Why take the ACT if already took the SAT

[ucbalumnus]

@rickle1

Off topic but this has to be the biggest reason you see so many high scores today vs. a generation ago. If you got a 1400 when I was in HS (early 80’s), you were a rock star. Now it’s the minimum to get into a higher end school and nowhere near competitive to get to the top 20.

There was a recentering of SAT score in 1995, so that a 1980s SAT score is likely equivalent to a higher score after the recentering.
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED563025.pdf

The 2016 SAT redesign also changed score equivalencies:
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/higher-ed-brief-sat-concordance.pdf

@rickle1

When learning of the high scores, I used to think “well the test must be easier”. Don’t know if that’s the case. Kids aren’t smarter either (although they’re exposed to more today). So what is it?

Probably a combination of “the test is easier” (to get a high score on due to the recentering, whether or not the questions are actually easier) and increased preparation and multiple tries.