardized test you take in your final year of school, and that along with your grades from that year alone are what determine if you're offered a place of admission. It puts a lot of pressure on that final year, but it alleviates stress if a student has underperformed in her earlier years. In Canada there are universities that merely require a simple application and your transcript, with no standardized test, letters of recommendation, essays, or anything extraneous, and whappakazam you're done. That would have been
nice, haha. Some colleges in the US might also have a simple application process, but most are more elaborate.
This is the
2014 data for Stanford: