<p>Math has always been difficult for me, but with a lot of work I generally pull it off. I got 100 on my NYS Geo and Trig regents and just got a 99 on my last AP Calc test. However, after months of prep for the SAT, I felt confident in my reading and writing, and felt no improvement in math. I went to a class, then tried a private tutor once, and then one time at another class. All the "tricks" seem them same! I just took the SAT and was flabbergasted with the level of difficulty. I know every "trick" there is to know, as well as how to do every problem in the blue book, yet I just can't do it! And it sucks because my reading and writing are solid and everyone tells me how easy the math is!</p>
<p>Also, I really don’t want to have to take the ACT- it’s only a last resort</p>
<p>You can have a 99 in AP Calculus and still get a 550 in SAT math… the SAT does not test derivatives.</p>
<p>There’s no way that you know how to do every single problem in the blue book and find the actual SAT math section difficult. </p>
<p>My guess is either you don’t know how to do every problem in the blue book, or you don’t take practice tests seriously with time limits and everything. It’s one thing to know how to do every problem, but to be able to do them in 25/20 minutes…</p>
<p>Oh, and you might have also had the math experimental section. Did you have 4 sections of math instead of 3?</p>
<p>One of my students that had the math experimental section said it was very difficult opposed to the other 3 sections. That could be the case with you…</p>
<p>Yeah I had 4. Sec 3 was inordinately hard, and I was so shaken from it that I was thrown off for a hard 4, then the last two were pretty easy as sat math goes. And as a matter of fact I took it far more seriously than anything for 3 months. Every test was timed and I can do every question. But what about the completely innovative ones? Plugging in numbers works 10% of the time at most</p>
<p>Lol no plugging in is a life saver on the complex algebra ones, or any question with variables for that matter. You most likely had a difficult math experimental because CB is testing it out now, so they know how to implement it in Spring 2016.</p>
<p>Still, the hards were quite difficult on the others</p>
<p>D who was in honors math with grades of about an 88-91 unweighted (NYS curriculum accelerated by one year) could not get above a 630 to 650 on the math section. She took the ACT without any additional preparation and got a 35! So a 650 one weekend on the SAT (80something percentile) and a 35 the following weekend on the ACT (99th percentile).</p>
<p>The overall difference is that the SAT is more tricky and the ACT much more straight forward. You need to be faster when taking the ACT, but you don’t get stuck with the indecision of what choice is best between two tricky ones. You are also not penalized for guessing. </p>
<p>So it’s important to find out which test suits you best, but the difference can be significant.</p>
<p>Ugh the act feels like such a cop-out</p>
<p>I hope that section 3 ( I had it too ) did not kill your confidence and motivation. All the other sections were easy. And for sat math I think the best option is, even for math in general, is to try to understand the logic in a reasoning not just how someone done it. Because if you just know how to solve each problem you can be confuse when they change the way they ask for the same thing.
Another score killer is assuming what the question asks. Like they gave you an equation, and you start searching for x and circle that answer when instead they were asking for x + 3 . ETS always got me with this trick. Hope you’ll have a good score ;)</p>
<p>Yeah I felt the last two were pretty easy. How did you feel about the rest of it?</p>
<p>matthew</p>
<p>You can consider the ACT a cop out. Why, I’m not sure. But I will say that nailing a 35 or 36 on it can certainly get you into any school you’d want.</p>
<p>It doesn’t seem so</p>
<p>All the sections were easy I think except the experimental one ( I skipped 8 questions on that section ) . Hopefully the reading part after it bolster my moral so I could keep on with confidence.</p>
<p>Hopefully :). What number time was this for you?</p>
<p>I dont understand your question</p>
<p>Have you taken it prior to today?</p>
<p>Yeah i took it twice.</p>
<p>Is it easier the second time around?</p>
<p>Matthewdov</p>
<p>Was your comment “it doesn’t seem so” based on my comment that people can get into any college with top ACT scores?</p>
<p>Just to clarify (in case it was). While the ACT was originally seen as a Midwest/ West Coast test…it is 100% treated the same as the SAT by all colleges–including Ivies. To think otherwise is not wise, because you could be eliminating an option to do really well on the math section. </p>
<p>Here in NY, most of the top test prep tutors will give a diagnostic test to see if the SAT or ACT is the best option.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I know, but it still feels like a cop-out. I hate to generalize, but hardly any “top” students go for the ACT first. It’s generally seen as a way out of either vocab or reading, and is the path less traveled by in my circles. I have a friend that applied to Columbia with a 36 and his admission is still questionable. I feel as if my history shows I should be better at the SAT. I can do the “harder” reading and writing for the most part, but I can’t do the “easier” math. To go down the path with that stigma feels like a cop out. What do you think?</p>