Standardized Testing

**The Medfield High School Guidance Counselors recommend that students take one ACT and one SAT in their junior year. After the scores are reported, students should speak with their guidance counselor to determine which test more favorably demonstrates their abilities.**

PRE-ACT - www.act.org

PreACT provides students with an early experience with ACT test items, provides a predicted ACT test score, and offers a wealth of information to help students get the start they need to be college ready. Anchored on the ACT college and career readiness standards, PreACT assessments help educators, students, and parents, identify areas of academic strength and opportunity.

PSAT - www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/psat/about.html

The PSAT is offered to high school sophomores and juniors in mid-October. The test services two purposes: (1) to give students practice before taking the SAT Reasoning, as the questions that appear on the PSAT are similar types of questions that appear on the SAT; (2) Juniors who score in the top 3% nationally on the PSAT may become commended scholars or semi-finalists for the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

SAT Reasoning - www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/about.html

The SAT Reasoning measures your verbal reasoning, critical reading, and mathematic problem solving skills. Most students applying to college take at least one SAT Reasoning, though you may take it as often as you like. We recommend two or three times.

SAT Subject Test - www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/about/SATII.html

SAT Subject tests (or SAT II's) are one-hour tests which focus on specific content in a subject area. It is scored on a scale of 200 - 800. Students may take one, two, or three subject tests on a given Saturday administration. They may NOT take the SAT Reasoning and SAT Subject Tests on the same day. Not all colleges require students to take the SAT, so make sure to check the requirements of the schools you are considering.

ACT - www.actstudent.org

The ACT serves as an alternative assessment to the SAT and is accepted at nearly 100% of colleges and universities. The test is a three hour exam which covers four skill areas: English, math, reading, and science reasoning. There is also an optional writing section of the test. The ACT is scored on a scale of 1-36.