Next year, I will have to take the SAT from my school; my school forces me too. But the college I want to go to requires me to take the ACT, so I will have to take that as well. I am NOT taking them at the same time, however, I am a sophomore, so I want to study for both exams. What are some good strategies to study for the SAT and ACT?
@guyfurious What college are you referring to requires the ACT? From what I’ve seen, colleges that require standardized testing usually require one or the other.
Also with the revised SAT, the two tests are fairly similar to each other, except for the science section. I’m not super knowledgeable on either test, but you may be able to prepare for one largely by preparing for the other.
@guyfurious i read lot of blogs and columns where new SAT and ACT same and different, one of them is on aimhishsat com under the columns tab. One more site greentestprep com under the article “The ACT vs The SAT” you can see similarities and differences.
Bump. Any more advice on how to study for both tests?
What college requires the ACT over the SAT?
My kids study for the SAT and the PSAT at the same time, leading into fall of junior year. Then prep for ACT early the next year - January or February.
EDIT: I realized I made a mistake in my thread. I can take the SAT without the ACT, but i’d prefer to also take the ACT because I’m better at it.
Some MD/PHD programs require ACT scores. Probably because the ACT has a science sectoin
@YoLolololol I haven’t heard this before. Do you know of any MD or Ph.D. programs that actually require ACT scores?
@MITer94
Woops I meant B.S/ MD program haha idk where the PHD came from LOL
And I believe Sophie Davis requires an ACT score? I’m not sure.
I agree with MITer. Colleges generally will take either the SAT or ACT, if required.
You really should visit a few websites to confirm whatever you believe is true or false.
Sophie Davis asks for either SAT or ACT.
The ACT and the SAT differ from high school finals for which you know what will likely be covered. Instead, they measure how much of the college-prep curriculum that you mastered in multiple classes over several years. Your best plan of study for these tests is learning the skills and knowledge available to you in each class.
Overall, there is far too much content to be learned specifically because the number of potential items is huge. Instead, focus on and learn the content of the classes you are taking and also look at your specific areas of academic weakness. Think of it this way, there may be 10,000 questions in the item pool and a portion of these items will be included in the version of the ACT or SAT for which you sit. AND, you will never get a copy of all those items to study. You need a strategy that is more helpful than memorizing unfamiliar content.
What to do? Focus on what you can control. The test involves reading skills of all sorts. It is imperative that you can read quickly and proficiently with good comprehension and vocabulary. Read fun books as well as works in Literature and British Literature, history, social sciences and math word problems. Like bike riding, reading improves substantially with practice, lots of practice. Have a dictionary by your side and look up and write down definitions of unfamiliar words. Dislike of reading, thinking its boring, the text is too long, etc. are not helpful attitudes. If you read slowly with poor comprehension or vocabulary, you are in trouble. Fix it! If you fall asleep or your mind drifts, stand up when you read or walk or read aloud. Review what you just read and ask yourself questions about content. Also, you will have lots of reading assignments in college so get ready now.
Do not just studying for specific school exams but learn all sorts of information in your books so that you think “Oh, that makes sense!” Develop a sense of curiosity and desire to learn. You simply can’t memorize all the little bits of information that might appear on either test Instead, learn how to explain something you read to someone else. Again, the ACT and SAT measure your general level of preparation for college.
Another thing you can control is time. There are x number of items and so many minutes giving you an amount of time per item. Immediately, answer the questions for which you already know the answer and don’t look back. You have already secured those points. If you find an item that you don’t know, move on and come back later if you have remaining time. Instead, look at the items where you can eliminate half the answer choices and then explain to yourself why each remaining answer could be correct. Chose and mark an answer. I found that by the time I got back to those 50/50 items may brain had already thought for me and I knew what to mark. So, approach each section with the strategy of getting points. So.learn to manage your time.
The best way to do a really bad job on these tests is losing control of yourself by freaking out, shutting or melting down and otherwise panic to the max. Stop thinking about the test and the implications of your score. You will get far more correct if take deep breaths or however you relax and get back to the exam. Just stop it! Anticipating failure is the best way to make it happen. If you can’t answer questions because of your emotions, you will miss getting all the points for things you know.
Each well, dress comfortably, have everything gathered the night before, and take a nourishing snack. Take care of yourself. You could make yourself nuts studying until the last minute. Get good sleep for several nights. That will help you more than memorizing one more bit of information.
As the old phrase says, It’s a test. It’s only a test.
Study primarily for the SAT since both tests are very similar. The english (ACT) and writing mechanics (SAT) sections are literally the same thing, as well as the math sections. The reading sections are slightly different though based on what I have seen, with the ACT focusing on continuing ideas throughout the passage and the SAT on specific themes and cause and effect situations. For the science section, I think it’s best if you just took some practice tests to get the pacing down because it goes VERY quickly. It’s not a very hard section content-wise, but the pacing is what kills.
I’ve heard the pacing on the ACT is quicker overall than the SAT. So…maybe practice with ACT practice tests since they give you less time. Most ACT books give lots of good tips on how to do well with the short time allotted. Our book said to not even read the science sections first. Go to the questions and then search for the answers.