ACT Reading vs. SAT verbal

<p>If someone scores low on the Verbal in the SATs but rather high in the Reading section of the ACTs, could this somehow "replace" the verbal in a way? Not literally, but maybe adcoms will see this and think that the student's verbal abilities aren't necessary that bad?</p>

<p>If I was an admissions officer and saw that type of scenario, I would think that the applicant is capable of reading and comprehending what he or she reads, but may be somewhat lacking in vocabulary. That is simply my personal opinion so take it for what it's worth. I would recommend that you post this same message in the SAT & ACT section if you haven't already. You might be able to get more responses there. Good luck!</p>

<p>I might also think the person lacks inferential skills, considering ACT reading is just fact regurgitation whereas SAT verbal is more tone/inferential/contextual clues.</p>

<p>I have taken the SAT once in sophomore year and got a 690 verbal, I'm taking it again next week in the November date. I took the ACT a few months after the SAT and got a 34 reading and 34 English. I took the September test date this year and got a 36 English and 34 reading again... So, to me at least, the ACT was easier and I need to bump up the SAT because I think it's more highly regarded. Hopefully, my score will be 750+. So, I don't think it will replace it. Just try hard, and if you are a Junior, take the new one without those pesky analogies.</p>

<p>I would highly recommend studying vocab flash cards for the SAT Verbal. I took the SAT 1 twice and the first time I got a 650 on Verbal. Two days before the second testing, I sat down in a cafe for two hours and went through a few hundred flash cards (Kaplan, Princeton Review) and my verbal score increased by 100 points. That was all that I did to study. </p>

<p>I know they say that the best way to better your vocabulary is by reading - this is true. But if you're in a time crunch and have a good short term memory, flash cards are the way to go, especially the "Hit Parade" (words that often appear on the SAT). About 10 words out of the few hundred that I studied showed up on the test, which is A LOT. It was a major help for Sentence Completions and Analogies (which won't really apply for the New SAT). </p>

<p>Good luck.</p>