Juniors at FHS are going to be taking the ACT on April 10 instead of the SAT after a law change in Illinois this year.
Teachers believe that this switch isn’t a big deal as the two tests are relatively similar.
“A standardized test is a standardized test to me,” Whitney Eberle, a social studies teacher, said. “I took the ACT when I was in high school and we did it for a long time. We then did the SAT for a long time, and now we’re back to the ACT.”
Other teachers believe taking the ACT is better for students.
“I think it’s gonna show how well rounded a kid is, in terms of all the subject areas,” Matt Janosik, a math teacher, said. “The SAT was basically English and Math and that’s all it was.”
However, students feel differently, including one student who feels like taking the ACT is like “a bait and switch.”
“I feel like my whole high school career I’ve been preparing for the SAT,” junior Steven Van said. “We took a lot of Pre-SATs my freshman and sophomore year. It just kind of feels like a bait and switch.”
“We took the Pre-SAT my first two years and, of course, the year we actually have to take the test, they switch it,” junior Tyler Rademaker said.
Despite that, students still hope to do well on the test. Several juniors recently completed a 4-week long ACT Prep group during advisory, and they feel more prepared with this extra help.
“I’ve done a lot of practicing, and, I hope that I will be able to show what that practice adds up to,” Van says.
