SAT vs ACT - any thoughts and advise,
My S took the SAT twice and did fine but not as good as he wished. ACT is not something most kids take in our area take, but a friend advised some kids do better. Well, his ACT score was way better than his SAT - put him in contention for a few colleges he didn’t have a chance at with his SAT score.
So I’d do both. Many great online free tutorials available for both. He used the big ACT testing book and Khan Academy.
Good luck!
My son had the opposite experience of @Leigh22’s son. He at first prepped for ACT but wasn’t happy with his practice tests so switched to SAT and ended up getting a top score. So ditto the advice to try both and use the free/low cost prep materials available. The two tests are more similar to one another than they used to be, but each has distinct aspects that work well for some and not for others. And of course some who test well in general do great on both tests.
Those trying for National Merit will prep for the PSAT/NMSQT and many will go ahead and take an SAT afterwards. Used to be that you needed an SAT to vet the PSAT score (assuming you made NMSF) but beginning with the HS class of 2020 an ACT can be used as well.
It seems like the ACT is an easier test to “learn” to take – the material is a bit easier but you have to work faster. Speed can be developed with practice. The SAT is a little harder but you have more time.
There are kids here on CC who have done much better on the SAT and others who have done better on the ACT.
IRL, the kids I know who have seriously worked with tutors have all performed significantly better on the ACT, and the tutors all push them toward the ACT.
You could try a practice test for each and see which one seems to fit you best if you are up in the air.
Or you can take whichever one is more common in your area (with prep) and try the other if you are not happy with your results. (My kid did the latter and was satisfied with the results so never tried the other.)
Take both and see. If you think you may qualify for PSAT National Merit $2000 scholarship, take SAT.
Told my S19 to take both once to get baseline then see which was for him. Took each again because he did well the first time. Each kid is has different strengths and weaknesses so have to understand and fill in gaps. I asked my son how was it after he took the ACT the second time and he said “it was easy” ended up getting composite 36.
Try both once and see after that.
ACT is much easier than SAT…especially for Math oriented kids! Being honest …our son without preparing even for a day - because he was forced to take it, school district requirement, took it and got almost a perfect score! While even after studying for 3 weeks for SAT --he found the English section difficult …he is more of a math kid??
So, my vote would be go for the ACT…easier --needs less preparation!
^ Each test plays to different strengths. The SAT is wordier, and the ACT is more time pressured. The takeaway is to find which test works better for you. For every kid who rocks the ACT, there’s another who achieves that on the SAT. Some of those might do well on both tests but a lot of them will prefer one over the other. Only one way to find out which works - and that’s to take at least a practice version of each test.
Neither one is “easier” in the sense that the results are standardized which means each student’s scores represent where he/she falls relative to peers. But historically the SATs were trickier-involved gaming the test. Students who game tests-catch tricks meant to derail them, do better on the old SATs. The ACTs are more straight forward. If you know the answer to the question you’ll get the question correct. The biggest challenge of the ACTs for many students is racing against the clock-so students who can work quickly do well and those who don’t won’t.
I’m an SAT tutor, but I have tutored both SAT and ACT. I pretty much agree with everyone here. They are different tests and some students do better with one than the other. The ACT is more straightforward in math; they ask questions in a direct way, but there are more questions and it’s very much a race against the clock. SAT math is sometimes “trickier.” It may not be immediately obvious as to how to attack a problem, but there’s not as much of a time crunch. If you’ve got a creative mind and like puzzles, you might like SAT math more. Also, once you practice and learn SAT question types, you can often figure out how to do them very quickly, saving even more time. The ACT has a section devoted to “science” whereas the SAT has sciency questions thrown in throughout the test (in Reading, Grammar and Math). SAT science does not require you to know any actual science. ACT science only expects you to know the basics of the scientific method. They’re really testing your ability to apply logic and they will both give you any formulas, laws, rules you need to apply. But the ACT science section is VERY time pressured. There is not enough time to read the entire science section and answer the questions, so you need to practice extremely brief skimming and then more in-depth reading as necessary to answer the questions. The reading/grammar sections are fairly similar on both tests, as far as I’m aware.
My advice is to take a monitored practice test of each sometime in sophomore or early junior year, and go with the one the student does better in or likes better. If the results are similar and the student has no preference, I tend to recommend the SAT because I find it very teachable and because of the Super Scoring aspect of it. Furthermore, if it’s a young student (sophomore or early junior), the SAT has the benefit of the PSAT and possibility of National Merit scholarships.
I’m super math oriented but I definitely prefer the SAT. This is mainly because I’m terrible at science. If math is your best, I would recommend SAT bc math is half of your score while on the ACT, math is a fourth of your score. I’ve noticed that the questions for the ACT reading are way easier than the questions on the SAT reading but the ACT is way too quick for me, so if you have time issues, go for the SAT. However, if you can speed up quickly, I would advise doing that and taking the ACT.