College Admissions Testing for the Students Worldwide

Admission tests are difficult for many students to get admission for the undergraduate degree.These test takes hours of applicants, they have to answer about the number of subjects, and sometimes these tests are oral and written.

In some countries, colleges are taking one single test for the admission, but this rule is not applicable in every country Ryan Griffin says that in the United States, test scores are only part of what school officials consider.

Griffin is head of International Admissions at the University of Missouri, a public research university in Columbia, Missouri. He notes that many schools have changed their thinking about this part of the application.

Griffin says a growing number of U.S. colleges and universities let applicants choose whether or not they want to take a standardized test, such as the SAT or ACT.

The College Board, a higher education group, created the SAT in 1926 as the way of fairly measuring a student’s academic abilities and critical thinking skills. A university professor created the ACT in 1959 so as to offer a different method for rating college applicants. But Griffin says research has since shown the two tests are not as fair as was once thought, especially for students in need of financial help.

Standardized tests also require students to demonstrate their ability to understand a reading and express themselves in writing. But unlike the SAT, the ACT has a part with questions about science.

Most Americans take the SAT or ACT in the spring of their next to last year in high school. If students decide to re-take the test, Griffin suggests doing so in the autumn of their final year.

Some colleges will only accept a student’s most recent test score. But another reason he says students should take either one more than once is that some schools will accept the highest score from both attempts.

There are many test preparation books and classes available to people interested in paying for them. But Griffin says the best test preparation is to be well-rested the night before and calm the day of the test.

After World War II, U.S. schools needed a way of measuring the language abilities of the greatly increased number of international students entering the country. So a test of English as a foreign language — the TOEFL — was created in 1964 and test for non-native English speakers — the IELTS — was created in 1980. Like the SAT and ACT, the TOEFL and IELTS are similar.

Algren says students should make use of Internet-based practice tests. These will help the student get used to the amount of time they have to complete these tests, and let them know where their strengths and weaknesses lie.

Both Algren and Griffin agree that honesty is important, especially in testing. Schools have ways of looking at test scores to see if there is anything unusual about them that suggests a student cheated.