The ACT

For my final College Writing paper, I am writing about the ACT and determining whether or not it is an accurate measurement of intelligence.  I feel that the ACT is not an accurate depiction of one's intelligence and should not make or break a student's acceptance into college.  The ACT is a one time test taken junior year of high school, and not even at the end of high school.  Students learn a lot more throughout junior and senior year of high school, so the ACT cannot predict college success base on junior year.  There is also a lot of stress and pressure associated with the ACT which could cause some students not to perform as well as they usually do.  Also, many students have test anxiety, so they might have really high grades in high school but not score as high on the ACT.  This is why I believe high school GPA is more accurate in predicting college readiness and intelligence.  Furthermore, it is often heard that some students who do not do well in school score very highly on the ACT.  With such discrepancies as this, it is pretty clear that the ACT cannot be accurate in terms of intelligence and college readiness.  Overall, I do believe the ACT has value and can help a student get a better understanding of what they do and do not know, but I do not believe there should be as much emphasis as is currently placed on it.  I think that college admission decision should be based more heavily on high school GPA along with teacher recommendations.  The ACT does not always paint an accurate picture of a student, and this should be taken into consideration when college admission boards make a decision.