What every LWSD college-bound student should know about ACT scores.

My daughter is a Senior at Redmond High School and is applying to colleges. A college admissions officer she visited, advised it's easier to get a good score on the ACT than the SAT. What do you think about this generalization? Below are excerpts from a recent LWSD press release about Lake Washington School District ACT rankings.

Lake Washington School District ACT Scores Continue to Rise. While national mean scores for college-bound seniors remained generally flat in 2009, Lake Washington School District (LWSD) students scored higher on all four ACT tests (English, Mathematics, Reading and Science).

The district’s average composite score rose in 2009 to 25.1, compared to the state average of 22.8 (down .3), and the national average of 21.1

Average 2009 scores for Lake Washington students were 25.4 in Reading and 24.4 in Science and 24.9 in English. State scores averaged 23.5 in Reading and 22.1 in Science. National scores averaged 21.4 in Reading and 20.9 in Science.

The ACT College Readiness Benchmark Scores are the minimum score needed on an ACT subject-area test to indicate a 50 percent chance of getting a B or better or about a 75 percent chance of getting a C or better in the college course that corresponds to that subject.

>>Seventy-seven percent of district students met the college-readiness benchmark in reading, up four percent from last year. That compares to 66 percent statewide.

>>Fifty-nine percent of district students met the science benchmark, up 3% for the year compared to 38% statewide.English scores remained the same, as 92 percent of Lake Washington students met the benchmark.

>>51 percent of all LWSD students who took the ACT met all four college-readiness benchmarks, compared to one-third statewide.

Press Release, 8/16/09 Kathryn Reith, Director of Communications (425) 702-3342 or (425) 214-6115