<p>Please forgive me if this is "old news" to most readers/posters...</p>
<p>My good friend's S is a rising senior who badly wants to attend U Mich...his stats are "in range," but his SAT scores are on the low side of the range and now he has to decide whether to retake the SAT...</p>
<p>He absolutely hated taking the test the first time and badly doesn't want to retake it.</p>
<p>So...the question is: would he be well-served by taking the ACT instead? It appears that the schools (including U Mich) view the ACT and the SAT "interchangeably"...and I think I've picked up from other threads that the ACT may be a more "straightforward" test.</p>
<p>What I picked up from other threads and was confirmed by my son who has taken both:</p>
<ul>
<li>SAT is a little trickier, ACT a bit more straight forward</li>
<li>ACT is more time constrained, SAT less so</li>
<li>ACT has more on what you learned in school</li>
<li>If you report one SAT score you report them all, the ACT you get to choose which composite group of scores to send</li>
</ul>
<p>My son basically got the same score on each, though he took the SAT twice to do it. He said he had more time to go back and check his answers on the SAT. Because of the last bullet, not having to report a score I would suggest taking the test. If you want to get an understanding of what to expect up front get one of the books and do a practice test. Check the scores against your sons SAT score and then decide. Good luck.</p>
<p>Most students in the state of Michigan take the ACT over the SAT. Overwhelmingly so.</p>
<p>My S took both the SAT and ACT. He did much better on the ACT and is not going to sit for the SAT again. The ACT played to his strengths better.</p>
<p>I would have your friends S try the ACT. If he doesn't report the score to the school it wouldn't hurt and it may help. That's the beauty of the ACT.</p>
<p>I think they're about the same. However, I think the ACT gives "science people" a bit of an advantage, because there is a science section. If he is good at science, and prefers more knowlege-based questions, he should try the ACT.</p>
<p>Many fewer perfect scores on ACT than SAT (only 24 perfect 36's composite in the US last year). That said, my D took a practice SAT (the old one) and ACT and decided to go with ACT (she's applying to East Coast schools). Had a 35 composite (equivalent to 1570-80 on the old SAT) and is sticking. No SAT for her.</p>
<p>however, it may depend where you live. Ive grown up in the midwest, where we have been cultured with ACT like tests ever since grade one.i got a 35 on the ACT, but i was a little under 2200 in the last SAT. It really depends on what kind of person you are; fast readers benifit on the ACT, people who have a better time thinking out passages may find the SAT to be easier</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The "science" section on the ACT has little to do with the common definition of "science." Calling the ACT straightforward is an aberration or a cruel joke. Your choice! For instance, the integrity of the English section is highly questionable. </p></li>
<li><p>Number of perfect 36 scored? Do the math yourself:
What proportion of 2004 graduates who took the ACT Assessment scored 36? About 1 in 5,000.
How many students take the ACT ? The scores of all ACT-tested 2004 high school graduates (nearly 1.2 million students).<br>
Source: <a href="http://www.act.org/news/aapfacts.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.act.org/news/aapfacts.html</a></p></li>
<li><p>If you do not like to calculate:</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Number of 36 in Class of 2004
Composite: 224
English: 1085
Math: 1863
Reading: 9933
Science: 2875 </p>
<p>Number of 35 in Class of 2004
Composite: 1619
English: 6185
Math: 4798
Reading: 11044
Science: 3195</p>
<p>"Hated taking the test" and "badly doesn't want to take it again" Sounds like my kid. She HATED the SAT. She took it only once. She was going to take it again 6/4, but we felt she would be better off not taking it again. Her scores were low and her hatred for this test was not going to help her get her scores up. Luckily she took the ACT in April and will willingly take it again this Saturday. Her ACT score converted to 90 points higher than the SAT score. So I strongly suggest, he take the ACT test instead of the SAT. That said--he should get the "Actual ACT" book- take a practice test or two. And familiarize himself with the quirks of this test. I'm sure there's more info on the ACT test on other threads. Good luck. PS. The test is being given this Saturday. Remember-- he does not have to send his score to any colleges or his HS, so if he wants to use it as a "practice" test, he can still do so as the colleges don't see the score until he releases it to the individual schools.</p>
<p>I am looking at some sample questions. ACT math section is... a joke! To me, anyway. </p>
<p>But I've done so much work with the SAT, and the majority of Texans do the SAT so I should do it. THere are no help courses for the ACT (under 100 bucks) here either.</p>
<p>Actually, I said that students on a a number of threads reported that the ACT is more straight forward than the SAT. Based upon my son's feedback after taking both tests he agreed with that assessment. My point was more in relative terms not necessarily in actual terms.</p>
<p>Though my son does like cruel jokes . . . ;-)</p>