I’ll cut to the chase: I go to a private college prep school in the northeast, widely known as a very rigorous academic program that has 100% college acceptance and attendance rate. It’s taken some time, but I have about a 3.79/3.95-4W GPA. Course work this yr as a junior is algebra 2, AP biology, honors English 3, apush, Spanish, vocal music (plan to pursue is why) I usually take the highest level of everything offered at my school except for math.
I was aiming for a 2000 on the sat. I’ve always been strong in English, and my parents just assumed the sat is what was for me since it was for my sister. Scores came back as a 1790, then 1810. This is not what i was expecting nor is this acceptable to me.
I have been tutoring since July with a tutor my sister scored a 2090 with and is very successful.
I am deciding to take the ACT, and I have friends that got 36s on the ACT and 2200 on sat. To be honest, I would love an ACT score of 30. A lot of people with similar mindsets and grades as myself (I know people are not all alike) are getting 30s with another tutor that I’m looking into.
alas, I digress. I guess this is my question: will I score higher on the act? I’ve heard if someone doesn’t do as well on the sat that they’re more likely to do well on the other and vice Versa. With AP bio, science might be easier- it’s just math that’s always my issue.
Any thoughts or tips about the act? All would be so much appreciated. Any prior students have advice or tutoring tips? Anyone have an idea if (no promises, I know) my scores might be slightly better with the act?
Thanks for ALL input. Happy holidays and I appreciate all help!
Don’t expect a higher score just because it’s the ACT. The ACT is in no way “easier” just because it emphasizes a slightly different skill set. You might do better, but it sounds like you are getting a lot of pressure from your parents. It’s most important to lower their expectations to give you more breathing room to really succeed. Even if you have an inkling you might do better on the ACT, tell them you will probably get the same score. Don’t assume that you deserve a score as high as your friends. You might find that your SAT score just has to be a little bit lower.
However, if you are serious about doing well on the ACT, study with the Red Book and focus on time management. It took me a long time to learn that I don’t have to spend as much time double and triple checking the easy questions. After I figured that out, I did much better, especially in math. For the science and English section, you don’t have to read the passages to answer the question. You can read the question first then refer back to the passage. However, for Reading, I would advise reading the passage first whenever possible. This gives you important context for the “big picture” questions and saves you time on the minute questions so you don’t have to scour the passage for details over and over again. On math, assume the question is uncomplicated. It’s doesn’t have convoluted, weird questions like the SAT. Most questions are not that difficult to solve and don’t require creative approaches.
Take a ACT practice test and see if you like it more than and do better on it than the SAT. Not everyone does better on the ACT, for example, I didn’t do well on the science section on a practice test so I didn’t even try the ACT.
Thanks for the help! I would say my parents want me to succeed, but most of the stress I have is just on myself. (I know, I know.) it just dissapointed me so much about the sat I worked too hard for an 1800 and spent too much money and time preparing. Thanks for your tips though! Is the act easier for someone who is better in the classroom rather than reasoning/abstract? I get the sense act is more common sense/direct/frank.
In my experience, students who are good at strategizing and gaming to earn top grades, and who are strongly motivated by grades, do better on the SATs. Students who are not that keen to strategize and who are motivated more by interest in content then in nabbing certain grades do better on the ACTs. These are extreme examples to illustrate the point-many students are motivated by a mixture-and it could depend upon the topic.
