<p>I'm a sophomore planning to take the SAT this coming fall. I took an online ACT practice test (PR website), an online SAT practice test (collegeboard website), and the PSAT last fall. Why did I do so well on the ACT reading but relatively poor on the SAT reading? Also, I did great on the SAT writing and math, but worse on the ACT writing and math (no comparison for science). I really want to improve my SAT reading since I have writing and math pretty much covered. Is there any significant difference between ACT and SAT reading sections? I've heard the SAT covers more vocab, so I'm planning to get some books like Direct Hits or something similar.
Thanks CCers :)</p>
<p>Hey, I’m in the same boat as you. I got a 36 in reading on the ACT, but a disappointing 620 on the SAT. I think what it is, is that the ACT doesn’t rely on vocabulary, where the sentence completion takes up 19 of the Critical Reading questions. Assuming your vocabulary, like mine, isn’t sufficient to ace the sentence completion, that could account for the score difference.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>SAT CR includes difficult vocabulary.</p></li>
<li><p>SAT passages rely on students ability to infer based off contextual clues. ACT reading passages require you to draw logical conclusions from statements in the passage. Logic wins when it comes to reading comprehension on the ACT whereas calculated generality wins on the SAT.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The SAT reading is also unfair since it penalizes a 1/4 pt for a wrong answer! Most students are not guessing on the reading and since there is an already built in " trickery" on the SAT this practice is highly unfair. The SAT is going to be revamped because students are realizing what an unfair exam it is! My S received a 36 on the Reading ACT and only a 520 on the SAT taken I week earlier ! Unacceptable !</p>
<p>I can do so well on SAT CR (large vocab etc.), but I ALWAYS run out of time on the ACT reading…</p>
<p>Since you have a 35…any tips for me? :p</p>
<p>Ah thanks for all the replies, very helpful!
It seems vocabulary is a huge factor. I’ll definitely be building up my vocab this spring/summer.</p>
<p>@harasNN
I honestly wasn’t expecting the 35 at all, so I’m not sure what to tell you… just keep practicing and get used to the time constraints. Good luck fellow ACT/SAT taker :)</p>
<p>The process I took to scoring well on the ACT Reading was to become adept at skimming.</p>
<p>When I skim I look for topic sentences, tone, flow, relationships, and opinions. I make a note of those, summarize each paragraph and them jump into the questions. When the questions dictate that I read more in depth, only then do I do so.</p>
<p>It wasn’t easy at first, but practice really help me build up my speed.</p>
<p>Caveat: Before you become good at skimming, you have to have a solid foundation for reading comprehension.</p>
<p>My D had the same issue. When she took initial practice exams, she could see that with practice she could get near perfect scores on everything but SAT CR. She started studying late junior year. Took practice tests until she routinely got perfect on rest of sections, but could only get CR up to low 700’s. The thing is, what she needed to practice was vocab lists, but that was no fun and didn’t happen. It was too late to do it the right way by spending years reading difficult books. Anyway, the many practice tests did get her up to 720 on CR from practice scores in mid-600s. Refused to take actual test more than once, and probably that was the best she could do w/o serious vocab study. I strongly recommend practicing from some of the SAT vocab lists if that is a weak point for you. She lost all her points there, and on the junior year PSAT, where she nonetheless managed to squeak out NMF since other sections were good.</p>
<p>Oh, and for the practice tests, be careful. College Board writes CR questions to be difficult in a particular way that the test companies have difficulty replicating. So with Princeton Review and others, she would get stuck in some question that seemed to have no good answers, or multiple good answers and wasted time reading and rereading until it was determined that question was badly written. The blue book is great, of course. Maybe others know of the best sources for good CR questions.</p>
<p>@ Boregon</p>
<p>This relates to a thread I made, critical reading for the SAT seems to be some sort of IQ test. </p>
<p>The ACT reading is straightforward and doesn’t require much thinking while the SAT reading favors naturally smart people with an extensive vocabulary. </p>
<p>You should probably stick to the ACT, your SAT reading won’t improve much.</p>