Help! Should I take the ACT?

<p>I've been studying for the SAT since around June and I took it in December. I don't think I did as well as I hoped to have done, and I was wondering if I should take the ACT instead. Will I be prepared? How much studying should I do? I have no experience with the ACT whatsoever but I've been prepping for the SAT. Is it too late to start studying for the ACT if I want to take it before May? Thanks!</p>

<p>Yes, I think you should take it. You have plenty of time to study. You should look into whether the schools you’ll apply to want the ACT with Writing. Good luck!</p>

<p>Okay, thank you! I was just looking at some sample questions and I think I should be okay with the reading, writing, and math. I’m just worried about science. Do I need to actually know a lot of science? Or is it just like reading graphs and interpreting data? How can I study for that? Thanks so much!</p>

<p>You don’t need to know much about science at all. It’s mostly reading graphs and learning how to eliminate the irrelevant information from the long-winded questions :-)</p>

<p>Personally, if I were you I would take a practice ACT (the ACT company sells a red book with practice test that were previously administered) and then see what your base score is. If it is higher than your SAT score then I would study for it and give it a go. Otherwise I would probably stick with continuing SAT studying because it is generally easier to raise your score more significantly with the SAT. I think it depends on the individual, but for me the ACT was much easier. What nobody told me was that most colleges require the act OR sat WITH 2 sat subject tests. In other words, for the majority of colleges if you score high enough on an ACT, you won’t have to worry much about taking SAT subjects or having them be a heavy burden. You have plenty of time to study for and take you ACT this year and yes, the science section is only graph reading and information interpretation.Goodluck!</p>

<p>The SAT was harder for me. The ACT was easier - but harder to complete all the questions in the allotted time. Consider that. I recommend taking the ACT as well but since you have been preparing for the SAT, you might want to continue your efforts on improving your SAT scores instead of dividing your time between the two and not improving as much as you had wanted to. Good luck!</p>

<p>good luck! If your not good at SAT youll probably be good at the ACT</p>

<p>Taking the ACT is kind of like giving yourself a second bite of the apple. There’s a chance that you’ll be better at it than the SAT because the testing style really is quite different (at least that’s how I felt)
There’s less time and more questions, but the level is also easier</p>