ACT and SAT subscores are all the rage. Now, it is not enough to compete on a 200 - 800 (SAT) or 1 - 36 (ACT) scale, students must now also compete on a whole new level-the submicroscopic, subscore level. Increased competition for college testing dollars in the era of big data has, in effect, created the testing equivalent of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in which the ACT and SAT have been smashed together and approximately 30 newly discovered "subscore particles" have come flying out.
We are in the Diluvial era of college admissions, with applications spilling onto the floodplains and over the levies of college admission offices across America. As an example, Harvard, this year, has received more than 39,000 applications for its 1600 openings for the graduating class of 2020. So, not only do colleges have far more applications to review, each application they review contains far more data than ever before. Here are five important facts about the use of test scores and subscores in top-college admissions
College Admission Fact 1:
ACT and SAT subscores are not considered unless the overall test score falls within a college's acceptance range. Virtually all top colleges use either outside services or computer algorithms (or both) to eliminate most applications before they ever make it to admission officers' computer screens. These services or algorithms consider factors such as overall test scores, grades, school ratings, and strength of curriculum. If an application makes it through the first round, subscores may be considered in future rounds.
College Admission Fact 2:
After an application has made it through the first round, colleges look for "outlier" subscores. ACT and SAT subscores that are either very high or very low are much more likely to attract attention than are subscores falling in the middle. Therefore, subscores can either enhance or detract from a qualified applicant's college candidacy.
College Admission Fact 3:
Subscores are largely window dressing-and colleges know it. For example, the SAT's "Analysis in Science" subcategory is derived from student performance across reading, writing and math sections. Colleges are cognizant of the fact that a math question or a reading passage that is drawn from the field of science, for example, does not necessarily test a student's science aptitude or ability.
College Admission Fact 4:
Studies have shown that overall scores are often better predictors of college success than are subscores.This is due to the fact that the smaller number of questions from which a subscore is derived is more susceptible to variation than is the large number of questions from which an overall score is derived.
College Admission Fact 5:
Colleges do not like to make mistakes. Therefore, they actually welcome the opportunity to receive as much data as possible on their student candidates. SAT and ACT scores and subscores provide more data than ever before, and are viewed as extremely useful in helping colleges make better decisions.
- Neil Chyten
Neil Chyten is one the world's leading college admission and test preparation experts. He is president and founder of Chyten Test Preparation, Inc. and also serves as the company's principal strategist and curriculum writer. More than 40,000 students nationwide have used his proprietary methods to successfully matriculate to virtually every top college in America.
