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Are there any statistics by region about who takes SAT v. ACT?
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Sure. Both the College Board and ACT, Inc. publish statistics on how many students in each state take their tests, and it's easy to convert those into percentages of HS graduates. Here are the most recent figures for the ACT:
ACT National and State Scores for 2009: Average ACT Scores by State
And for the SAT in a recent year (2007):
SAT scores by state - USATODAY.com
Most states in the Midwest (except Indiana) and in the South Central U.S. are ACT-dominant, meaning that virtually all college-bound HS students take the ACT; typically a much smaller fraction, less than 10% in many of these states, take the SAT, and those who do take the SAT are in many cases students looking to apply to top colleges on the East or West Coasts where the SAT is dominant. Since these are often among the better students---and/or come from more affluent families who can afford to pay for the testing and have the luxury of contemplating sending junior off to an elite college far away from home---average SAT scores in many Midwestern states are among the highest in the country. But this is almost entirely a case of selection bias; the smaller pool of SAT-takers in the Midwest is heavily skewed toward top students and those from affluent families.
It's a slightly different story in the SAT-dominant states on the coasts. In these states, only a small fraction of students take the ACT. But it's a different fraction. The kids who take the ACT in SAT-dominant states are mainly those who are taking the ACT because they're dissatisfied with their SAT scores and hope to do better on a different test---as some do. Those with the highest SAT scores---which includes many of the top students---often won't bother to take the ACT. As a result, ACT scores in SAT-dominant states tend not to be unusually high. For example, in Maryland only 17% take the ACT, but the average composite score in that state, 22.1, is actually lower than the average composite score of 22.7 in Minnesota where 68%---virtually all the college-bound HS students---take the ACT.
All this contributes to a subtle or not-so-subtle perception bias. In the Midwest, the SAT tends to be seen as a test for high-achievers with high college aspirations; the ACT is for everyone else. On the Coasts, the SAT is seen as the norm, and the ACT is for those who didn't do well on their SATs, i.e., hard-working strivers who don't quite make the grade on the SAT which is seen as a test of native smarts. It's all nonsense, of course. The differences in test scores from state-to-state can be explained almost entirely by selection bias and demographic factors like the level of the parents' educational attainment and family income that are closely correlated with test scores.
States like Michigan where ACT testing is now mandatory for all HS juniors whether or not they plan to attend college come out looking particularly bad in state-to-state comparisons, but again, it's almost entirely demographics. You'd bring down any state's average scores if you included the non-college-bound in the sample.
Here's a pretty good NY Times article on the subject:
Why the Midwest Rules on the SAT - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com ![bbtitle]](/images/misc/cc_logo.gif){kind=logo}
