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THE ACT SHOULD BE OPTIONAL
OPINION BY LUKE HOUSER
The ACT has long been the golden standard when it comes to college admissions. For decades, students were required to turn in their ACT test scores to be admitted into any college or university. However, in recent years colleges have begun lessening the test requirements needed for their applications, instead more heavily basing it on their merits.
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Especially due to things like the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools are now test-optional. This is great for students who do not wish to upload their scores in their application. For these types of students, or for those who do not wish to go to college after high school, the ACT is not necessary for them and can be a waste of time and money.
“Yes, I’m taking the ACT,” said Brad Bomgardner, junior. “But I don’t really know if I’m going to a college.”
Many students in high school view the ACT as something that they must take if they ever hope to attend college. That might have been the case decades ago, but more colleges have dropped their ACT requirements as time goes on.
Another lesser known fact about the ACT is that students can take it at any age. If someone decides they want to go to college later on in life, they can still apply and take the ACT then. There is no good reason for the peer pressure into making every student take a test that may not help them.
“Yeah, I think I’m probably gonna go to Ohio State,” said Rocky Clites. “If I don’t do well I’ll probably take it again. I personally believe it should be optional because there’s a lot of colleges that are going ACT optional now, so I really adopting for years.
The overall numbers show that only around 1.7 million students from 2022 took the ACT. Compared to 2019 and 2020, where it was around 2.2 million, it is clear that the ACT is losing popularity among students and schools.
“Definitely not, just because schools
COLLEGE POLICY ON SAT/ACT APPLICATION REQUIREMENT
TEST OPTIONAL (TEMPORARY) - 45.8%
TEST OPTIONAL (PERMANENT) - 42.2%
TEST FREE (PERMANENT) - 6.2%
SAT/ACT REQUIRED - 3.6%
TEST FREE (TEMPORARY) - 2.2%
