ACT: Every point means money

By BECKY BROOKS

Enterprise Editor

clydenews@bizwoh.rr.com

Parents with teens in high school preach "grades, grades, grades", but counselors and college officials advise that it will also take a good ACT score and early planning to get into the a university door in today's world.

Gary Swegan, assistant vice provost at Bowling Green State University, said 90 percent of the students applying for admission to the university will submit their grade point average and ACT results. Half of those students will also send in results for the SAT.

"Of a class of between 3,200 and 3,500 freshmen, only 100 would have less than a 17 composite on the ACT," he commented about an entering a class.

For the current fall semester, over 11,000 young adults applied to BGSU. Swegan said many of those students have also applied to other colleges. Knowing that fact, the university will offer admission to about 88 percent of those seeking admission, but in the end the number will be cut to about 3,500, he explained.

To determine which students are accepted, BGSU uses a combination of grade point average and test scores.

"If I had to put a percent on it, the grade point is 2/3 of the equation and the test score is a third," Swegan said.

A high school graduate hoping to secure a scholarship from BGSU or similar colleges also has to know that universities have scales balancing the GPA and the ACT to determine if a student qualifies for scholarship funds.

Those records and admissions forms also have to be to BGSU by January, 2009 for students planning to enter in fall of 2010, if a youth has any real hope of securing scholarship money, Swegan said.

"Currently, as of the class that came in... for the Fall '08 class, again it's a combination," Swegan said. For example, a 3.0 GPA and a 20 composite score on the ACT would get a minimal amount of $1,000 scholarship, he pointed out. "The reality is the vast number of students that qualify, apply by Jan. 15," he said about senior high school students.

This year's entering class had 300 student who met the university's top scholarship criteria of a 30 ACT or 1300 SAT with a 3.8 GPA. Those students received a $5,000 scholarship offer.

"What we ended up doing; 25 of those students were offered a full-fees scholarship," the vice provost explained, noting a full fee scholarship was $9,044 per year.

Shawn Jordan, an admission counselor for University of Findlay, said GPA, ACT and SAT are the first things the admission staff consider. The University of Findlay already has college credit classes being taught at Clyde High School by local staff, who are UF adjunct professors.

"If it gets below an 18 on an ACT, that is when we question students," Jordan said about admissions. He noted the college also looks at the individual sections of the ACT test. The ACT score plays a dual role at UF too.

"That is the other thing that the ACT is so important for, scholarship money," he said. Like other institutions of higher learning, University of Findlay uses a sliding scale that relies on ACT/SAT scores and grade point averages to award scholarship funds.

"A 32 (ACT), they'd get $13,000 per year, with a 3.3 GPA," he said. A 4.0 GPA and a 26 ACT would get the same amount.

"A couple points on the ACT can make the difference of a couple thousands a year," Jordan commented. He recommended retaking the test, studying and reaching the higher score.

"Just take it, take it, and take it," he said.

Jordan encourages students to take both the ACT and SAT as some students tend to excel on one or the other better.

While the national composite average on the ACT is 21.1, University of Findlay entering freshmen average between 23 to 24 composite score.

"I always encourage my students to take that their junior year and to go to the library and take the ACT books," Jordan said.

He added that the university sees students apply with a 16 on their ACT. "A 16 is pretty low. That is right around the line where we stop admitting students," he said.

Terry Lentz, Assistant Director of High School Initiatives for the University of Toledo, also concurred, "The better the ACT, the better the scholarship."

Lentz oversees three programs at the University of Toledo including Post Secondary Option, Seniors to Sophomores and Dual Enrollment. While only one of those programs uses ACT information, Lentz said he works with students who score well on the ACTs.

"I work with the 30 ,31, 32 students," he said, about students scores. Although those teens already have outstanding scores, Lentz said most plan to retake the ACT again to reach an even higher score and scholarship bracket.

He also works with Toledo Public Schools.

"Throughout the whole semester, they have a class to prep for ACT," he pointed out about the test's importance.

The university professionals advised there are also professional services that can tutor students to prepare for the ACT testing.

If a school does not have specialized classes, information can also be found online and at the public library.

"Most of the service that we're going to be able to offer is materials - print and non-print materials," commented Vicki Balemian, head librarian at the Clyde Public Library. "We were talking about upgrading our materials."

"In fact, we just received the ACT practice guides," she said recently.

The library also can make its computers available for students and parents to use them in preparing for the ACT, she said. Those accessing personal information can be secluded in a study room, she added.

For students looking at attending Terra Community College, the local college has an open admission policy and does not require an ACT. Cory Stine, assistant director of enrollment, said the test can be used for course placements.

Edward Recker, Terra director of financial aid, also said the ACT is also not used at the college to determine scholarships.