My school requires students to take an ACT prep class(it is required that students take the ACT in my state). I took a ACT practice test Monday and struggled. I had heard about the SAT on here so I took the SAT practice test yesterday. I DID MUCH better on the SAT practice test than ACT(I understood it more too).
I went to talk to my guidance counselor about it today. She said that the SAT is an “inferior test” and “it will not be good for getting into college”. Is this true? I thought both tests were equal.
I asked her if I did decide to take the SAT where I could take it near where we live and her response was “I’m not going to help you with this because I don’t support you taking the SAT.”
So if I feel like I’m better at the SAT should I take it instead or will it hurt my chances of getting into a good college? And where can I find out about testing locations?
That’s nonsense. The SAT and ACT are two different tests, sure, but every college I’ve seen accepts them equally. Some schools have a higher %age of students submitting scores from one or the other, but both are universally accepted. If you are better at the SAT, go for it.
I don’t say it often but your guidance counselor is absolutely wrong. Colleges are indifferent as to the ACT or SAT. By all means prepare for and take the test that works best for you.
FWIW my S’s guidance counselor said that based on her expereince 1/3 of students do better on the SAT, 1/3 of students do better on the ACT and 1/3 of students do the same on both. So if you are in the doing better on the SAT group then go for it.
Your question raises two separate issues. First, is the SAT an inferior test for admission to colleges? The answer is no. Colleges accept either test and neither is considered inferior to the other for the purpose of determining admission.
Second, can you take the SAT instead of the ACT? That depends. Its sounds like you may be from a state that requires juniors (or seniors early in the senior year) to take the ACT, with the test being on a date different from the dates that the ACT is given nationally. A number of states have adopted use of the ACT for the purpose of establishing compliance with federal no-child-left-behind laws (some other states have done the same but using the SAT rather than the ACT), and they typically require all students in the junior (or senior) year to take it on the given state test date, and your deciding to take the SAT is not an excuse for avoiding taking that ACT. If you are from one of those states, you may have to take that ACT test regardless of whether you also take the SAT test.