Why are SAT and ACT scores dropping?
Tutoring | Financial Aid Consulting
Average ACT and SAT scores dropped in 2024 compared to 2023. What does this mean for 11th grade and younger kids who are headed to college?
1.4 million kids took the ACT in 2024, the average score: 19.4, down from 19.5 in 2023. Big whoop.
1.97 million kids took the SAT or PSAT in 2024, the average score: 1024, down from 1028 the previous year. Big whoop number two.
The party line among test professionals is not that our kids are dumber, but that more kids are taking the tests.
My hunch is the opposite, lower scores are part of the overall decline in education, achievement and accountability that keeps me up at night. A topic for another day, or never (publicly).
Let's turn to some specific advice for college-bound 11th graders and younger.
Prep hard and take the tests, either the SAT or ACT. Start before you're "ready," so you don't run out of time.
Take a diagnostic exam first, to determine Which Test is Best.
More and more colleges are requiring standardized testing, because it turns out that they are reasonably accurate predictors of how well a child will fare in college, academically.
Note: they are not 100% accurate predictors. But it seems like admissions officers at Ivy League and other competitive colleges are discounting GPA more than ever, due to rampant grade inflation.
Note 2: the best predictor of how well a student will do in college is the relative affluence of the child's family, because affluent families in good school districts or private high schools can afford high priced tutors and consultants (ahem).
One notable exception: low income Asian American kids. Many of them kick butt on the tests, despite their relative lack of resources.
No this isn't "fair" or politically correct.
But that's the way it is, Cronkite.
Part two of my advice: after you get your SAT or ACT score as high as humanly possible, then it becomes a game day decision whether to submit or not to submit that score to a particular college on your list.
I use the Common Data set, specifically C9 if you must know, to research that college's median SAT and ACT.
If the score is at or above the middle 50%, I recommend submitting.
If the score is below, I usually recommend to not submit, if the college is test-optional of course.
But hear me now and believe me later: if you do not submit your scores, that makes the REST of your application take on more weight, including GPA and rigor of course load. As well as your extracurricular activities, compared to those of your competition.
There are 20+ factors involved in the typical college application, your task is to be as competitive as possible for the ones that you can control.
For more information on our test prep options, go here:
- Andy Lockwood
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