<p>Does anyone on here find the ACT much harder then the SAT? I know It varies depending on person but I'm curious to know who feels this way. I took the ACT and received a score of 20 three times in a row with major prepping. I took the SAT practice test with no prep other than the PSAT and scored a 1700. I know a 1700 isn't amazing but I think I will be able to improve it even more over the summer.</p>
<p>I think the reason why the SAT might be easier then the ACT for me is because I suck at reading and have a hard time focusing?</p>
<p>75% of the ACT requires reading and answering (50% on English) (100% on Reading) (100% on Science)</p>
<p>While on the SAT there is only a small portion that requires reading (Critical Reading). That is basically a sixth of the whole test.</p>
<p>So wouldn't you guys say people who are stronger in math would be better at the SAT then the ACT?</p>
<p>And people who are stronger in the reading (Although CR on SAT is more difficult) do better on the ACT because most of the test requires reading comprehension?</p>
<p>SAT is more “critical thinking” than math in the math section. Besides, even if one doesn’t know how to do the problems, a lot (but not all) of the math questions can be solved by plugging in the answer choices and checking, which is a bonus.
Critical Reading on the SAT is 1/3rd of the sections, not 1/6th, and even the Writing (another 1/3rd of the sections, the last being Math) section has passage-based questions. Many people (on here, at least, and including me) seem to think that Critical Reading is the hardest category of the three.
Good news for you: the SAT is also a lot easier to study for, and there are more materials out there to use to study for the SAT. The best starting tool is the original official Collegeboard “Blue Book”.
Since you are just starting out on studying: I would focus on studying all three, but for different reasons: Math because it tends to be the “easiest” (I can’t explain it, just that the answers are more objective and it’s the easiest to study for in first place), Writing because it tends to be the section that people improve the fastest on when they start studying (plus that the essay practically requires a certain format), and CR because it seems to be the hardest section for you.
I can’t say much for the ACT; I’ve never taken it, though I plan to at least take a practice test. If I do take the real ACT and totally fail, I can always refrain from sending the scores to colleges, and just show them my SAT (I think).</p>
<p>I know what you guys mean but what I’m saying for writing you don’t have to actually “understand” the passage while on the ACT you have to.</p>
<p>I said Critical Reading is 1/6th because there are verbal, writing, and math sections.
The verbal I thought was half vocab which I don’t really consider reading comprehension needed. </p>
<p>So basically what I’m saying is for the ACT you need to be an effective reader to be able to score well on about every section except math and maybe science if you use the graph trick.</p>
<p>While on the SAT the only section you truly need to “comprehend” what you’re reading are the Critical Reading passages.</p>
<p>LoL, You need to comprehend what you’re reading for everything to get the question right. If it says the animal shelter has 8 dogs, and 1/4 of that was added to the shelter, and then 1/2 of that was taken away after the next day, you still need to comprehend the question. I don’t see your logic…</p>
<p>I guess what I mean is comprehending a large amount of information. the SAT has each part in shorter intervals. Instead of testing rhetorical skills and understanding the meaning of the passage in Writing on the SAT you just fix the grammar error while on the ACT you need to be able to “know” what the passage is about.</p>