ACT Trend - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Mar 21, 2005

ACT Trend

Date: Mar 21, 2005

Many of USM students are JC transfers. What is the average USM ACT overall? How about the transfer students from the JCs? I would bet that UM and MSU scores are stable or even increasing a little each year.

I thought the USM plane would have crashed long ago, but the descent is long and drawn out. I'm tired of this craphole school.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

It will be extremely difficult to put a "spin" on these depressing figures.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Hortense
"It will be extremely difficult to put a "spin" on these depressing figures."

The way to spin bad news is simply not to mention it.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

these data come from the IHL webpage. they are (from left to right) the average ACT scores of entering freshmen from 1998 to 2004. (sorry for formatting)

MSU 23.5, 23.3, 23.1, 23.5, 23.8, 23.5, 23.3

UM 23.4, 23.3, 23.3, 22.9, 22.9, 23.1, 23.1

USM 21.8, 21.6, 21.5, 20.8, 20.8, 20.8, 21.1

Date: Mar 21, 2005

Stinky,

According to the 2004-2005 USM Fact Book the ACT Composite scores for USM incoming freshmen are 21.6, 20.9, 20.9, 20.8, and 20.2. The doubling of students with ACT scores of 15 and below, coupled with a mild drop of scores 30 and above this year, would support a drop. Does this mean USM might have reported inflated data to the IHL?

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: stinky cheese man
"these data come from the IHL webpage . . . USM 21.1"

The USM Fact Book, as posted on the USM website, indicates that the entering Freshman ACT score for 2004 averaged 20.2.

You say that the figure on the IHL webpage is 21.1.

Why would a higher number be reported to the IHL?

Am I missing something here?

Date: Mar 21, 2005

Now, if we knew the numbers behind the averages, it would be very interesting. Actually, frequency distributions would be even more interesting, especially if "seasoned" with Chi Squares.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

the IHL data is fall data. i noticed the latest factbook data is fiscal year data.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: stinky cheese man
"the IHL data is fall data. i noticed the latest factbook data is fiscal year data. "

SCM:

Thank you for the clarification. The Fact Book data are for the entire
year, not just fall. The point remains that the average new freshman
composite ACT score dropped in fiscal year 2004 to 20.2 from 20.8 the
previous year and from 21.6 in 2000, Fleming's last year.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

the drop isn't as low if you use IHL data. from 21.5 to 21.1. both MSU and UM are down from their historic highs as well (by almost the same amount) by IHL data.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

And, exactly what is happening to our JUCO enrollment? If I'm not mistaken, a student with a sub-18 ACT can go to JUCO and then gain full admittance to USM. Add to that the fact that JUCO students usually have lower ACTs in general and that their study skills are extremely poor, and you get a recipe for an academic toilet bowl environment at USM.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Questionnaire
"And, exactly what is happening to our JUCO enrollment? If I'm not mistaken, a student with a sub-18 ACT can go to JUCO and then gain full admittance to USM. Add to that the fact that JUCO students usually have lower ACTs in general and that their study skills are extremely poor, and you get a recipe for an academic toilet bowl environment at USM."

It is worse than that. No ACT score is required to enter Community Colleges in MS. A colleague reported that he had a student in his USM science class who entered C.C. with a GED. Got through C.C. somehow and was at USM without a working knowledge of math or basic core subjects. With these standards 20,000 students will be a snap.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: stinky cheese man
"the drop isn't as low if you use IHL data. from 21.5 to 21.1. both MSU and UM are down from their historic highs as well (by almost the same amount) by IHL data."

SCM,
Full year data are more useful in determining the nature of the full student body. A drop from 21.6 (2000) to 20.2 (2004) is huge. Looking at fiscal year data, in 2000 there were a total of 40 students admitted with ACT scores of 16 and below. In 2004 there were 153 students admitted with scores of 16 or below. Scores of 15 and below increased from 8 to 60 over that period (Southern Miss Fact Book, 2004-05, p. 3). Clearly, the classroom atmosphere would be affected by such a change.