<p>Okay, so if you're reading this then hello and thank you :) </p>
<p>Right, so I am 15, live in England and would love to hopefully <em>fingers crossed</em> study in the US when it comes to going to University in a few years time.</p>
<p>So I've been doing a bit of research, trying to get a bit ahead of the game and a common prerequisite seems to be SAT/ACT and I am just going to get it out there, I have no idea what either of them are. <em>hides in shame</em></p>
<p>This is where you come in, any help and information would be great and much appreciated. Are they similar to the qualifications we have here across the pond (GCSEs and A-levels) or something completely different?</p>
<p>Hopefully I'll get some answers and end this confusion!</p>
<p>The SAT and ACT are two tests that most colleges and universities require for entrance, though some are now making standardized tests optional. They are different from GCSEs and A-levels in that there’s no curriculum for them (unless a school decides to offer an SAT/ACT prep class). They test skills that you will have learned at school, but also require their own skill set.</p>
<p>Do some Googling or Wiki-ing to find out more particulars about them, and as always, just surf the forums to pick up information. If you have any questions after you’ve done some more research, feel free to PM me- I have experience with both GCSEs and the SAT!</p>
<p>Thank you so much jnwu928 that’s already helped me understand better. I’ll do some more research on the net and see what results I come up with. They’re multiple choice though, right? I have a feeling they may be a little like a harder version of the Verbal Reasoning paper for the 11+ Exam in England and Wales.</p>
<p>Some colleges in the US will accept your Alevel subjects as the SAT subject exams, if you need them to get through.
But I understand what you mean, im in the same position!
And whats even more confusing is that the maths we do here in England seems the complete opposite to the maths SAT questions:</p>
<p>Start revising for them now, as the majority of the stuff in the SAT exams is NOT in our curriculum:)
Good look!</p>
<p>Well from what i kno A-Levels r the difficult version of IB (our school system) lol,
ya so i heard u can replace SAT subject exams w/ it (although its preferable if u have at least 2 and w/ a-level knowledge it wont be very difficult ) however I still think you have to take the SATs and a score over 2000 (maybe over 1900 can’t remember XP) would be acceptable (to ivy league lvl + colleges). Since SAT isn’t as weighed heavily as it used to, if you can get your A-levels in the box, it won’t matter that much (especially if you take a very high lvled English Course)</p>
<p>And when you take the SAT Reasoning…
Math and Reading are relatively easy to things (imo) to a school curriculum, and writing w/ a bit of reviewing on basic and solid grammar it is also not difficult.</p>
<p>AZNinthehouse… I heard IB is a LOT harder than A levels…
Jennyt, you might be able to replace the SAt with A levels… it all depends on the college you plan to apply to, my british friend goes to college and never had to take the SAT. If I were you I would email the colleges you are interested in…emailing them will show that you are interested and It might help you when you apply!
good luck!</p>
<p>Wow thank you for the replies everybody, they are much appreciated </p>
<p>meghnasridhar and hornfrogfan - thank you very much for the links they are exceedingly helpful and I shall be exploring those websites even more in a minute! </p>
<p>Paige1992 - I heard that too about A-levels but then I read somewhere that some places are only accept them as substitutes if you have taken them and have the grades, not just as predicted grades. And yes! I signed up for the college board SAT question of the day test thing and the questions were so different to expected but I so far I haven’t found them to be impossible <em>fingers crossed</em>. Thank you very much and Good Luck too with everything! </p>
<p>azninthehouse - I always thought that IB was more difficult than A-levels in the respect that for IB you study 6 subjects compared to the standard 3/4 for A-levels, I could be wrong though. Although they do have higher UCAS tariffs than A-levels too. Well I’ve been predicted quite high GCSE grades so hopefully they’ll be a help? And I’m planning on taking Music, Maths, Physics and either French or Music Technology for A-levels because I think there’s a reasonable variety in those subjects. It’s good to hear that you don’t think it’s too difficult; hopefully it isn’t! Thank you for your reply </p>
<p>marix123 - Thank you very much, I hadn’t thought of that but now it is something I shall do, showing an interest is always good. Do you think it’ll matter that I am younger and still thinking about e-mailing them or will they be impressed that I’m already thinking? :L I think I’m in the year equivalent to a High School Sophomore but I’m not sure… I’m in Year 11 in the UK, that I do know Thanks very much! </p>
<p>You are right year 11 is equivalent to 10th grade in the us ( sophomore). You are not too young to start gathering information about colleges, I have friends who joined mailing lists when they were in middle school.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions :D!</p>
that’s already helped me understand better. I’ll do some more research on the net and see what results I come up with. They’re multiple choice though, right? I have a feeling they may be a little like a harder version of the Verbal Reasoning paper for the 11+ Exam in England and Wales.</p>
) however I still think you have to take the SATs and a score over 2000 (maybe over 1900 can’t remember XP) would be acceptable (to ivy league lvl + colleges). Since SAT isn’t as weighed heavily as it used to, if you can get your A-levels in the box, it won’t matter that much (especially if you take a very high lvled English Course)</p>
And yes! I signed up for the college board SAT question of the day test thing and the questions were so different to expected but I so far I haven’t found them to be impossible <em>fingers crossed</em>. Thank you very much 
Thanks very much! 
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