My ACT or SAT Test Scores Are Low

Copyright by Deb Erbach Burger.
Used with permission

You just got your SAT test scores back in the mail and you are worried...

What about students who don’t do well on the test, for whatever reason?

Is college out of the question for these students? By no means!

Remember, there are some universities that don’t consider the test scores to be very important, even though they may have a testing requirement.

Also, remember that most community colleges don’t require ACT or SAT test scores at all. If a student graduates from high school and then enters a community college and completes an Associate’s Degree there, he or she can often transfer into a 4 year college as a Junior.

Since the ability to succeed at college level academic work has already been proven by college courses, the SAT test scores are irrelevant, and often not required. This is only really true, however if the student completes an AA degree and transfers the whole degree. Merely taking a few community college courses and then trying to transfer into a regular college does not usually exempt a student from exam requirements.

The transferability of Community College credits varies from state to state and varies with public and private universities.

In North Carolina, for example, a completed AA degree qualifies a student to transfer into the state’s public university system with junior class standing, and ready to declare a major. Private universities make their own choices about what credits to accept in transfer, but they are usually more inclined to accept a full 2-year degree than a few scattered courses.

Throughout the process, it’s important for parents and students to remember that testing, while important, ACT and SAT test scores are only ONE tool used to evaluate the student for college entrance.

It’s realistic to choose to apply to colleges that value your own strengths, and are willing to work with your personal mix of strength and weakness.

I know of students who have entered colleges even though their test scores were lower than the college’s stated minimum score… and even gotten scholarships at those colleges! I also know students who have been rejected for admission at one or another college in spite of great SAT test scores, because overall, the college didn’t see the student as a match for their type of academic community.

There is an element of uncertainty, and a need to trust God for guidance, inherent in the college admission process. Parents and students have the choice to see that guidance in both the closing and opening of doors, and to make their choices based on the opportunities that present themselves, along with our own thorough preparation to meet those opportunities.