Is all that ACT prep now worthless?

Bridge reports.

Worried about Michigan’s switch to the SAT? Six reasons to calm down

This year’s crop of Michigan high school juniors will be the first to take the SAT college admission standardized test instead of the ACT. The switch, announced in January, lowered costs for the state, but raised the blood pressure of families and school officials, who worried the switch could affect test scores and, because those scores are used as a factor in admissions to most colleges, affect college enrollment.

Bridge spoke with a variety of test prep and college admission experts, who said the impact may be less than feared, especially for students who do their homework.

Is the ACT prep Michigan students have completed worthless now?

Worth less, perhaps, but definitely not worthless.

Most Michigan schools gave students the ACT-based standardized tests EXPLORE and PLAN in grades leading up to the 11th grade to help acquaint students with the ACT. That test prep won’t be as helpful on the SAT.

But the SAT is being redesigned for 2016, and is expected to more closely resemble the ACT than in the past, said Tim Parros, founder of Parros College Planning in Ann Arbor. That could make that ACT prep more helpful on the new SAT than on the old SAT.

Will Michigan students perform worse on the 2016 SAT than they would have on the ACT because they aren’t as familiar with it?

Maybe, but that won’t hurt them as much as you think. Here’s why: