Proc Report Secreates Essay Example

Proc Report Secreates Essay PharmaSUG 2012 Paper TF20-SAS PROC REPORT Unwrapped: Exploring the Secrets behind One of the Most Popular Procedures in Base SAS ® Software Allison McMahill Booth, SAS Institute Inc. , Cary, NC, USA ABSTRACT Have you ever wondered why a numeric variable is referenced in different forms within a COMPUTE block? Do you know the difference between a DATA step variable and a variable that is listed in the COLUMN statement? Then, this paper is for you! Welcome to PROC REPORT Unwrapped. We are looking at PROC REPORT and uncovering some of the behind-the-scenes details about this classic procedure. We will explore the components associated with PROC REPORT and discover ways to move column headings and change default attributes with styles and CALL DEFINE statements. We will also dig deep into example code and explore the new ability to use multilabel formatting for creating subgroup combinations. So for anyone who has ever written PROC REPORT code, stay tuned. Its PROC REPORT Unwrapped! INTRODUCTION Which popular SAS procedure has features of the PRINT, MEANS, and TABULATE procedures and features of the DATA step in a single report-writing tool? It enables you to create a variety of reports including a detail report, which contains a row of data for every input data set observation, or a summary report, which consolidates data so that each row represents multiple input data set observations. Here is another hint: this same procedure provides the ability to create both default and customized summaries, add text and statistics, and create columns of data that do not exist in the input data set. If you guessed PROC REPORT, you are correct! We will write a custom essay sample on Proc Report Secreates specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Proc Report Secreates specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Proc Report Secreates specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer For anyone who has written PROC REPORT code and has wondered what is going on behind the scenes, this is the paper for you. This paper explores some of the behind-the-scenes secrets of PROC REPORT. We will dig deep into example code as we begin to uncover some of the details of this classic report-writing procedure. As a bonus, you will discover some facts about the REPORT procedure that you might not have known. By the way, the code output in this paper is based on the SAS ® 9. 3 default output destination of HTML. Although most of the paper ontent can also be applied to the LISTING destination, the code that is shown in this paper is intended to be used in an Output Delivery System (ODS) destination, unless otherwise indicated. With that being said†¦are you ready to explore? Welcome to PROC REPORT Unwrapped! EXPLORING THE SECRETS (HOW IT’S MADE) PROC REPORT first began life as a procedure many years ago in SAS ® 6. Since then, it has been gaining popularity as the t ool of choice for report writing. Even with such popularity, there are still aspects of the REPORT procedure that can be further explored. In this segment, we will unwrap and explore some of the secrets behind this most popular procedure with a focus on the following components: ? referencing a numeric variable in a COMPUTE block ? exploring the difference between an input data set variable and a DATA step variable ? discovering ways to move column headings ? changing default attributes with styles ? using the CALL DEFINE statement ? exploring the new ability in SAS 9. 3 to use multilabel formatting for creating subgroup combinations Let’s start exploring the secrets! REFERENCING A NUMERIC VARIABLE IN A COMPUTE BLOCK All numeric variables are referenced the same way, right? Well, that depends on how the numeric variable is defined in the PROC REPORT DEFINE statement. Before we can explore more about the how a numeric variable is defined, we first need to understand some PROC REPORT basics. Then we will explore the many ways a numeric variable 1 PROC REPORT Unwrapped: Exploring the Secrets behind One of the Most Popular Procedures in Base SAS ® Software, continued can be defined in the DEFINE statement and how that definition determines the manner in which the variable is referenced in a COMPUTE block. In the PROC REPORT statement, the input data set is listed using the option DATA= . If the DATA= option is not specified, PROC REPORT will use the last data set that was created in the current SAS session. The input data set contains variables and observations. The variables are categorized as either character or numeric— that is it, character or numeric. PROC REPORT does not use all of the variables from the input data set. Only the input data set variables that are listed in the COLUMN statement or in the BY statement are used. All of the report items, including the variables from the input data set that are listed in the COLUMN statement can be used in a COMPUTE block. Each report item in the COLUMN statement has an associated DEFINE statement. If a DEFINE statement for the report item is not supplied, PROC REPORT will create a default DEFINE statement behind the scenes. If a COLUMN statement is not specified, PROC REPORT will create a COLUMN statement behind the scenes. The COLUMN statement will contain only the variables from the input data set in the order of the data set. DEFINE statements can be supplied without a supplied COLUMN statement. The minimum statements that are needed to run PROC REPORT are a PROC REPORT statement with an input data set and a RUN statement. Behind the scenes, PROC REPORT will create all the necessary minimum default statements. To see the default statements, add the LIST option in the PROC REPORT statement. The LIST option will produce the basic code, including all of the DEFINE statements, in the SAS log. The NOWD option enables the report to run in the non-windowing mode. Here is an example of PROC REPORT code with the LIST option: proc report data=sashelp. class nowd list; run; The SAS log is shown in Output 1. Output 1. SAS Log Output By default, the DEFINE statement for a numeric input data set variable that is listed in the COLUMN statement will be associated with the SUM statistic. An alias for the SUM statistic is ANALYSIS. The SUM statistic is the most common statistic that is used in PROC REPORT code. The SUM statistic can be replaced with any valid PROC REPORT statistic such as MIN or MEAN. At BREAK and RBREAK rows, the numeric input data set variable with an associated statistic will consolidate automatically based on the associated statistic. When a numeric input data set variable with an associated statistic is referenced in a COMPUTE block, the form of the variable-name. statistic is used. In a COMPUTE block, if a numeric input data set variable name is used without the corresponding statistic (which is the statistic listed in the DEFINE statement), a note might be written to the SAS log. The following code will produce a note in the SAS log: roc report nowd data=sashelp. class; col age height weight total; define age / group; define heightweight/ mean; define total / computed; compute total; total=height. mean/weight; endcomp; run; 2 PROC REPORT Unwrapped: Exploring the Secrets behind One of the Most Popular Procedures in Base SAS ® Software, continued In the preceding code, the DEFINE statement for the WEIGHT variable lists MEAN as the statistic. The calculation in the COMPUTE TOTAL block for the TOTAL COMPUTED variable shows the WEIGHT variable without the statistic of MEAN. PROC REPORT requires this statistic and does not recognize the WEIGHT variable. A note, such as the following, is produced in the SAS log: NOTE: Variable weight is uninitialized. PROC REPORT allows duplication of report items in the COLUMN statement. This duplicated report item becomes an alias. When an alias of the numeric input data set variable is referenced in a COMPUTE block, the alias name is used without the associated statistic. Behind the scenes, any duplication of the same variable or statistic in the COLUMN statement will be associated with an alias name. If an alias name is not specified, PROC REPORT will create one. To see the assigned alias name, add the LIST option to the PROC REPORT statement and review the SAS log for the code. Using the preceding code in this section, the HEIGHT variable is duplicated in the COLUMN statement as follows: col age height height weight total; The resulting SAS log is shown in Output 2. Output 2. SAS Log Output Showing an Alias Name of _A1 Assigned behind the Scenes When the numeric input data set variable with an associated statistic is associated with an across variable, the column number, in the form of Cn_, is used in a COMPUTE block. In the form of _Cn_, n is the column number. The position of the columns shown in the output report is based on the left-to-right placement of the report-items in the COLUMN statement. For example, if a numeric variable with an associated statistic is placed as the first column under the ACROSS grouping but it is the second column in the output report, _C2_ is the correct value to use in a COMPUTE block. Behind the scenes, all columns are considered to have a column number even if the column is not printed in the final output report. Here is an example COLUMN statement: col sex age, (weight height); In this column statement, the first value of the WEIGHT variable is in the second column in the report. AGE is an across variable and is not counted as a column. The first column of the WEIGHT variable is associated with the first value of AGE and is referenced in a COMPUTE block as _C2_. The next column of the WEIGHT variable that is associated with the second value of AGE is referenced in a COMPUTE block as _C4_. Each unique value of the across variable becomes a header. Under each ACROSS header are the columns of variables that are associated with each unique across variable value. Each variable associated with an across variable becomes a column under the unique variable value. The number of unique values of an across variable controls the number of columns that are created for a variable associated with the across variable from the COLUMN statement. Behind the scenes, PROC REPORT has to know the specific column placement of a variable that is referenced in a COMPUTE block. The _Cn_ is used instead of the variable-name. statistic, the alias name, or the variable name. PROC REPORT Unwrapped: Exploring the Secrets behind One of the Most Popular Procedures in Base SAS ® Software, continued The following example code shows this concept: proc report nowd data=sashelp. class list; col age sex, (weight height total); define age / group; define sex / across; define heightweight/ sum format=8. 2; define total / computed format=8. 2; compute total; _c4_=_c 2_/_c3_; _c7_=_c5_/_c6_; endcomp; run; The COMPUTE TOTAL block shows two assignment statements. Each assignment corresponds to a column of WEIGHT, HEIGHT, and TOTAL for each unique value of the across variable SEX. The resulting output is shown in Output 3. Output 3. Output Using _Cn_ in the COMPUTE TOTAL Calculations A numeric input data set variable can also be defined as DISPLAY, GROUP, ORDER, or COMPUTED. Because there is no statistic associated with these definitions, the numeric input data set variable name is used in a COMPUTE block. Regardless of the definition, the numeric report-item can still be used in any computation. However, for GROUP or ORDER definitions, behind the scenes the values are evaluated from the printed output report instead of the input data. This means that if the ORDER or GROUP defined variable for a particular row and column shows as a blank on the printed output report, a blank is the value that will be used for any computation or evaluation. The following code shows three different methods for assigning the value of the ORDER variable AGE to a COMPUTED variable. proc report nowd data=sashelp. class; col age newage1 newage2 newage3; define age / order; define newage1 / computed; define newage2 / computed; define newage3 / computed; /* method 1 */ compute newage1; newage1=age*1. 5; endcomp; /* method 2 */ ompute newage2; if age ne . then hold_age=age; newage2=hold_age*1. 5; endcomp; /* method 3 */ compute before age; before_age=age; endcomp; compute newage3; newage3=before_age*1. 5; endcomp; run; 4 PROC REPORT Unwrapped: Exploring the Secrets behind One of the Most Popular Procedures in Base SAS ® Software, continued In the first method, the value for NEWAGE1 will contain a value only when AGE has a value for the sam e row. In the second method, the value of NEWAGE2 will contain a value for every row because it is obtaining a value from the DATA step variable HOLD_AGE. In the third method, the value of NEWAGE3 will contain a value for every row because it is obtaining a value from the DATA step variable BEFORE_AGE. The DATA step variable is created in the COMPUTE BEFORE AGE block. Behind the scenes, a DATA step variable changes values only through the code instructions. Also, behind the scenes, GROUP and ORDER numeric input data set variables are internally set to a blank in the printed output report at the RBREAK level. A COMPUTE AFTER block with an assignment statement for a numeric GROUP or ORDER variable at the RBREAK level will be ignored. A DISPLAY is always set to a blank at the BREAK and RBREAK levels. If you are routing the report output to an ODS destination, using a COMPUTE block CALL DEFINE statement with the STYLE attribute name and a style option that will accept text, such as PRETEXT=, is a way to override the blank values. A COLUMN STATEMENT VARIABLE VERSUS A DATA STEP VARIABLE PROC REPORT creates a column type of output report based on the variables and statistics listed in the COLUMN statement. Any variable from the input data set that is to be used as a report column or used in a COMPUTE block has to be listed in the COLUMN statement. The placement of the report items, variables, and statistics in the COLUMN statement is very important. PROC REPORT reads and processes the report items from the COLUMN statement in a left-to-right, top-to-bottom direction. Until the report item is processed, it will be initialized to missing for numeric variables and blank for character variables. Once the entire COLUMN statement report-items are processed for a row, PROC REPORT reinitializes all of the report-items back to missing for numeric and blank for character variables. Then PROC REPORT begins the process all over again for the next row of data by processing the report items in the COLUMN statement in a left-to-right direction. Behind the scenes, PROC REPORT consolidates all the input data set variables and statistics listed in the COLUMN statements for the execution of RBREAK BEFORE and BREAK BEFORE statements. For example, the RBREAK, meaning the report break, in the following code is calculated first: proc report nowd data=sashelp. class; col sex age,(height weight); define age / group; define height / min format=8. 2 Height min; efine weight / max format=8. 2 Weight max; rbreak before / summarize; run; The output is shown in Output 4. Output 4. PROC REPORT Output Showing the RBREAK Values COMPUTE blocks are also sensitive to the placement of the variables and statistics in the COLUMN statement. As PROC REPORT processes the report-items in a left-to-right direction, any associated COMPUTE blocks are also processed in the same order. This means th at in a COMPUTE block that is based on a COLUMN statement reportitem, any referenced variable or statistic to the right of the COMPUTE block variable is missing. Simply put, PROC REPORT does not know about any report-item that is to the right of the COMPUTE block variable in the COLUMN statement. A DATA step variable, also referred to as a temporary variable, is different from the COLUMN statement variable. A DATA step variable is created and used in a COMPUTE block. It is not part of the COLUMN statement. The value of the DATA step variable comes directly from the code in a COMPUTE block. DATA step variables are often used in IF statements when there is a comparison of the current row value to that of the value in the DATA step variable. PROC REPORT recomputes a COMPUTED variable value at every row, including at the BREAK and RBREAK rows. Values are not accumulated. An accumulated value can be calculated quickly using a DATA step variable in a 5 PROC REPORT Unwrapped: Exploring the Secrets behind One of the Most Popular Procedures in Base SAS ® Software, continued COMPUTE block because the value changes through the code only. Behind the scenes, DATA step variables used to accumulate values also include values at the BREAK and RBREAK levels. Adding an IF statement to check the value of the _BREAK_ automatic variable will help control when the accumulations takes place. In the following code, the computed variable TOTAL_AGE is the sum of two variables from the COLUMN statement. ACCUM_AGE is the accumulated value of AGE stored in the DATA step variable TEMP_AGE. proc report nowd data=sashelp. class; col age total_age accum_age height weight; define age / group; define height / min format=8. 2 Height min; define weight / max format=8. 2 Weight max; define total_age / computed; define accum_age / computed; compute total_age; if _break_ eq then total_age+age; endcomp; compute accum_age; if _break_ eq then temp_age+age; accum_age=temp_age; endcomp; break after / summarize; run; The output is shown in Output 5. Output 5. Comparison of the TOTAL_AGE Column and the ACCUM_AGE Column Notice the difference between the TOTAL_AGE column and the ACCUM_AGE column in Output 5. The TOTAL_AGE and AGE values are reinitialized for every row so that the values are not accumulated. The ACCUM_AGE and AGE values are reinitialized for every row but the TEMP_AGE value is not. TEMP_AGE is a DATA step variable and is not listed in the COLUMN statement. The result is an accumulated column for ACCUM_AGE. The _BREAK_ automatic variable will be blank for detail rows. A quick way to determine the value of a _BREAK_ variable value is to create an output data set with the OUT= option in the PROC REPORT statement and examine the _BREAK_ values in the output data set. DISCOVERING WAYS TO MOVE COLUMN HEADERS By default, the column heading values come from the label in the DEFINE statement. If you do not specifically specify a label in your code either in the DEFINE statement or through a LABEL statement, add the LIST option to the PROC REPORT statement, submit your code, and look at the code that is created in the SAS log. Behind the scenes, PROC REPORT will generate the default values it needs to create the output report. One of the default values is the label specified in the DEFINE statement. All of the column headings from the label option in the DEFINE statement span over a single column with one exception, variables that are defined as across variables. A column heading for an across variable can span over multiple columns. In the COLUMN statement, a comma after the across variable indicates which variable or group of variables are associated with the across variable. An example of PROC REPORT code containing an across variable is shown below: 6 PROC REPORT Unwrapped: Exploring the Secrets behind One of the Most Popular Procedures in Base SAS ® Software, continued title Default Column Headers; proc report nowd data=sashelp. shoes; column Region Product,Sales; define Region / group format= $25. Region; define Product / across format= $14. Product; define Sales / sum format= DOLLAR12. Total Sales; run; Output 6 shows the PROC REPORT example output. Output 6. Default Column Heading with an Across Label Spanning over Multiple Columns Behind the scenes, each unique value of an across variable is transposed from a column to a row. The row data is not available for any further processing within the code as it now becomes a column heading. In Output 6, each value of Product becomes a column with the Product value as the column heading. Under each Product column heading value is the Sales variable column heading and data for the particular Product value. The heading label Total Sales for every column is redundant. The output report would look better if Total Sales were removed from under the Product column heading and placed above the Product column headings. PROC REPORT provides a way to add column heading information that can span over multiple columns by using a SPANNED HEADER. The SPANNED HEADER is used in the COLUMN statement in this way: column (spanned header text variable-list)†¦; The following example code shows three different methods for using the DEFINE statement and SPANNED HEADERS for creating the column heading: proc report nowd data=sashelp. shoes split=*; olumn region ((1)Total Sales (1)Product (2)Total Sales*(2)Product product, sales); define region / group format= $25. Region; define product / across format= $14. (3)Total Sales (3)Product ; define sales / sum format=DOLLAR12. ; run; You can mix and match the methods. There is no best practice for using each method. The method that you choose depends on the look that you want for the column heading. The output is shown in Output 7. 7 PROC REPORT Unwrapped: Exploring the Secrets behind One of the Most Popular Procedures in Base SAS ® Software, continued Output 7. Moved Column Headings from Different Methods The three different methods are numbered in the example code and the output shown in Output 7: method (1) uses multiple SPANNED HEADER text; method (2) uses SPANNED HEADER text with the PROC REPORT SPLIT= character of * to force the text to continue on the next row; method (3) uses multiple labels in the DEFINE statement (you can also use a split character here). Let’s choose method (1) for the column heading and move the column heading to the top row. You can remove the label from the DEFINE statement by replacing the Region text with a blank â€Å" â€Å" and moving the Region text to a SPANNED HEADER in the COLUMN statement. There are three rows of headers. This means that the text of Region will need to be pushed up to the top row. You can do this by adding blank SPANNED HEADER text after the Region text in the COLUMN statement. Here is the modified PROC REPORT code with method (1) and the column heading text of Region: proc report nowd data=sashelp. shoes split=*; column (Region Region) (Total Sales Product Product , Sales); define Region / group format= $25. ; define Product / across format= $14. ; define Sales / sum format=DOLLAR12. ; run; Output 8 shows the output. Output 8. Moving Column Headings Using Blank SPANNED HEADERS Behind the scenes, when there is a blank header row and the output is routed to an ODS destination, the blank row is removed automatically. This does not affect the LISTING output. If you want to preserve the blank row, change the blank label on one of the DEFINE statements that is not an across variable to some value. Then add a style 8 PROC REPORT Unwrapped: Exploring the Secrets behind One of the Most Popular Procedures in Base SAS ® Software, continued statement for the header, assigning the foreground color to the background color. For example, if your column heading background is purple, then the style statement for the DEFINE statement would look something like this: style(header)=[background=purple foreground=purple] With the background and the foreground assigned to the same color, any text in the label will blend into the background color. CHANGING DEFAULT ATTRIBUTES WITH STYLES Beginning with SAS 9. 3, the default output destination is HTML. Behind the scenes, PROC REPORT is using the HTMLBLUE style. All the output in this paper all uses this default destination. What if you are not fond of the HTMLBLUE style? Then, what do you do if you want to change the default style of your output report? If you want to change the style of HTMLBLUE to another style that is supplied in the Sashelp. Tmplmst template store, you can run the following code to create a list of all the styles that are available: proc template; list styles; run; You can apply the styles by adding an ODS statement with the specified style before the PROC REPORT statement. For example, if you want to use the FESTIVAL style instead of the default HTMLBLUE style, the ODS statement would look similar to this: ods html style=festival; PROC REPORT also provides the ability to change the styles of the different report locations. Here are the style location values and a description for each that indicates which part of the report is affected: ? ? ? ? ? ? REPORT—the report as a whole HEADER|HDR—the column headings COLUMN—the column cells LINES—the lines generated by LINE statements SUMMARY—the summary rows created from BREAK and RBREAK statements CALLDEF—the cells identified by a CALL DEFINE statement All of the style locations are valid in the PROC REPORT statement. These styles apply to the entire location that is specified. The style locations can also be combined if the same attribute is being applied to multiple locations. This is the correct syntax: style= The following code shows how to apply the styles in the PROC REPORT statement: ods html style=festival; title Styles on the PROC REPORT statement; proc report nowd data=sashelp. class(obs=5) split=* style(report)=[outputwidth=7in] style(column)=[background=lavender] style(header)=[foreground=green] style(summary)=[background=purple foreground=white] style(lines)=[background=lime] style(calldef)=[background=yellow foreground=black]; olumn name age sex weight height; define name / display; define age / order; define sex / display; define heightweight / sum; break after age / summarize; rbreak after / summarize; compute before; line this is the beginning; endcomp; 9 PROC REPORT Unwrapped: Exploring the Secrets behind One of the Most Popular Procedures in Base SAS ® Software, continued compute age; if _break_ ne then call define(age,style,style=[pr etext=total]); endcomp; run; The STYLE options in the preceding PROC REPORT statement are formatting the output in this way: ? ? ? style(report) sets the report output width to 7 inches. style(column) sets the background for all of the columns to lavender. style(header) applies a green foreground to all of the headers. style(summary) sets all of the summary rows created from BREAK and RBREAK statements with a ? ? style(lines) sets the line statements to a background of lime. style(calldef) sets the foreground to black and background to yellow for the CALL DEFINE locations. background of purple and a foreground of white. The resulting report output is shown in Output 9. Output 9. Changing Default Styles in the PROC REPORT Statement The DEFINE statement supports two types of styles: STYLE(COLUMN) and STYLE(HEADER). STYLE(COLUMN) applies to the entire column but will not override any styles that are applied to other locations in the column. Using the same code in this section, you can modify the DEFINE statement for the NAME variable that creates the Name column like this: define name / display style(column header)=[background=plum]; The background of the HEADER and COLUMN locations for the NAME variable is set to plum. Because styles were applied already to the SUMMARY location, only the header and detail cells for the NAME column are changed to plum. A CALL DEFINE statement is used to override the SUMMARY style for the NAME column. The CALL DEFINE statement is discussed more in the next section. Output 10 is the resulting report output. Output 10. Changing the Default Styles for the NAME Column Using a DEFINE Statement 10 PROC REPORT Unwrapped: Exploring the Secrets behind One of the Most Popular Procedures in Base SAS ® Software, continued The BREAK and RBREAK statements support style changes for summary lines, customized lines, or both. A summary line is created from the BREAK or RBREAK statements. A customized line is created from a LINE statement within a COMPUTE BEFORE or a COMPUTE AFTER COMPUTE block. The is a break-variable that is defined as either GROUP or ORDER or the _PAGE_ location. A style on the BREAK and RBREAK statements will not override a cell style that is created by a CALL DEFINE statement or the STYLE(CALLDEF) option in the PROC REPORT statement. A CALL DEFINE statement will be used to make the style changes in this case. Using the same code in this section, you can modify the RBREAK statement like this: break after / summarize style=[background=pink foreground=black font_weight=bold]; The COMPUTE BEFORE or a COMPUTE AFTER supports a style option in the COMPUTE statement. A forward slash ‘/’ precedes the style option in the COMPUTE statement. The style option only applies to the LINE statement and will override any previous STYLE(LINES) requests. The style applies to all of the LINE s tatements within the COMPUTE block. Using the code from this section, a COMPUTE AFTER AGE block is added to show a style modification to the foreground of the LINE statement output. ompute after age/ style=[foreground=red]; line this is after age; endcomp; A CALL DEFINE is a statement within a COMPUTE block. To change a style using a CALL DEFINE statement, the STYLE attribute is specified for the attribute-name and the style option is specified as the value. The following is the syntax for a CALL DEFINE statement: call define (column-id | _ROW_ , attribute-name, value); Here is the code with all of the style modifications: ods html style=festival; title Changing Default Attributes with Styles; proc report nowd data=sashelp. lass(obs=5) split=* style(report)=[outputwidth=7in] style(column)=[background=lavender] style(header)=[foreground=green] style(summary)=[background=purple foreground=white] style(lines)=[background=lime] style(calldef)=[background=yellow foreground=black]; colum n name age sex weight height; define name / display style(column header)=[background=plum]; define age / order; define sex / display; define heightweight / sum; break after age / summarize; rbreak after / summarize style=[background=pink foreground=black font_weight=bold]; ompute before; line this is the beginning; endcomp; compute age; if _break_ ne then call define(age,style,style=[pretext=total]); endcomp; compute after age/ style=[foreground=red]; line this is after age; endcomp; run; The updated output is shown in Output 11. 11 PROC REPORT Unwrapped: Exploring the Secrets behind One of the Most Popular Procedures in Base SAS ® Software, continued Output 11. Final Report Output with Changes to Default Attributes Using Style Options You also can change styles by using inline formatting. Inline formatting is a feature of the Output Delivery System that enables you to insert simple formatting text into ODS output by using the ODS ESCAPECHAR statement. For example, here is a TITLE statement and the resulting output: title This is ^{style [color=red font_weight=bold] RED}; This is RED The inline formatting in the TITLE statement changes the text of RED to the color of red. The caret (^) in the TITLE statement is the declared ODS ESCAPECHAR. The ODS ESCAPECHAR statement has to be submitted before any inline formatting will take place. The caret (^) can be any unique character that would not normally be in your code. USING THE CALL DEFINE STATEMENT The previous section discussed using the CALL DEFINE statement as a way to change a style by specifying the STYLE attribute for the attribute-name and the STYLE= op

010 So What and Who Cares Professor Ramos Blog

010 So What and Who Cares Chapter 7, Who Cares? Quick Write What questions do you have about the annotated bib? Due Today Annotated Bib 5 Sources (3 Scholarly) Im Gay and African American Raynard Kington, â€Å"I’m Gay and African American.† [p. 576] In small groups of two or three, answer these questions. Who has a stake in the matter? Who does this affect? Why does this matter? I’m _______________, and this matters to me because_________________ . . . Chapter 7, Who Cares? Chapter 7 explains the importance of addressing the so what? and who cares? questions when writing and making an argument. You essays will become stronger once you begin addressing these questions in your writing. The who cares? question considers who has a stake in the argument. The so what? helps the reader understand what the larger implications or consequences of the topic are. These questions work great in many parts of your essays. They are especially helpful for writers who struggle with introductions and conclusions. A good tip is to address these questions in the introduction and conclusions. Report Topic, So What? Who are the people that care about your topic? Who has a stake in the matter? Brainstorm for three minutes all the groups who have a stake in the argument. Free Write Free write for five minutes on why these groups care or why the topic matters. Template To Use: I’m _______________, and this matters to me because_________________ . . . Quick  Write Draft a paragraph, introduction or conclusion, incorporating the so what? and who cares? factors. This is important because ___________ . . . This essay will benefit _______________, because _____________________. . . Creating Structure There are many different ways to structure a report. Decide on the final type of report you will be writing and we can begin to outline the structure. There are as many ways to organize a report and there are types of reports. Here are some examples: Organize by date, time, or sequence Organize by magnitude or order of importance Organize by division Organize by classification Organize by position, location, or space Organize by definition Organize by comparison/contrast Organize by thesis statement Organize by genre (Wikipedia, Encyclopedia, News Report) You do not have to develop your own structure from scratch, although you can. Look at examples of the type of report you are writing to help determine the structure for your report. Example: Look at a Wikipedia entry similar to your topic. How is it structured? What order do they present information? Quick Write How are you organizing your report?

Essay on Flow Cytometry Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

On Flow Cytometry - Essay Example The light source usually used is a laser light. The cells are hydro-dynamically maneuvered such that only one cell intercepts the laser beam at a given time. When these cells intercept the laser beam, light is scattered by them and absorbed by the fluorochrome. The fluorochrome gets excited and releases a photon of light with specific spectra unique to that fluorochrome. This scattered and emitted light is converted to electrical pulses by the optical detectors. Parallel light waves are picked up by the confocal lenses focused at the point where the cells intercept the laser beam. Optical filters are used to send light to different detectors, where it is processed by a series of linear and log amplifiers and finally the analogs are digitalized to plots and graphs (Berkeley). Flow cytometry is done when the experimenter is not interested in keeping the cells but simply in analyzing the distribution of cell size and/or surface molecules on the cells in the suspension. But if he/she is interested in identifying and separating the cells, then a flow cytometer equipped with fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS) is required. In FACS, the scattered and emitted signals passed onto the computer are used to generate electrical charge, which is then passed onto the cells-stream just before forming droplets. Having attained a charge, these cells deflect from the main stream as they pass between plates having opposite charge. Positive drops go to negatively charged plate and vice versa. In this way subpopulation of cells can be purified from a collection of cells, distinguished by the labeled antibodies. Data Analysis: An important principle of flow cytometry data analysis is to selectively visualize the cells of interest while eliminating results from unwanted particles e.g. dead cells and debris. This procedure is called gating. This is based on the fact that dead cells have lower forward scatter and higher side scatter than living cells. The data collected by the com puter is represented in several ways like density plots, contour diagrams, and histograms. On density plots each dot represents an individual cell that has intercepted the laser beam. Contour diagrams are an alternative way to demonstrate the same data. Joined lines represent similar numbers of cells. Histograms can be a single parameter or two parameter histograms based on the parameters displayed on the two axes. Single parameter histograms are graphs that display a single measurement parameter (relative fluorescence or light scatter intensity) on the x-axis and the number of events (cell count) on the y-axis. Two parameter histograms are graphs that display two measurement parameters, one on the x-axis and one on the y-axis, and the cell count as a density (dot) plot or contour map (Kenneth 2012). Technical Hints: Single cells must be suspended at a density of 105–107 cells/ml to prevent tubing from clogging up. The rate of flow sorting should be adjusted to 2000–20 ,000 cells/second. If cells have intracellular antigens, these cells have to be fixed and permeabilized prior to adding the fluorochrome. This allows probes to access intracellular structures while leaving the morphological scatter characteristics of the cells intact. Splenocytes: Mouse spleen can have several cell types at any given time. These cells could be B cells and its subtypes, T cells and its sub

Signature Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Signature Assignment - Essay Example If an organization is serious about its commitment to diversity, one would expect that this would be reflected in the design, content and graphics of the web site. Potential employees, customers, suppliers, etc. often turn to the website before initiating interaction with an organization. If diversity is really integral to the mission and values of an organization, information on diversity should be easily accessible, informative and well-integrated into the website. Diversity at Google In response to the above statement, Google mission is to organize the various amount of information and make them universally useful and accessible. This implies that the mission statement is diversified and it thus well integrated in its website. Diversity has a long history in Google, right from its founders and employees who knew that it was the right way to build the company. Starting from Alan Eustace, who launched the Anlta Borg Scholrship in the year 2004 to formation of global network for the employee such as â€Å"Google Women Engineers† diversity efforts made at Google are â€Å"bubbling up and trickling down† since its inception (Google, 2010, 5-6). ... The site provides direct link to the culture of Google and Googlers which indicates the work diversity it has in its organization. The location, about the management team, believes of the company and what Google actually does is all stated clearly in its site. In addition to the above, the various products and services that Google offers are also clearly mentioned on the home page of Google (Google-a, n.d). Diversity related material includes culture, location and the management team and along with it believes of Google and Googlers also can be referred to as diversity related materials. Google is known for its diversity in work culture and hires people from different culture and work hard in order to ensure its commitment towards diversity and build everything that Goggle does, from recruiting employees and building the work culture to running the business and developing the product, services and tools. Google celebrates a wide culture of diversity and forms an essential component a t Google culture. Among the various celebrations that take place at Google such as Veteran’s Day, Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, LGBT Pride, Google has also developed few traditions and celebrations for the Googlers and people who are part of Employee Resource Groups (Google-b, n.d). Diversity initiatives at Google focus mainly on three main areas, to change the technology industry; to create a work place and to empower diverse business along with communities online. In addition to the culture diversity, Google also celebrates diversity with its Google Doodles (Google-c, 2011). However the diversity in relation to Google Doodles is not directly shown in the website of Google and there is no direct link from the home page. But by saying so it does not mean that

Assignment 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assignment 1 - Essay Example 1). The dispute has led to a legal suit by â€Å"The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission† on behalf of the employee. According to the commission, the employer’s branch of Bayou City Wings is believed to have discriminated against the employee because of her condition as an expectant mother. The alleged discriminatory action is based on the employer’s policy that provides for an automatic termination of employment after a woman’s three months into pregnancy or a mandatory leave without payment. The commission however claims illegality of the policy leading to the suit that was filed in Texas (Tsikoudakis, p. 1). Facts around the case further indicate that the employee was dismissed despite her doctor’s advice that she could work until the last month of her pregnancy. According to the suit, the employer told the employee that its clients do not appreciate services by expectant women and that her dismissal would be a lesson to other employees that the organization shall dismiss its pregnant employees or offer them leave without pay. The commission also reports other instances of similar treatments. In identifying illegality of the company’s policy and its implementation, the commission’s representative points out that the constitution provides for a woman’s right to her employment even when she is pregnant. The employer therefore has no right to compel a woman into a leave, even at the woman’s best interest (Tsikoudakis, p. 1). Case analysis The case identifies legal issues in the dismissal of pregnant women. The first issue is the ethical approach to discrimination that is based on a woman’s pregnant condition. This is because the company’s policy offers unfair treatment to women on the fundamental basis of their pregnancy. This contravenes social perspective that values pregnancy for recreation. Another aspect of the case, from a legal perspective, is a woman’s right to remain in full employment during her pregnancy period. Employment and anti discrimination laws for example provide three categories of protection of women’s rights during pregnancy, during delivery period, and after delivery. Employers are for example not allowed to use a woman’s pregnancy as a basis for determining her capacity to perform her duties. Similarly, a pregnant woman’s inability to perform her employment roles, due to her pregnancy, must not be used to her disadvantage and she should be accorded a similar treatment to that of any other employee who is temporarily disadvantaged with respect to performance of employment roles. Another legal provision that protect pregnant women’s interest at work is their freedom to work until such a time that their conditions cannot allow them to work anymore. The decision to seek leave from work is however, the woman’s and not the employer’s (Eeoc, p. 1). The facts of the case however contravene all these three conditions. Ms Castillo’s contract was for example terminated on the primary basis of her pregnancy as is evidenced by the company’s policy and its implementation that has also seen other eight women lose their jobs at the organization. Castillo was similarly discriminated against on grounds of her pregnancy because she was not treated as any employee would have been treated in case of a short-term inability. The organization would for example not dismiss men or non-pregnant women because of temporary illnesses. Lastly, in her condition, and with her

Analysis Of Allure Magazine Usa Media Essay

Analysis Of Allure Magazine Usa Media Essay Allure, the first and only magazine devoted to beauty, is an insiders guide to a womans total image. Allure investigates and celebrates beauty and fashion with objectivity and candor, and places appearance in larger cultural context. (Allure Media Kit, 19th August 2008, p1) Well known for its pioneering approach to beauty, intelligent and truthful coverage of current issues that surround women, such as; The dangers of breast implants, eating disorders and Models addicted to heroin. Allure has been recognized for its strength and quality in journalistic writing, as well as its keen aesthetic sense seen in its photography. (Refer to appendix 3) And with it, summoned a strong following of readers that has soared to 1,150,000 (refer to appendix 1) since its beginning in 1991. (Allure Experts Reader Panel, Fas-Fax 31st December 2009) The Allure magazine is targeted towards urban women 18-49 years old with a middle income and a tertiary education. (Refer to appendix 1 2) They have a certain amount of disposable income which they enjoy spending on themselves and pride themselves in making informed choices on the products and services that they consume. In their social circle, they are influencers; informed and up to date on current affairs, trends, movies, restaurants, beauty products, fashion, music, etc. They like to be the first to know and the one that informs their friends. (Allure Experts Reader Panel, Fas-Fax 31st December 2009) Conscious about their appearance thought not obsessed by it, Allure is targeted at everyday women who are culturally universal; who dont take themselves too seriously and most of all possess a sense of humour. (Quantcast Audience Profile- Allure.com, July 2010) Allures editorial and advertising content reflects this, the products advertised and featured in Allure range from high street fashion labels; Calvin Klein Jeans, DKNY, Guess, Sisley to designer brands; Fendi, Gucci, Marc Jacobs and Coach. As for cosmetics and beauty products, the same applies; ranging from Maybelline, LOreal, Olay, Revlon, Garnier, to higher-end products; Lancà ´me, Clinique, Shiseido, Federic Fekkai, all tastefully selected with the above target market in mind. Unlike other womens magazines, Allure also contains advertising for cosmetic procedures i.e. Botox, pharmaceutical products i.e. contraceptive pills and prescription beauty products i.e. Latisse, an eyelash serum that encourages growth, showing that it does have a very specific reader. The Keatsian adage of beauty being truth and truth beauty seems also to guide the editorial philosophy of Allure; founding editor and current editor-in-chief Linda Wells. (Delving Beneath The Skin To Cover Beauty, MOSAICA, November 1998, p1) As a results of Wells innovative and bold direction, Allure has carved itself a niche amongst the traditional genre of womens magazines which concentrated solely on the latest fashion trends and beauty prescriptive; by tackling head-on some of the more serious issues that affect women. We were the first womens magazine ever to write about the dangers of breast implants, Wells explains. We did the first story on models that were addicted to heroin. Weve written about eating disorders in a way that no magazine has done. I think magazines were afraid to pull the curtains back on Oz and find out that Oz is just this little man. We pull the curtain back and say, Heres whats going on in the world.' (Delving Beneath The Skin To Cover Beauty, MOSAICA, November 1998, p1) Delving beneath the surface of beauty, fashion and womens health, Allure has been praised as the one magazine that consistently gives consumers the information that they need. With numerous awards in tow, including National Magazine Award, the Editorial Excellence Award (from Folio), and the Circulation Excellence Award (from Circulation Management), Allure is also highly regarded and recognized by the beauty industry for its truthful and informative reporting. It has won 29 awards from the American Academy of Dermatology, nine journalism awards from the Fragrance foundation, and the Excellence in Media Award from the Skin Cancer foundation. (Allure Media Kit, 19th August 2008, p1) According to Linda Wells, appearances are really important in this current day. Hence it has becomes important to women, the way in which they take care of themselves; and in the methods and process of taking care of themselves; how it makes them feel. It lifts their confidence. It gives a woman a sense of price and control. Confirming those feelings and the importance of keeping up appearances these days is something that is crucial to Allure. (QA with Linda Wells, 28th April 2009, Kaitlin Tambuscio, p2) Allure has a very strong and consistent editorial formula that has not changed over the years. (Refer to Appendix 4) Each issue has a specific editorial focus which changes according to trends and seasons, but it also has fixed features in certain issues through the year, every year i.e. Readers Choice Ballot in February, Readers Choice Awards in June, The Free Stuff Issue in August and Best of Beauty: Editors Choice Awards Breakthroughs in October. (Refer Appendix 8) In this analysis I am going to use three issues of Allure dating April 2005, August 2007 and March 2010. All three consists of six sections, listed in order; Beauty reporter, Fashion, Insiders guide, Health, Features and Regulars. There are many sub-sections within these headings but for the discussion of this paper, I am only going to discuss the few that stand out. Dedicated to beauty and acting as an insiders guide to a womans total image, Allures editorial content consists mainly of two categories, the external appearance; hair and make-up how-tos i.e. Back Stage Beauty Top 10 trends, cosmetic procedures (risks and benefits) i.e. Feature A Shot in the Dark; a growing number of women who are administering TCA peels and dubious fat-fighting injections to themselves, fashion trends i.e. Fashion Stakeout on Chloe Sevignys fashion choices, and skin care i.e. Beauty Reporter Youth Movement a review on six anti-ageing products, as well as internal well-being; physical and mental health i.e. Body News Testing Diets and Mood News Sad vs. Angry. (Allure Magazine May 2005, Condà © Nast Publications, p72, 88, 89, 139, 143, 252 168-190) Every issue consists of a balance of these two categories spread over the six sections of the magazine, contributed by a variety of writers and photographers. The sections in Allure magazine that forms the editorial format which in my opinion makes it stand out from its competitors are described as follows. Under Contributors, it highlights the contributors for that issue which are often various famous and freelance writers and photographers. This I feel gives consistent variety in terms of editorial as well as aesthetic value to the features. Beauty by numbers uses numbers and statistics to reveal interesting, unique and often humorous information about a topic in the issue which is related to beauty. (Refer to Appendix 5) Insiders Guide is a step-by-step guide by experts on three various topics including travel, beauty, entertaining and etiquette I.e. How to whiten your teeth? How to care for your shoes? How to stay cool under pressure? How to travel on your own? How to be a good houseguest? (Refer to Appendix 6) And finally, Beauty 101 a detailed pictorial guide on how-to create a look i.e. Low Ponytail, which also includes four tear-out cardboard cards for easy reference. (Refer to Appendix 7) Founded in 1991 by Editor in Chief Linda Wells, and directed by Vice President and Publisher Agnes B. Chapski since May 2008 (Allure Media Kit, 19th August 2008, p2), Allures masthead consists of almost one hundred staff (Refer to Appendix 9). It is owned by worldwide publishing company, Condà © Nast Publications which is one of the worlds most celebrated publishers. Their commitment to journalistic integrity, influential reporting and superior design combined with world-renowned editors, writers and photographers, which their magazines consistently feature; meld together to form an incredible stable of talent unmatched by any other publishing company. (A Brief History of the Condà © Nast Publications, 1993) Some examples of the prestigious lifestyle magazines that Condà © Nast Publications have under their belt are Vogue, GQ, Wired, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, amongst many others. (Refer to Appendix 10) Hence, it is no surprise that under the same publishing umbrella, Allure has also made its name as one of the most successful and innovative publications, backed by soaring circulation figures from its initial 250,000 in 1991 to its current 1,150,000. (Allure Media Kit, 19th August 2008, p1) The Magazines Handbook suggests that the average advertising/editorial ratio of consumer magazines should be around 60:40 (McKay, Routledge 2000, p142).; containing enough advertising to generate revenue but still giving the reader value for money in terms of editorial. When the advertising content in a magazine is much more than 60%, it becomes cluttered with too many ads and according to Litman; will lose the editorial interest of the reader. (Litman, Journal of Advertising 1997, p4) This is further backed up by Halls Magazine reports 2009, which show that in the last ten years, the advertising/ editorial ratio of magazines has kept closely to the 60:40 recommendations. (Refer to Appendix 11) Hence, Allure gives its readers good value as it has managed to come under the recommended 60:40 advertising/ editorial ratio as shown in Appendix 12. HISTORY OF ALLURE MAGAZINE Allure magazine was first published in March 1991 (Refer to Appendix 13) by Condà © Nast Publications Inc., it was the first magazine entirely dedicated to beauty. Linda A. Wells is the founding editor and editor-in-chief of Allure magazine. The current editor-in-chief, Wells started Allure because she wanted to create a womens magazine that was both informative and truthful; unlike the traditional genre of womens magazines that focused on the latest fashion and beauty products, Wells wanted to give consumers the information that they needed. (Allure Media Kit, 19th August 2008, p1) Allure has been and still is currently owned by Condà © Nast Publications Inc. since its inception. At the time of its premiere issue, Kathy Leventhal was the publisher; she only stayed with Allure for two years leaving in May 1993. However, in the time that she was with the magazine, advertising pages rose from 94.9% to 462%, in the first half of 1993 from the comparable period in 1992. Circulation also jumped 41.4% for the first five issue of the year, to 669,000. (Fabrikant, The Media Business, May 1993) Since Kathy Leventhals departure, Allure has seen a few more publishers come and go. Sandy Golinkin (Carmody, The Media Business, May 1993) replaced Leventhal as publisher from May 1993 but was dismissed in 1999 because of the declining market for beauty advertising. (The New York Daily News, May 2000) Next in line was Erica Bartman who took over from Golinkin but abruptly resigned in April 2000. Shortly after in May 2000, Suzanne Grimes became publisher at Allure and she helped turn around a three year financial slide , posting a 13% increase in revenue in the first and only year she was there, she left to be the Vice President-Publisher of another Condà © Nast Publications; Glamour. (Betzold, Advertising Age, June 2001) Nancy Berger Cardone was Vice President and Publisher of Allure from 2001; she left in 2008 to become Vice President-Publisher of Gourmet. Under her leadership, Allure enjoyed seven consecutive record-breaking years, she increased advertising pages by 50% and published the largest issue in Allures history. It was also during her tenure that Allure won Ad weeks Hot List and Advertising Ages Best Performer. (Gourmet Press Centre, 2010) Finally, replacing Cardone in 2008 is Agnes B. Chapski, she is also the current Vice President-Publisher of Allure. (Allure Media Kit, 19th August 2008, p2) There are two problems that Allure encountered during its life so far; the media/digital revolution which drastically changed the way media was consumed, and the Economic Recession which significantly affected advertising revenue. In order to keep up with the digital revolution Allure launched its website Allure.com on the 17th of May 1994, the website is consistent with Allures brand as the ultimate beauty expert resource. It feature the same sections that are present in the magazine such as; The Beauty Reporter, Inside Allure, How-tos, Trends, Salon Spa directory, Makeovers and also includes interactive elements such as Free stuff, Twitter and Videos. The website also enabled you to subscribe to the magazine. (Website Traffic Spy, 2010) During the Economic Recession Allures advertising revenue plummeted 41% in January 2009 from January 2008. January 2008 had 70 pages of ads and January 2009 only had 41 according to the Media Industry Newsletter due to clients cutting their advertising budgets to cope with the recession and turning to other less established downscale publications which offered heavy discounts. In an interview by The New York Times, Jack Hanrahan said, Allure adopted a smart strategy to combat the financial recession; they negotiated with advertisers in regards to paging but not on price as they had larger bases of ad pages. As it is a private company, it does not need to report quarterly revenue. This enables them to preserve their well-established pricing-position of being equitable across advertisers and not engaging in heavy discounting and negotiations to secure a small schedule. Instead, they encouraged the advertisers annual commitment to a magazine. (Clifford, the New York Times, January 2009) As you can see, is still very much alive today. With an active website that had a monthly traffic of 487,000 readers in May 2010 and a monthly traffic which averages 208,600 readers a month, we can say that it has effectively kept up with the digital age while still maintaining its market position in print with a circulation of 1,050,000 and a readership of 6,570,000. (Allure Experts Reader Panel, Fas-Fax 31st December 2009)

Life in the Community Essay -- Gender Roles, Racism

Life in the Community Aren’t you supposed to be smart because you’re Asian? Aren’t you supposed to be a trouble maker because you’re African American? We are discriminated against because of our multicultural society. In our multicultural society we experience these terrible racist comments due to the diversity we have. Our society is one of the worst because of the diversity of people and religions. We have different languages, foods, religions, movies, music, and games making life confusing for the average person. We have trained our minds to think of everyone as different; judging them without even knowing them. We live with all these freedoms and choices that can led to bad reasoning. Lois Lowry explores the concept of Sameness in The Giver and shows that while there are problems with Sameness ultimately it is a positive way to run a society. Living in a society that employs Sameness corrects the problem of racism and sexism. Lily had exclaimed, â€Å"One of them—a male; I don’t know his name – kept going right to the front of the line† (Lowry 5). Lily only describes the child as a male not introducing the thought of a race. She does not describe him as anything else than a male, meaning she doesn’t know the concept of racism. It is shown that racism can also lead to there being sexism in a society. Jonas shows this by saying, â€Å"Mother, who held a prominent position at the Department of Justice, talked about her feelings† (Lowry 8). Jonas shows the reader that in his Community the idea of anyone becoming anything is true. It does not matter if they are male or female; it only matters if they are capable, making... ... violence. When violence is present in a community it normally leads to crime, and in The Giver crime is not one of the major problems. Sameness also helps the citizens of the community to make good choices. No one in Jonas’s society has the wrong job, spouse, or children. All this is due to the idea of Sameness. Would you trust someone to bath you? Sameness is the reason Elders in Jonas’s Community are not scared of being bathed by a random stranger. Sameness also gets rid of all the hardships of the climate, and environment. Sameness makes the climate and environment constant meaning no random changes will occur in it. Would you like to live in a world on no crime, violence, entrust, hardships, racism, and sexism? Lois Lowry reveals to use that a community with Sameness is more productive and reasonable that one without.

Opioid Substitution Treatment Barriers Health And Social Care Essay

ISSUES. Opioid permutation intervention is internationally recognised as the most effectual intercession available to handle opioid dependance. There is concern that capacity at public clinics and pharmaceuticss is deficient to run into high demand, ensuing in a cohort of opioid-dependent patients left untreated. Research has focussed on pharmaceutics barriers to OST bringing but small is known about the public clinic sector. APPROACH. A narrative reappraisal was conducted by thorough scrutiny of relevant literature in electronic databases ; Medline, CINAHL and Cochrane. Cardinal FINDINGS. Despite the enlargement of OST and vacancies in pharmaceuticss, some opioid-dependent patients continue to confront barriers that block entree to intervention. These barriers are varied and multi-faceted. For the patient, stigma and a compulsory dispensing fee are important deterrences to pharmacy dosing. For the druggist, negative behaviors associated with OST patients such as debt, larceny and aggressive behavior and full capacity are grounds that impede proviso of OST. In public clinics, the backlog of stable patients non being transferred to pharmacy dosing is a suspected barrier that has non been extensively investigated. IMPLICATIONS. Research has explored pharmaceutics and patient barriers to OST entree but less is known about the public clinic barriers. More research is warranted into public clinics to clarify possible barriers of all grades of the OST system. CONCLUSION. This reappraisal emphasises the dearth of research into OST bringing in public clinics. Further probe into the processs of OST in clinics is necessary and should concentrate on patient appraisal, referral and direction. Keywords: opioid permutation intervention, pharmaceutics, clinic Word count: 246 Researching barriers to opioid permutation intervention in pharmaceuticss and public clinicsIntroductionOpioid dependance carries a scope of important inauspicious wellness, economic and societal jobs to the person and wider community, including the hazard of overdose, the spread of infective diseases ( HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C ) , psychological jobs, drug-related offense, wellness impairment and household break [ 1, 2 ] . Opioid permutation intervention ( OST ) is internationally recognised as the most good and cost-efficient pharmacological intercession available for the intervention of opioid dependance [ 3, 4 ] . In response to an addition in the Australian population of heroin-dependent users in the 1990s [ 5, 6 ] the authorities introduced OST as a injury minimization scheme to understate these inauspicious effects [ 7 ] . Since so OST bringing has steadily increased under the National Pharmacotherapy Policy and National Drug Strategy [ 7, 8 ] . The figure of patients has ri sen in surplus of 2,000 clients per twelvemonth since 2007 and at the clip of authorship, there are presently over 46, 000 clients having intervention in Australia entirely [ 8 ] . In Australia, OST involves supervised day-to-day dosing of one of three long-acting opioid replacing medical specialties ( dolophine hydrochloride, buprenorphine or buprenorphine/naloxone ) . Most new patients are initiated into intervention by the doctor at a public clinic under the supervising of a nurse or instance director. In this scene they have entree to single instance direction, reding and specialist medical support at no charge. Once they become stabilised on intervention, patients are encouraged to reassign their dosing to a community pharmaceutics [ 2 ] , thereby emancipating their dosing topographic point at the public clinic for a new patient. There is a concern that this tract is non every bit smooth as it appears. As at June 2008, an estimated 41,000 opioid dependent people in the community were still unable to entree intervention and the job is declining [ 9 ] . Confusing the job is the fact that there is no bing agencies of measuring the precise demand for intervention and no systematic monitoring of waiting times in the pharmacotherapy system [ 9 ] . Proposed accounts for this issue are varied and multi-faceted. It is believed the system capacity at both the populace clinics and the community pharmaceutics degrees may non be sufficient to suit the high demand for OST, therefore the ground why an estimated 50 % heroin-users are non in intervention. Previous surveies have investigated the pharmaceutics barriers to OST but at that place appears to be a deficiency of research into the drug and intoxicant clinics [ 10, 11 ] . This reappraisal aims to research the literature refering to OST in Australia. In peculiar the reappraisal will look into the grounds for the â€Å" unmet demand † [ 9 ] of opioid dependant patients necessitating these services and the bing barriers to the proviso, entree and consumption of OST faced by both patients and healthcare suppliers.MethodA narrative literature reappraisal was conducted by thorough scrutiny of the literature in 3 electronic databases Medline, CINAHL and Cochrane. The undermentioned keywords and phrases were searched: â€Å" opiate ( opioid ) permutation ( replacing ) intervention ( therapy ) † , â€Å" referral † , â€Å" dolophine hydrochloride † , â€Å" buprenorphine † , â€Å" pharmaceutics † , â€Å" drug and intoxicant clinic † , â€Å" drug wellness clinic † and â€Å" harm minimization † . The mentions of relevant literature were besides searched. Documents were eligible for inclusion if they were written in English and published between the old ages 2000 and 2012. Documents were excluded if they chiefly focused on detoxification plans, naltrexone intervention, dolophine hydrochloride for hurting alleviation or if they pertained to patients other than big opioid-dependent patients. A comprehensive hunt of Australian cyberspace resources was besides conducted. The primary sites were Australian national and province authorities wellness policy and statistics sites ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.druginfo.nsw.gov.au/ , hypertext transfer protocol: //www.aihw.gov.au/ , hypertext transfer protocol: //www.health.nsw.gov.au/ , hypertext transfer protocol: //www.nhmrc.gov.au ) and the UNSW National Drug & A ; Alcohol Research Centre ( NDARC ) .RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:Several surveies have shown OST to be associated with benefits including reduced illicit opioid usage, lower associated offense rates and improved wellness results [ 3, 12, 13 ] . It has besides been demonstrated to be more extremely cost-efficient than detoxification or rehabilitation [ 4 ] . In response to increasing demand, the figure of dosing sites in Australia has increased from 2,081 ( 2005-06 ) to 2,200 ( 2009-10 ) with the major addition being in the figure of new pharmaceuticss taking to offe r OST services [ 8 ] . Community pharmaceuticss are the chief suppliers of OST in Australia, accounting for 43 % of OST patients in NSW. This is in line with other states such as the UK, France, Germany and New Zealand where pharmaceutics is emerging as a head of OST proviso [ 14-16 ] . Although pharmacy proviso of OST has expanded, there are still people who can non entree these dosing sites, restricted by certain barriers. The lone solid grounds of these people is on waiting lists, but presently in Australia there is no official demand to supervise waiting lists or capacity [ 9, 17-19 ] . Factors explicating the inability of OST plans to run into current demand are multifaceted and interconnected and scope from deficient figure of intervention topographic points depending on location to barriers faced by patients in accessing OST such as rural location or restricted dosing hours. Much research has focussed on the challenges faced by suppliers of OST services, viz. community pharmaceuticss, GPs and public clinics.OST in community pharmaceuticsCommunity pharmaceutics histories for 43 % of OST patients in NSW. Most surveies on OST proviso are survey-based. In a study of NSW public clinic patients, 80 % of participants preferable pharmaceutics dosing over the clinic [ 20 ] . Benefits of pharmaceutics that have been cited in patient studies include greater community integrating, a more stable dosing environment, flexible dosing hours, less travel clip and cost ( the patient may be referred to a pharmaceutics closer to their reference ) and the chance for regular takeout doses [ 20-22 ] . Takeouts are extremely valued by opioid dependent patients as they facilitate the standardization of life [ 21 ] . Patients can devour their dosage unsupervised and the decreased frequence of dosing attending allows clients to prosecute employment and instruction chances and fulfil household duties. Sing they are merely routinely given to stable patients in community pharmaceuticss and non by and large in public clinics, takeouts are a major inducement to pharmaceutics dosing. Although demand and patient penchant for pharmaceutics dosing is high, patients may still confront barriers that deter them from come ining into pharmaceutics intervention. Stigma Whilst patients on OST reported high degrees of satisfaction, a common issue in dosing sites was the presence of negative staff opinion and stigma [ 10, 21, 22 ] . When Deering et Al. ( 2011 ) asked New Zealand OST patients how intervention could be improved, an overpowering bulk identified ‘better intervention by staff ‘ [ 10 ] . The position that staff behavior could be improved was supported in a study by Kehoe et Al. ( 2004 ) nevertheless contrastingly 80 % of respondents besides reported that staff intervention was satisfactory or first-class [ 21 ] . This disagreement suggests that whilst patients were overall satisfied with staff intervention, they still felt the demand for betterment. Financial load Another common hindrance to OST identified in the literature is the fiscal load of intervention faced by patients [ 11, 20, 22, 23 ] . Whilst intervention costs in NSW public clinics are to the full subsidised by the province authorities, pharmaceutics dosing incurs a hebdomadal dispensing fee runing from about $ 30- $ 35 [ 22 ] . In one survey, 32 % of public clinic patients surveyed claimed they could non afford the pharmaceutics distributing fees perchance explicating their involuntariness to reassign to pharmacy [ 20 ] . The balance were merely able to pay an mean $ 10 a hebdomad, an sum well lower than $ 33.56, the average hebdomadal dispensing fee reported by Lea et al [ 22 ] . The fact that 23 % pharmaceutics clients owed the pharmaceutics money for dosing [ 22 ] confirms that a significant figure of OST clients struggle to afford pharmaceutics distributing fees. The theoretical account used in Canberra in which 50 % of the distributing fee is subsidised, [ 24 ] is intended to ease the pecuniary load and act as an added inducement for intervention keeping or entryway. No surveies have yet evaluated the consequence of lower fees on patient keeping times. From the druggist perspective client debt likewise serves as a deterrence against the bringing of OST or uptake of new patients. Other jobs related to behavioral disinhibition, aggression, larceny and the negative impact on concern and other clients have all been identified as grounds impacting druggists ‘ proviso of OST [ 25, 26 ] . In contrast to pharmacist concerns, one survey in the UK interviewed pharmaceutics clients and found the bulk to be overall supportive of pharmaceuticss presenting drug user services [ 14 ] , with the specification that privateness was necessary. The demand for equal privateness is in line with OST patient positions [ 22 ] . However qualitative informations was sourced from interviews which may be skewed by interviewee disposition to give socially desirable replies. Role of the GP prescriber Another common job experienced by community druggists is the trouble reaching prescribers and the prescribing of takeout doses to unstable patients [ 26 ] . Pharmacists identified the hazard of recreation of takeout doses and hapless appraisal of stableness as issues that required improved interprofessional coaction with prescribers. Interestingly in one survey a bulk of druggists agreed that prescriber communicating was equal, nevertheless little sample size and the rural location which tends to further closer interprofessional relationships may be accountable [ 27 ] . Winstock et Al. ( 2010 ) recommends the public-service corporation of standardized resources such as the NSW Department of Health ‘Patient Journey Kits ‘ to steer multidisciplinary attention of OST patients [ 26, 28 ] . Another facet lending to system capacity is the reduced supply of prescribers for OST. GPs are frequently the first point of contact for opioid-dependent people. They are required to set about extra preparation to go commissioned opioid pharmacotherapy prescribers [ 29 ] . GPs play an intrinsic function in the initial showing, appraisal and on-going feedback and monitoring of OST clients. The issue lies in the ripening work force and the retirement of commissioned prescribers, thereby cut downing intervention entree [ 17 ] . Public clinics are the lone prescribing option but considerable barriers including full system capacity and the deficiency of motion of stable patients out of clinics into pharmaceuticss besides limit the public clinics ability to suit excess patients. Unexplained vacancies Despite grounds of an â€Å" unmet demand † [ 9 ] , a survey conducted by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre ( NDARC ) found that more than half of OST-providing pharmaceuticss reported an norm of 7 vacancies to dose extra patients. Data extrapolation of to all NSW pharmaceuticss registered to present OST suggests that there are about 3000 vacant dosing topographic points across NSW. Whilst a 3rd of pharmaceuticss in the survey were runing at full capacity, some pharmaceuticss reported functioning no clients [ 18 ] . This spectrum of clients across registered pharmaceuticss and the being of current vacancies exemplify the underutilisation of community pharmaceutics dosing topographic points. However the fact that these vacancies may non ever be located where the demand is highest has to be taken into consideration. For illustration patient entree to intervention in rural locations is frequently restricted due to limited pharmaceutics Numberss and longer going distan ces [ 25 ] . From the literature, it appears NSW pharmaceuticss have the capacity to increase consumption of clients, with a possible 70 % of pharmaceuticss capable but non willing to supply OST services. Factors identified that would promote druggists to increase client Numberss include the stableness of the patient, higher fiscal additions per client and the option to instantly return unstable patients to public clinics [ 18 ] . However some public clinics expressed concern about taking back unstable patients, proposing there was no warrant of available dosing capacity, one time a new patient had been inducted [ 18 ] .OST in public clinicsEntree to OST is determined by both the handiness of pharmaceuticss supplying OST every bit good as the capacity of public clinics to take on extra clients [ 19, 26 ] . However harmonizing to an expansive NSW state-wide study on OST by Winstock et Al. ( 2008 ) , there appears to be an underutilisation of available pharmaceutics dosing sites and limited capacit y in public clinics [ 19 ] . Whilst the bulk of literature has focussed on pharmaceutics proviso of OST, relatively less research has been conducted into the public clinic grade of the OST system despite representing 19 % of dosing patients in NSW [ 8 ] . Public clinics have become an increasing country of involvement driven by studies that the motion of stable patients through the clinics out to community pharmaceuticss appears to be dead [ 17, 19 ] . This is ensuing in a backlog of patients barricading new patients from accessing intervention at the clinics. The proportion of stable patients transferred from the clinics to pharmaceuticss is estimated to be really low at 3-15 % a month [ 18 ] . Surveyed patients have cited a reluctance or inability to afford a dispensing fee and feeling dying about reassigning [ 20 ] as grounds against transportation. Precedence groups Intensifying the limited capacity of public clinics is the duty of supplying priority entree of vacancies to groups that meet standards stipulated under NSW Health directives [ 2, 7 ] . Cohorts include released captives, pregnant adult females, people with HIV, hepatitis B bearers and those on a recreation plan as ordered by the tribunal. [ 19 ] Similarly clients that show hazardous forms of illicit substance maltreatment such as those with mental unwellness and intoxicant dependance, or those that exhibit aggressive or antisocial behaviors are better managed at the public clinic instead than at a pharmaceutics. As a consequence many patients who do non run into ‘priority ‘ position are forced to wait. Obviously there is a demand to increase the efficient transportation rate of patients out to pharmaceuticss to do infinite for these clients. As antecedently mentioned, there is no consistent systematic process or set guidelines to help clinicians in covering with these iss ues and as of yet, no research has been conducted on their response to pull offing these issues. A 2008 SWAT study of NSW public clinics reported that when unable to offer immediate intervention, clinics either provided injury decrease advice referred to another public clinic, a private clinic or a GP, or offered detoxification. The assortment of actions and the effectivity of each have non been assessed and look to be decided upon at the discretion of the presiding OST practician at the clinic. Recommendations by the SWAT squad include developing a standardised response when a clinic can non offer a intervention topographic point to a client, and systematic monitoring of capacity to explicate more timely intervention in the hereafter [ 19 ] . Stability appraisal and referral processs An obstruction inherent to the pharmacotherapy system is the clinical appraisal of patient stableness and referral process. The triage function of stableness appraisal is usually coordinated by Nursing Unit of measurement Managers ( NUMs ) or a cardinal stakeholder in the public clinic and involves reexamining patient dosing history and behavior and placing those suited for transportation [ 30 ] . Currently no surveies into the clinical function or preparation of NUMs in OST proviso have been conducted. Soon determinations are guided by clinical opinion. The lone available counsel is limited to authorities policy, instead than scientific grounds and no standardized guidelines exist [ 30 ] . Whilst there are over 300 hazard appraisal instruments available to mensurate results of patients in drug and intoxicant intervention, no individual standardised attack has been nationally adopted or endorsed for OST [ 30 ] . A survey by Winstock et Al. ( 2009 ) found that execution of a province broad preparation plan improved client stableness appraisal with 25 % of staff increasing the figure of clients transferred out to community pharmaceutics [ 31 ] . However the objectiveness of this survey was affected as the method involved clinicians self-reporting cognition and accomplishments prior to and after preparation. However the survey provides preliminary grounds that acceptance of standardized appraisal processes increases the transparence of clinical determinations and can better entree to O ST [ 19, 31 ] . As above-named there appears to be underutilisation of community pharmaceutics OST services with some dosing at full capacity, whilst at the other terminal of the spectrum, some pharmaceuticss serve no patients. The bulk of pharmaceuticss reported vacancies. Whilst 75 % of clinics reportedly monitored available capacity within local pharmaceuticss, it is possible that the remainder are directing clients to overfilled dosing sites [ 18 ] . No formal survey has as of yet explored how clients refer and allocate patients to pharmaceuticss and how pharmaceuticss are selected.DecisionFrom the reappraisal of the literature, there is grounds to propose that the current opioid permutation intervention capacity may non be sufficient to run into demand for intervention. Several barriers have been identified that restrict patient entree to intervention. Pharmacy barriers include the minority of community pharmaceuticss that opt in to present dosing, pharmacist reluctance to take on new patients due to perceived associated negative behaviors and old experiences and patient involuntariness or inability to pay the dispensing fee. The deficiency of prescribers is another aspect contributing to the decreased entree to available intervention. An country of involvement is the part of the public clinic grade of the OST system, nevertheless there is an evident dearth of research conducted into the direction of OST entree in public clinics. The dead flow of stable patients reassigning dosing from the public clinics to community pharmaceuticss is suspected to be impacting entree to intervention for new patients who do non run into precedence standards and are forced to wait. There is preliminary grounds to propose that a standardized attack to stability appraisal may ease stable patient transportation and liberate dosing sites in clinics for non-priority groups. Further research needs to be conducted into the stableness appraisal and referral processs of OST, the bing tools and processs and how effectual they will be in shuting the spread between demand and supply of OST.

What is the Minimum ACT Score for College

What is the Minimum ACT Score for College SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips There are a lot of numbers and scores associated with your college applications: GPA. Class rank. Maybe some AP Tests. Standardized test scores. It can be a lot to take in. If you’re taking the ACT, you might be worried about how you’ll do. What’s the worst score you could get? What’s the worst score you could get and still have a shot at your dream program? In this article, I’ll break down the lowest possible ACT score, and why you’re not likely to get it. Then I’ll discuss the minimum ACTscore for college admissions, how to choose colleges based on your score (whatever it may be), how to set a score goal based on your colleges of choice, and finally what you can do if you feel like your ACT score is too low for any of your desired schools. What's the Lowest ACT Score You Can Get? The ACT is scored from 1-36 on a composite scale. This means the minimum ACT score you could possibly receive- for example, if you showed up to the testing center and filled in every bubble on your entire scantron sheet- is a 1.The composite score is obtained from taking the average of your 4 section scores and rounding; .5 is rounded up. So to get a composite score of 1, you would have to get either 1 on each section score or three 1s and a 2. The average ACT score is a 21. The 25th percentile score is 16, and the 75th percentile score is a 24. This means that if you got a 16, you would have scored better than 25% of all test-takers. In the 75th percentile, you’ve scored better than 75% of test-takers, and so one. To give you an idea of how rare a score of 1 is, a composite score ranging anywhere from 1 to 11 would put you in the 1st percentile- meaning 99% of test-takers scored higher than 11. For individual sections, 99% of test-takers scored higher than 7 in English, 99% scored higher than 12 in Math, 99% scored higher than 9 in Reading, and 99% scored higher than 11 in Science.Even if you guessed on every question, you’d get a composite score around 11-13.Thus, it is very unlikely that you will get the lowest possible score- or even a score lower than 11- on the ACT. Even this guy got an 11! What’s the Lowest ACT Score You Can Have and Still Get Into College? Since it’s pretty unlikely that you would get the minimum ACT score, you might be more interested in knowing what is the lowest possible score you could have and still have a shot at getting into college. The answer to that question is that it depends- primarily on what colleges you are applying to, but also to a certain extent on your other qualifications. For more selective schools, you’ll need a much higher ACT score to have a shot than for less selective ones. If you’re aiming for an elite institution like University of Chicago or Princeton, you’ll need to score at least 30, and that would be on the low end for one of those schools. By contrast, you might still have a shot at a selective public school like University of Illinois with a 25 or 26. Smaller state schoolslocal to you often accept scores in the 18-22 range. In fact, public universities often have special admissions criteria for residents that allow or compensate for lower standardized test scores. For example, publicly funded Texas universities generally guarantee admission to those in the top 10% of any graduating high school class in Texas, although some have lowered the cap to the top 7 or 8% in recent years due to space concerns. You may still need to submit test scores for these schools, but they won’t keep you from being admitted. Specialized schools like art schools and music conservatories also often have lower standardized test requirements of their students, as a student’s creative work is the primary criteria for admission. Mime school only accepts your test scores if you can silently act them out. The truth is that it’s difficult to give a hard-and-fast rule as to the absolute minimum ACT score for college. Colleges and universities admit candidates along a range of test scores, although the band is narrower at more selective universities. However, you can get a general idea of what is the lowest score you could get and still have even a realistic chance at admission based on a great statistic called â€Å"the middle 50%.† The middle 50% is a statistic that most schools provide on their admissions websites that gives the test score range of the 25th to the 75th percentiles of their own admitted student pool (i.e. 25% of admits had test scores below this range, 50% had test scores in this range, and 25% had test scores above this range). This is a reliable way to figure out the scoring threshold necessary to be a viable candidate for admission. As to the lowest score you can get and still have a shot, I would say to place that mark a little (think around 1 point) below the bottom number of the middle 50%. Of course, if you pick a score that’s just a little below the 25th percentile, that does mean that people with a lower score than your â€Å"low score threshold† probably got in. There are always outliers and exceptions in the college admissions process- people who had other specific qualifications or strengths that the institution thought would be valuable. No doubt you also have unique strengths and talents that you should emphasize in college applications! But you should never assume that you are going to be one of the outliers who gets in with an ACT score at the lowest conceivable end of the admit range. That doesn’t mean don’t apply if your dream school’s middle 50% is 28-32 and you got a 26. Just be realistic that it’s quite areach school for you, and you’ll really need to differentiate yourself in other ways if you want to have a chance.By contrast, if your score is a decent cut above the 75th percentile mark (think 2+ points), you’re in a great position. Here’s a sample chart of some low and high marks as compared to some middle 50% score ranges. Sample Middle 50% Ranges and Low/High Scores Low Score Middle 50% High Score 12 13-16 18 14 15-20 22 20 21-26 28 21 22-28 30 25 26-30 32 27 28-32 34 29 30-34 36 31 32-35 36 So how is this information- about situating your own score relative to a school’s middle 50% of admits- useful? Well, it will help you choose which scores to apply to based on your own ACT score, by aiding you in identifying safety, match, and reach schools. Choosing a college is just like choosing a pumpkin, except completely different. Choosing Schools to Apply to Based on Your ACT Score If you already got your ACT score, you may be wondering how to pick which schools to apply to. In general, you’ll want to apply to some safety schools, some match schools, and some reach schools. A safety school is one where you are more qualified than the typical admitted student, a match school is one where you are as qualified as the typical student, and a reach school is one where you areless qualified than the typical student. This means that in terms of ACT scores, a safety school is one where your score well exceeds the middle 50% range (think 2+ points), a match school is one where you fall in within or just above the middle 50%, and a reach school is one where you fall in the bottom end of or just below the middle 50%. Very selective schools (think the Ivies, MIT, Stanford, University of Chicago, etc.) are a reach for everyone because they are so competitive. Let’s say Jared got a 24 on his ACT. How should we classify the following schools he is interested in: as safety, match, or reach? Northeastern Illinois University – middle 50% range: 16-21 With a score 3 points about NIU’s middle 50%, we can consider this one a safety school. Jared’s scores would put him the top quarter of applicants by a wide margin. Illinois State University – middle 50% range: 21-26 With a score right above the midpoint of ISU’s middle 50%, ISU would be a match school for Jared. Bard College – middle 50% range: 24-30 Because he is at the very bottom of the middle 50% range for Bard, we would consider Bard a reach school. Not a huge or unreasonable reach, but still a reach, as around 75% of applicants had better scores than Jared. He’ll really need for the rest of his application to be stellar. Depaul University – middle 50% range: 23-28 Jared is within the middle 50% at Depaul, but on the lower end (only one point about the bottom of the margin). This is one of those schools that sits right on the border between being a match and a reach. Just so long as you are applying to a variety of schools relative to your own test scores, it’s completely fine if an individual school’s classification seems a little ambiguous. Of course, there are other factors than test scores in choosing safety, match, and reach schools. Schools also usually provide information about the GPA and class ranks of their admitted students, so you’ll want to consider those as a factor as well. If you’re on the low end of the middle 50% in test scores, but way on the high end for GPA and class rank, it could be a match school.Unique talents or other interesting qualifications can also go a long way towards mitigating a test score that’s a little on the low end for a particular school. But what if you already have schools in mind, and you haven’t taken the SAT yet? How should you determine what score to aim for? Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. He should probably get an arrow if he wants to hit that target. Choosing a Goal ACT Score Based on Your Dream Schools You may already have some schools in mind before you take the ACT. In this case, you can use the middle 50% for those schools to set a target score for the ACT.An ideal target score would be the highest 75th percentile mark of the middle 50% among the schools you are interested in. That way, even if you fall a little short, you’ll still be well-positioned for the other schools on your list. First, make a list of all of the schools you are considering.When you have a complete list, look up the middle 50% range for each school. Then, you’ll note down the top number of the middle 50% - the 75th percentile- for each school. You can do this for total score, by section, or both- whatever is most useful for you. Note that some schools only report composite ACT scores and not section subscores. When you have all the necessary info noted down, find the highest score in the 75th percentile list.That's your target ACT score! Let’s work through an example. Here’s Alicia’s initial list of schools she’s interested in: University of Virginia Emory University Princeton University of Connecticut Syracuse University University of Maryland Johns Hopkins Now we’ll fill out our middle 50% table. An â€Å"n/a† means the school didn’t report the subscore. Sample Target Score Chart - Alicia Name of College/ University ACT English 75th ACT Reading 75th ACT Math 75th ACT Science 75th ACT Composite 25th ACT Composite 75th University of Virginia (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) 28 33 Syracuse University (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) 24 29 University of Connecticut (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) 26 30 Emory University (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) 30 34 Princeton (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) 32 35 University of Maryland (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) 29 33 Johns Hopkins (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) 32 34 Target Score: 35 So given the schools she wants to attend, Alicia should be aiming for a 35 on her ACT. She’s got her work cut out for her! You can use the following table to do your own list: Target Score Chart Name of College/ University ACT English 75th ACT Reading 75th ACT Math 75th ACT Science 75th ACT Composite 25th ACT Composite 75th Target Score: By listing your match and reach schools and averaging their 75th percentile admit test scores, you can get a goal ACT score for yourself.But what if once you get your ACT scores back, it looks like every school is a reach? Are you out of luck? Did your four-leaf clover wilt? Based on My ACT Score, Every School I’m Interested in Is a Reach Let’s say you get your scores back. You open your scores. You look at your list of middle 50% ranges for the schools you are interested in. Your stomach drops- your score is at the 25th percentile or below for all of these schools! If your score is low enough that you are concerned about being accepted at any college you’re interested in, there are severalstrategies you might consider to address the issue: Prep for the ACT and Take It Again If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again! If you prepare for your test strategically, you actually can improve your score quite a lot. See our guide to the pros and cons of all prep methods. You might try atargeted, personalized test-prep program like ours, using the best ACT prep books, or tutoring. If you still have a few months left before your deadlines, taking the ACT again is probably your best option. Take the SAT Instead The SAT and the ACT used to be very different animals- enough that students would perform dramatically differently on them. This is less true now that the SAT has been revised, because it's now very similar to the ACT. If you are particularly weak in the Science test on the ACT, the SAT may be better for you; instead of having a dedicated science section it has some chart- and data-interpretation questions throughout. This could help you if you are just hoping for a little boost. Evaluate if You Need Testing Accommodations If you have a medical condition, learning disability, or psychiatric disorder, you may qualify for special testing accommodations for the ACT. If you are on an IEP or a 504 plan at your school, it is especially likely that you are both eligible for and would benefit from test accommodations. Bear in mind that the request process is time-consuming process so you need to start early- months before you are going to take the ACT again! Adjust Your Expectations If you score is too low for all the colleges on your list, look at some less selective colleges. A 26 is too low for Northwestern, but it’s a great score for Ohio State or the University of Iowa. It's likely that you'll be able to find less selective colleges that have the same qualities you are looking for. Some collegiate ivy, outside of the Ivy League. Apply to Schools That Accept Alternate Scores Some schools will accept AP Exam Scores or SAT Subject Test Scores in lieu of more traditional SAT or ACT exam scores. If you’ve already performed well on AP exams or you feel you could do well on particular SAT Subject Tests, this could be a good strategy for you.Examples of schools that accept alternate tests include: Colorado College - Accepts various combinations of AP, IB, and SAT Subject Test scores in lieu of the ACT/SAT. Colby College - Accepts 3 SAT Subject Tests in lieu of ACT/SAT. Middlebury College - Accepts 3 SAT Subject Tests in lieu of ACT/SAT. Hamilton College - Accepts various combinations of AP, IB, and SAT Subject Test scores in lieu of the ACT/SAT. New York University - Accepts various combinations of AP, IB, and SAT Subject Test scores in lieu of the ACT/SAT. See a more comprehensive list of test-optional and test-deemphazised colleges at Fairtest.org. Apply to Test-Optional Schools Still other colleges have implemented test-optional admissions. This means that, while you can send standardized test scores as a bonus or qualification with your application, they are not required. In this case, your GPA, course records, essay, recommendation letters, and other application materials will be the determining factors in your admission- not your test scores. Though a fairly newfangled notion in college admissions, several high-quality schools have implemented test-optional policies. This seems eminently reasonable in light of the fact that there are some courses of study where you may not take hardly any tests, and certainly not many long, grueling, marathon-style standardized ones.Test-optional schools are a particularly good strategy for applicants who are good students but poor standardized test takers. Schools that are test-optional include: Wake-Forest University, NC Bates College, Maine Wesleyan University, CT Bowdoin College, Maine American University, Washington DC Mt. Holyoke College, MA (women’s college) Sarah Lawrence College, NY (women’s college) Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania (women’s college) Smith College, MA (women’s college) See a more comprehensive list of test-optional and test-deemphazised colleges at Fairtest.org. Go to Community College If your score is low enough that you are worried about getting accepted to any college, you might consider starting out at community college. Most local community colleges are open to anyone in the area with a high school diploma or GED. You can start taking classes at a community college and then transfer to a 4-year university upon completion of your associate’s degree; your most recent transcripts in this case will be much more important than your standardized test scores. The august facade of Bronx Community College. With these strategies, you’ll be sure to find a college solution that works for you, no matter your ACT score. Key Takeaways The minimumACT score you could receive is a 1, although this is very unlikely to happen.You may be more worried about getting a score high enough to get into college. While it’s difficult to set any specific threshold that is too low for college, the more selective the school, the higher you’ll need to score. You can use a statistic called the middle 50%- the test score range of the 25th-75th percentiles of admitted students for a given school- to choose safety, match, and reach schools for yourself based on your score, or to choose a target ACT score based on schools you are interested in. If you find yourself with a low enough score that you are concerned about getting into colleges you are interested in, you have several options: Prep for the ACT and take it again Take the SAT instead Figure out if you need testing accommodations Adjust your expectations and apply to less selective schools Apply to test-alternate or test-optional schools If your scores are low enough that you are worried about getting into any college, period, you might go to community college. Ultimately, if you want to pursue higher education, there are strategies to make that happen in a way that works for you regardless of your ACT score. You'll find the right rainbow for you! What's Next? Check out our complete, free guides to ACT prep, all gathered in one place.Or maybe you'd like to know how important the ACT is as part of your application, anyways. Need help figuring out your college application timeline? We've got you covered. We'll also help you identify target schools, and figure out how many schools to apply to.