Aptitude tests offer a unique value to high school students. They can give you an unsurpassed understanding of your innate abilities, show you the most operative way you learn, and show you which careers capitalize on your talents. Unsurprisingly, many California parents want to arm their children with these psycho analytics to help them pick their college major as soon as possible. However, there exist several noteworthy aptitude tests that same parents must consider. Each test has its strengths and limitations. This post looks at each available aptitude assessment for California high school students.
What is an Aptitude Test?
Before we get into all the aptitude tests available, let’s first ascertain what an aptitude test does. If you already know what aptitude tests are and what they do and don’t do, feel free to skip to the next section of the blog. First, we must understand what an aptitude assessment IS NOT. An aptitude test is not a personality quiz or pop psychology survey. Personality assessments have their use, but they’re not aptitude tests.
Are Aptitude Tests Glorified Personality Tests?
Personality traits predict how someone is likely to behave and feel in different social situations. Learning that can be of immense use isn’t the same as what an aptitude test measures. Aptitudes are natural abilities, not personalities. Personalities change over time; aptitudes do not. They solidify when we’re around 14-15 years old. After that, they don’t change. While our performance in a task may change over time through practice and skill development, our natural aptitudes do not change.
Aptitude Tests Quantify Talent, Not Personality, Interests, or Skills
Having an aptitude in something means we’re granted the ability to master skills more rapidly. Less effort will be required, so our efforts are compounded and multiplied. When we don’t have an aptitude for a given task, mastering said skills requires more effort and takes longer to master. It doesn’t mean we will always be inefficient at those tasks. Others will likely take to it easier and quicker than we will.
Why Should Students Take an Aptitude Test?
College majors matter far more than the college you attend. What you study means more than where you study. Sadly, in my experience, most students think more about what they should wear to prom than their future careers. It’s no fault of their own, though. It’s unreasonable and unrealistic to assume a student should be able to chart the entirety of their careers at a young age. These kids study for standardized tests, complete their homework, engage in extracurricular activities, keep their GPA up, and enjoy a healthy social life. Of course, they don’t have the time and wherewithal to make a ten-year career plan after they graduate high school.
Students have no way of knowing what their natural talents are. They don’t know if they would be good at coding, engineering, or finance because they’ve never done it. However, that’s where aptitude tests come in. They can give reliable psychometrics on whether a student would excel at those tasks.
For example, imagine a student who wants to become a software engineer. As an aptitude testing consultant, I know six aptitudes are often present in software engineers. Software engineers or computer programmers often score high on the following aptitudes:
- Spatial Relations Theory
- Spatial Relations Visualization
- Number Memory
- Design Memory
- Concept Organization
- Visual Speed
Not all programmers score high in each of these. However, a student’s relative scores in each aptitude would predict which tasks in the career they would excel in. The same applies to doctors, psychologists, engineers, and attorneys. Each career has its own aptitudes. If a student knows where they fit in the aptitude hierarchy, they’ll have a much better idea of which career to pursue.
What are the Best Aptitude Tests in California?
There are two aptitude assessments in California worth investing your money in. They are as follows:
- The Johnson O’Connor
- Highlands Ability Battery
Each one has its strengths and limitations. Keep reading, and we’ll cover each one in detail. After reading each summary, you’ll know what you need to pick the assessment that meets your or your child’s needs.
The Johnson O’Connor Aptitude Test
The Johnson O’Connor boasts the most longevity of all the aptitude tests available in California. In other words, it’s been around the longest, since 1922. With over 100 years of experience in the aptitude testing industry,1 the assessment is the first aptitude test ever to enter the market. As such, they have trusted assessment and are heralded as the progenitor of aptitude testing.
Strengths of the Johnson O’Connor Aptitude Assessment
The Johnson O’Connor is more like a solid granite rock than a shiny new tool. It’s old but reliable.
Additionally, if a parent wants their child’s aptitude test to look and feel like a coming-of-age experience, the Johnson O’Connor might be the best assessment for them. To take the test in California, you’ll need to travel to one of their testing locations within California.2 They have two locations: one in San Francisco and another in Los Angeles. You can see the addresses of each of the Aptitude Testing Centers below.
| City | Address |
| Los Angeles Johnson O’Connor Testing Center | 617 S. Olive St, Suite 510 Los Angeles, CA 90014 |
| San Francisco Johnson O’Connor Testing Center | 350 Sansome Street, Suite 760, San Francisco, CA 94104 |
Students will travel to their location and spend two days taking the test. They will work with their aptitude specialists and technicians, who will record their results. Then, the parents and the students will meet with another specialist to review their results. Again, it’s a full-blown experience, so it makes sense to use them if that’s the kind of service a parent is looking for.
Drawbacks of the Johnson O’Connor Aptitude Assessment
The limitations of the Johnson O’Connor are twofold. One is the cost, which will be covered in more detail below. The other limitation is the time it takes to travel to and complete the aptitude test. This is due to the inaccessible location of the testing centers. It takes time to travel to a location, and then a student must sit for the evaluation. And the evaluation isn’t short.
In summary, you must travel there if you’re not residing in San Francisco or Los Angeles. Be prepared for a weekend dedicated to travel. Once your payment or deposit is made, you must visit the testing center twice for the examinations, each lasting about 3 hours. A final visit for a debriefing session, lasting 60-90 minutes, will conclude the process. Therefore, the Johnson O’Connor testing schedule is as follows:
- First Testing Session: 3 hours
- Second Testing Session: 3 hours
- Debriefing Session: 1-1.5 hours
- Total Hours 7-7.5 hours
Completing the test in a single day is an option, though it means undergoing extensive testing. This could be quite taxing for you or your student. If a student has ADHD, that’s going to be an executive functioning nightmare likely. Thus, another more accessible option would make more sense.
How much does the Johnson O’Connor Cost in California?
Engaging with the Johnson O’Connor Aptitude Test demands a commitment of your time and a financial investment. The price tag is $850.00, a figure that encapsulates the comprehensive testing sessions, subsequent evaluation, and invaluable insights from a detailed aptitude report. It’s crucial to underscore that this sum doesn’t cover the ancillary travel costs.
Given the relatively short drive from Irvine to Los Angeles—52 minutes under typical conditions—let’s recalibrate the anticipated expenses, setting aside the need for hotel accommodations. Here’s a closer look at what this entails:
- Gas Expenses: Reflecting on California’s higher fuel prices, a realistic allocation for a round trip would fall in the range of $30 to $40. This estimation considers the potential for varied vehicle fuel efficiencies and the unpredictable nature of traffic, which might extend travel time or increase fuel consumption.
- Meal Budget: Considering the higher cost of dining in California, a prudent estimate for meals would be between $100 and $120 for two people. This calculation is based on the assumption of 4 meals throughout the testing days, setting the meal budget at approximately $25 to $30 a person per meal.
- Travel Expenditure for Two: Thus, adjusting our figures, the total for travel expenses is between $130 and $160.
Incorporating the Aptitude Assessment Fee: With the testing fee steadfast at $850.00, the comprehensive cost, blending the assessment fee with the recalibrated travel expenses, oscillates between $980 and $1,010.
Thus, taking the Johnson O’Connor costs an immensity of time and no small amount of money. The aptitude data from their reports and the intense testing experience might be worth it for some. But for the average families in Irvine that I work with, the time commitment is tough.
Highlands Ability Battery
The next aptitude testing option for California families is the Highlands Ability Battery. The Highlands Ability Battery is heralded as “the golden standard of aptitude assessment.”3 45While that’s a bold claim, it has some features that make the assessment more accessible and practical than the Johnson O’Connor.
Strengths of the Highlands Ability Battery Assessment
California students can take Highlands Ability Battery (HAB) remotely. That’s right. This eliminates the needed travel time to one of the Johnson O’Connor Research Centers. Students take the assessment on their laptops or desktop computers. Furthermore, the assessment takes 3 hours to complete instead of the 6 hours the Johnson O’Connor requires.
Perhaps its greatest strength is that students don’t have to take the assessment simultaneously. While the HAB takes 3 hours to complete, students can split the assessment up to chip away at the test over time instead of completing it in one sitting. As someone who works with many students with ADHD, that flexibility eases students through the process of taking the test. The assessment is divided into 19 sections or work samples. The most extended section is 11 minutes, and the others take only 5-7 minutes. Parents convincing their students to take an aptitude test can be like pulling teeth. It’s a lot easier to sell the idea of them taking a 3-hour test they can do over time vs taking a 6-hour test they have to take all at once.
Drawbacks of the Highlands Ability Battery
Like its Johnson O’Connor (JOC) counterpart, the HAB isn’t perfect. The HAB measures slightly fewer aptitudes than the Johnson O’Connor. For example, if we compare the JOC report to the HAB report, we learn the JOC measures 27 aptitudes while the HAB only measures 19. Here are the aptitudes that JOC measures that the HAB doesn’t. If you’re curious, you can see a list of them below:
Number Aptitudes
- Number Facility
- Number Reasoning
Artistic Aptitudes
- Color Discrimination
- Visual Design
- Aesthetic Preference
Endurance and Dexterity Aptitudes
- Tweezer Dexterity
- Finger Dexterity
- Grip
Artistic aptitudes tend to be present among professionals in theatre, visual arts, and fine artists.6 Likewise, endurance and dexterity aptitudes are found throughout a smattering of careers. Dentists often need to show they have finger dexterity, as well as culinary chefs,7 high grip scorers frequently correlate with active athletes,8 and programmers and management analysts tend to score high on the number aptitudes.9
However, the majority of the listed aptitudes are industry-specific. Most finance and accounting jobs don’t necessarily need a high number of aptitudes to flourish.
Likewise, most aptitude-testing students aren’t interested in specific theatre careers or gunning to become professional athletes. But the HAB technically measures less aptitudes than the Johnson O’Connor.
How much does a Highlands Ability Battery?
Finally, at $550, the HAB boasts a more reasonable price range. That’s $300 cheaper than the Johnson O’Connor. While Johnson O’Connor’s $850 price point might not deter wealthier families from purchasing aptitude testing services, it’s a more accessible price for most families in California and the US. For example, most families I work with through Powerful Prep live in Irvine, California. Irvine’s census data shows the average household income in Irvine, California, is $114,027.10 Thus, for most families in Irvine, the HAB’s price is a much easier pill to swallow as far as price goes.
Which Aptitude Test Should I take?
I don’t mean to lawyer around the question. However, the answer is simply this: It depends. For many families, the Highlands Ability Battery offers the best value for its cost. It’s accessible, reasonably priced, and has a proven track record. Yet, if a student is interested in a more artistic career path, the Johnson O’Connor might be the best for them.
Many certified HAB consultants like myself are independent educational consultants who use aptitude testing data to guide those students through the application process. The Highlands Ability Battery is better if a parent wants a personalized approach to guide high school students toward a college major. Yet, if parents want to give their students a memorable coming-of-age experience in their aptitude testing experience, the Johnson O’Connor will likely be best.
Conclusion
It’s up to you. Both assessments offer immense value. And, after all, I’m a HAB consultant. I prefer the HAB. However, I greatly respect the Johnson O’Connor Research Institute for its ongoing research and the service it provides students.
From my biased view, most families I know appreciate the flexibility of the HAB. If you live in California, and you want an aptitude test, use this link to get your aptitude test today.
Happy Testing,
-Marc
About the Author
Marc Gray is the Owner and Director of Education of Powerful Prep. Marc uses advanced aptitude testing to simplify the college admissions process for students and parents. He also guides students to create targeted passion projects to differentiate their college applications. He currently serves as the Highlands Company’s Director of College Counseling Relations. In that role, he enjoys helping other college counselors use aptitude testing to enhance their business.