6 ms·

Another thing that is only tangentially mentioned is that more affluent children can afford to take the achievement tests multiple times. When I took the ACT th

Another thing that is only tangentially mentioned is that more affluent children can afford to take the achievement tests multiple times. When I took the ACT the second time in high school, my composite score went up 4 points without any extra study. I doubt many lower income kids have the opportunity to keep taking it until they get a good score....

ashark 10y ago
My second ACT score went up 3 points for no other reason than I had a less-obnoxious "science" (i.e. answering questions about intentionally-misleading graphs and data) portion the second time.
BeetleB 10y ago
Is it that expensive? It wasn't when I took it.
- simplyluke 10y ago
  Most schools/the test company offer it for free with waivers for students who have demonstrated some level of financial need (by receiving free/reduced meals or otherwise)
- khedoros1 10y ago
  About $50 this year, looks like. For a couple of my friends, the money came out of their food budget.
  - BeetleB 10y ago
    Compared to college application costs, this is cheap.
    - khedoros1 10y ago
      Can't argue with that, of course. At my alma mater this year: $55 application fee, $150 enrollment confirmation fee (applies to tuition and fees for the first term, though), $185 fee for mandatory 3-day freshman orientation. Of course, if you're rejected, you're only out $55 from that school, but last fall they had 50,000 applications and admitted 4,500 students, so you'd better do well on that $50 test.
- gknoy 10y ago
  Registration: $40, add-on for writing test: $56 There are some students for whom spending an extra $100 to have a chance for a better test score is not seen as something feasible or financially prudent. 0: http://www.studypoint.com/ed/act-registration-fees/ http://www.studypoint.com/ed/act-registration-fees/
eric_h 10y ago
I took the SATs twice - primarily because the first time I had gotten so little sleep that I fell asleep (multiple times) during the reading comprehension portion of the test. Did much better the second time around!

ashark 10y ago

My second ACT score went up 3 points for no other reason than I had a less-obnoxious "science" (i.e. answering questions about intentionally-misleading graphs and data) portion the second time.

BeetleB 10y ago

Is it that expensive? It wasn't when I took it.

simplyluke 10y ago
Most schools/the test company offer it for free with waivers for students who have demonstrated some level of financial need (by receiving free/reduced meals or otherwise)
khedoros1 10y ago
About $50 this year, looks like. For a couple of my friends, the money came out of their food budget.
- BeetleB 10y ago
  Compared to college application costs, this is cheap.
  - khedoros1 10y ago
    Can't argue with that, of course. At my alma mater this year: $55 application fee, $150 enrollment confirmation fee (applies to tuition and fees for the first term, though), $185 fee for mandatory 3-day freshman orientation. Of course, if you're rejected, you're only out $55 from that school, but last fall they had 50,000 applications and admitted 4,500 students, so you'd better do well on that $50 test.
gknoy 10y ago
Registration: $40, add-on for writing test: $56 There are some students for whom spending an extra $100 to have a chance for a better test score is not seen as something feasible or financially prudent. 0: http://www.studypoint.com/ed/act-registration-fees/ http://www.studypoint.com/ed/act-registration-fees/

eric_h 10y ago

I took the SATs twice - primarily because the first time I had gotten so little sleep that I fell asleep (multiple times) during the reading comprehension portion of the test. Did much better the second time around!