<p>Hello everyone. I am applying to MIT and UC Berkeley as well as a few other schools in the fall and I am now panicking as to what I should be preparing for:</p>
<p>The SAT or ACT?</p>
<p>My Problem: I am very skilled in any math/science related fields, as well as grammar, but my reading comprehension skills are nil. Crappy. On the SAT (I took It THREE TIMES) I scored a 730 in math, but a lousy 520 in CR. My writing score is fine (700).</p>
<p>I have all summer to study, and I plan to attend community college so I can improve my critical reading skills by taking some advanced English course or something.</p>
<p>However, I don't think that the whole summer will be enough to learn all the vocab in the world.</p>
<p>I heard the ACT has no vocab and has science, so maybe I would do better? PLEASE HELP.</p>
<p>You might want to try an ACT practice test. It sounds like you might do better in it, since having 4 sections also means that the reading section counts for less, but you don’t know until you try it! :)</p>
<p>The ACT has no vocab. It also doesn’t have a guessing penalty. I’ve never even looked at an SAT practice test (seriously, I hate that exam), so I can’t really compare the reading sections of the two. Search for ACT’s preparation booklet / practice test, take it, see how you do. </p>
<p>Get a ACT study guide and do a couple of practice exams, evaluate the results. You may find ACT is more suitable for you. Keep in mind that essay writing is optional for ACT, so if you decide to take ACT, find out if the colleges you are applying to require writing as well. Otherwise those schools may not take your ACT score without it.</p>
<p>Go visit critical reader website. Buy her book Critical Reader by Erica Meltzer.
The best vocab books are Direct Hits (2books) about 500 words. Princeton Review WordSmart about 800 words. Stay away from any vocab book or vocab list over 1000 words. You can POE to the correct answer.
Read non-fiction books… but if you are in a time crunch, do lots of critical reading passages for practice.
Websites for free stuff to download. TheUltimateSATwebsite, officialsatexams, xtremepapers</p>
<p>Read the stickied threads in the SAT Preparation forum. You can find consensus advice that way, rather than just advice from a few random individuals.</p>
<p>I would try out the ACT</p>
<p>Thank you for these extremely awesome replies! Well, it looks like yours truly is going to give the ACT a shot!! I agree with OrchidBloom in the sense that the reading will count for less. I’ll still boost my reading skills, but I think the ACT gives a math/science student like me a chance to do well on standardized testing. tosinwashere and realchk I’ll buy that famous ‘Red Book’ everyone talks about and take all those practice tests. Who knows, maybe after I start improving, I’ll never look at that disgusting SAT again!!!</p>
<p>You dont have to buy the red book for the practice tests, ACT puts up a free one on their website each year. Google it because you dont want to waste money on a prep book for an exam you’re not sure you’re taking!</p>
<p>Even better, here are the links: <a href=“Official ACT Practice Tests: Complete List of Public Tests - ACT Preparation - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/act-preparation/1578135-official-act-practice-tests-complete-list-of-public-tests.html</a></p>
<p>Wow tosinwashere, these ones are great! I also found a McGraw-Hill pdf with 10 tests so I guess I got to save myself some money! Wohoo!</p>
<p>FYI - the science portion of the ACT is not really content based. It is a reasoning test that is not dependent on your knowledge of specific disciplines. I know a number of very bright kids who simply couldn’t figure that section out. </p>
<p>Good advice above - take a practice test and see what you think. ACT is more straightforward and there is no reason not to guess since you aren’t penalized. </p>
<p>Guys I have taken the SAT twice. Highest Score was a 1930. I feel as though i can definitely get 2100 if i study the rest of the summer for it. But, I don’t know whether or not to study for the ACT this summer and try that. My friends said that i am more oriented for the ACT. To add to my question, I have a 4.41 Cumulative GPA and some of my other friends i don’t need to take any. I am really confused. Any Suggestions?</p>
<p>^ Take a practice test from the ACT website. See how you do (with no prep). (you can convert it to SAT score) See if you feel more comfortable with the ACT. Have you taken an SAT or SAT practice test with 0 prep? If yes, compare your scores. If no, compare it with your first SAT score.</p>
<p>Definitely look at the ACT because even the math on the sat is really reading comprehension</p>
<p>I got a 29 on the diagnostic ACT test. should i pursue the ACT instead of the SAT this summer? Will colleges take your highest score between the two or do they favor one test over the other?</p>
<p>A 29 on the ACT is about a 1920-1970. Thats the same as your SAT score practically. Although, you had zero prep with the ACT so you’re a little better with the ACT probably. Because your scores are similar the question now is, which one are you more comfortable with? </p>
<p>I feel much more comfortable with the ACT. I just went over my errors and a lot of them were just stupid mistakes due to rushing. I feel like i can get a 32 with a couple more practice tests. Thanks a lot tosinwashere! I am going to be studying for the ACT this summer</p>
<p>(almost all example questions are made up)</p>
<p>every person is different. ACT math questions are less riddle-like and more straightforward. almost all ACT questions label geometry segments for you (which is nice). SAT questions test more elementary concepts and rely on tricky wording and confusing problems to keep that score bell curve from skewing left.
–Hard SAT problem: “Jim has more money than Tom but less money than Daniel. Peggy has twice as much money as Tom but 3 dollars less than Jim. how much money does Peggy have?”
–Hard ACT problem: “A solution for a quadratic equation is a+bi. What is the other solution?”</p>
<p>ACT reading requires faster comprehension and retention. The ACT reading frequently asks literal questions:
–“Which came first chronologically?”
–“it can be best implied that so-and-so happened in which year?”
such questions are absent from SAT reading passages. SAT critical reading frequently has difficult vocab in the answers themselves that can make elimination intimidating:
–"What was the author criticizing in passages 22-24?
A. prevarication from the truth
B. moral equivocation
C. senseless hedonism</p>
<p>ACT science is a beast that some people conquer without a problem but others struggle with. It’s all about moving quickly and processing scary-sounding terms and graphical data.</p>
<p>Bottom line: if you have a rich vocabulary, love of reading, and/or gumption for word tricks, the SAT is a better choice. If you read at breakneck speed and enjoy graph interpretation and pre-calc level math, the ACT is better. </p>