<p>Oh, wow, has no one made this thread yet?</p>
<p>Anyways. Here's to all of my friends from the Land of Lincoln taking the ACT this week. Good luck to all. Discuss here afterward?</p>
<p>I would have liked a bit more time on the reading and the science, but other than that, it was okay. Except I was not a fan of the story about Sylvia, nor was I a fan of the volcano graphs.</p>
<p>Oh, and for the essay I said NO!!! I don’t want some dude limiting my internet time.</p>
<p>where’s the rest of the illinois crowd?</p>
<p>I took the one on the 9th, thought that today was harder in Reading but easier in Math and Science. Still…the science portion was moderately easy, but yes the volcano graphs were rather annoying. </p>
<p>Might have gotten a 6 on the essay, so that would be nice. It’s my understanding that they give you awards or something for high PSAE scores? Anyone know about that?</p>
<p>Of course I’m terrible at time control anyways, so probably only sneaked in a 30 at most. Can’t wait to take it again!</p>
<p>Compared to the regular national ACT scoring curves, is the PSAE scoring curve slightly more generous (in years past)? I’ve heard this a lot, but don’t know if this is just a misconception or not.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that too. Dunno if it’s true though.</p>
<p>The science, reading, and English were pretty fair. The last 10 questions for math were confusing. I didn’t feel like dealing with it so I guessed. I’m not excited for day 2. But I think we all will do fine. Day 2 is just so Illinois can get school funding.</p>
<p>The ACT given as part of the PSAE is real (and the scores from the PSAE/ACT are accepted by colleges for admission purposes), therefore the associated curves are no more or less generous than those of the ACT tests given on the national test days.</p>
<p>The PSAE should be fine. At my school (good, north shore public) the teachers tell us that sometimes at the beginning of the math section students will literally start laughing because the questions are so ridiculous.</p>
<p>fignewton-yeah I agree with you that it is a real test. But normally, the ACT for a national test date is taken by primarily those that wish to take the ACT and generally, according to my counselor, a higher percentage of students from more metropolitan areas will take it. On the other hand, the PSAE form tests everyone in Illinois, including those who would not normally ahve, thus a lower average “questions correct” than that of a national test date. Because the ACT is curved based on those who took that test, thsi would imply a slightly more “generous” curve to compensate for the “lower average performance level”.</p>
<p>Of course, I have no idea if this is right at all XD</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/act-preparation/1136912-illinois-state-mandated-act-discussion-4-27-11-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/act-preparation/1136912-illinois-state-mandated-act-discussion-4-27-11-a.html</a></p>
<p>Here’s the thread</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No. Like the SAT, the ACT is not curved based on those who took the test. The curve (which converts a raw score to the 1-36 scaled score) is determined completely by the difficulty of the test relative to other ACT tests.</p>
<p>You are correct, however, that the average ACT scores as part of the mandated PSAE are lower than the nationally administered ACTs.</p>
<p>“No. Like the SAT, the ACT is not curved based on those who took the test. The curve (which converts a raw score to the 1-36 scaled score) is determined completely by the difficulty of the test relative to other ACT tests.”</p>
<p>But how do they determine the “difficulty of the test relative to other ACT tests”?</p>
<p>Don’t they look at the raw scores and compare them to the raw scores of the other tests?</p>
<p>How do they control for the changing populations of test takers?</p>
<p>YZ</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Okay, answered my own question. Google ‘equating’ and ‘anchor tests’ for details but there is no advantage to taking the test with a population of weaker test-takers.</p>
<p>YZ</p>
<p>Any idea whether and when scores from the PSAE/ACT will be available online through actstudent.org?</p>
<p>^
If ACT can match your name to a previously made account, I believe that they will be up sometime next Tuesday or Weds.</p>
<p>Thank you, hopefully it will be easy to connect the various sittings.</p>
<p>apparrently their online right now, cant see mine though</p>
<p>@India94
Same… Nobody at my school got their scores either.</p>
<p>I hope we didnt have to provide our SSN for it to be online…</p>