Darlington's ACT scores reached a new high this year, exceeding both the state and national averages once again.
Darlington's average score of 24.8 topped both the state average of 21.4 and the national average of 21 by 3.4 points and 3.8 points, respectively. This continues Darlington’s record of success of exceeding both the state and national averages every year for the past five years.
“Obviously, we are very pleased that Darlington students continue to perform so well on these national standardized tests,” said Sam Moss ('63), Darlington's dean of college guidance. “It is particularly gratifying to know that our students have exceeded state and national averages – not just for the past five years – for many years prior, as well. This speaks well of our entirely college-preparatory curriculum – and especially of the large number of AP courses that we offer.”
Darlington currently offers 23 College Board Advanced Placement courses in areas ranging from the core and STEM courses to the fine arts and computer science.
“In terms of college admission, it is more and more the case that colleges are evaluating students as much by the rigor of their curriculum as by the students’ grades. This is certainly true of the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech,” said Moss. “The more AP courses a student can handle not only enhances the chances for admission, but also better prepares the student to succeed once entering college.”
The ACT is a national college readiness test which assesses proficiency and college readiness in the subject areas of English, mathematics, reading, and science.
“The ACT is a bit more curriculum-based than the SAT, which, even though it has changed in recent years, is still more of an ability-based test than the ACT,” said Moss. “In my view, the ACT more accurately measures what a student has learned in his or her high school classes.”
