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<p>Well said. And that is why some SAT prep courses can actually give you a few more points. They teach you how to look out for the tricks.</p>
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<p>Source, please?</p>
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<p>With this I totally agree. No science knowledge even necessary, save for definitions of a few terms. The Science section is also the ACT’s ‘reasoning’ section.</p>
<p>“The standard advice we give all students at our school is to take both tests once during the winter of junior year.”</p>
<p>Sound advice. The school’s in this area still advise students to take the SAT in June of their junior year or to wait until October of their senior year if they think they need more “seasoning.” They also tell them to remember to bring two #2 pencils and get a good night’s sleep. I’ve been happy to see that a couple of the young GCs are now informing students about the existence of the ACT.</p>
<p>AAh, it makes sense if the science portion is more “like” the SAT and more “reasoning” than science factoids. My kids did about the same on the SAT score-wise and they did the best on the science portion when they took the ACT but neither of mine are “science” kids so I was surprised at the science ACT scores. But yes, with the split nationwide of about 50/50 it makes sense to “sacrifice” a Saturday and try the ACT once or twice if you are in an SAT region just to see the outcome. Since only a couple questions are trig it’s a good test to take at the end of junior year or once in junior spring then in June. Getting the timing down is the “hardest” part of the ACT according to my kids and of course there are some ‘tricks’ for the reading portions just like the SAT.</p>
<p>Timing IS key on the ACT, particularly the science, which is last when fatigue starts to set it. And yes, the ACT always has 4 trig math problems on it, but two are always right triangle trig problems. Thus, memorize a couple of trig formulas, use the Pythag theorem (45-45-90, or 30-30-90), and two ‘easy’ points, even without knowing any trig.</p>