ACT Injustice
...s, which is a prerequisite to thrive in college. Rather than determining a student’s potential to process and convey unique ideas, the ACT simply tests the ability to comprehend and recall information. Because the ACT assesses previously gained knowledge, the scores fail to reflect students’ aptitude to grasp innovative concepts in college. Thus, the ACT adequately indicates students’ knowledge compilation, but not adequately indicates their ability to succeed. One un-testable factor weighing on students’ college success is work ethic. While primarily focusing on ACT scores, universities are lulled into a false sense of a student achievement. Although a student’s transcripts and course choices reflect fervent dedication to school work, to universities, an average ACT score may demote him to mediocrity. Likewise, a student with a remarkable ACT score may completely disregard school work, thus discrediting the claim that the ACT predicts success in college. A student’s work ethic is also displayed through participation in high school extra curricular activities. The responsibility and leadership skills gained from involvement in clubs and organizations reflects a student’s capacity to positively contribute to a college community. Universities unfortunately overlook work ethic, which is the ultimate reason for accomplishment, and allow ACT scores to dominate student acceptance. While students with high ACT scores are top candidates for competitive universities, standardized tests ignore other outlets for students to express their intellect. Although certain students’ are incapable of concept memorization, they may produce brilliance given an essay test or oral exam. If universities encourage diversity, why create boundaries for students’ intelligence? Perhaps, essays should be universities’ top consideration for admission. In a written essay students can freely convey unique thoughts and exploit their full potential, not their ability to fill in the correct bubble. Students succeed using different methods of academic expression. For example, students who are capable of condensing their ideas to agree with f...