<p>Oh, knowledgeable ones!
I am wondering if anyone here can speak to the relatives merits of the SAT and ACT in regards especially to the math portion of the test. My D's math tutor once commented that he thought that the math portion of the ACT was a much more straightforward test than the math portion of the SAT. I would love to hear the opinions of those who have taken both, or who have worked with both.
Thanks,
L</p>
<p>I think that the ACT is very easy to prepare for. I never took the SAT, but my experience was that if you have the princeton review book and take some practice tests, you can easily get a very good score (30+)</p>
<p>Thanks, ungst. Do any students ever take both? I took a look at the ACT online (sample questions) and they seem much more straightforward in many ways than do the SAT samples.</p>
<p>Yes they take both. Some kids do better in one than the other. My D did better in the ACT. I have a friend whose daughter was better at the SAT. Strangely my daughters strongest section in the ACT was her weakest in the SAT. Most kids say the ACT questions are sometimes easier but the time constraints can be a killer. I would suggest taking both and seeing which she does better in. Of course you also need to make sure the school she is interested in does not have a particular requirement. The math in ACT is mostly through Algebra 2 with about 3 questions in trig. So timing of the test makes a difference. My D did geometry a long time ago so usually scores her worst on that though she is Calc now.</p>
<p>Thanks, swimcatsmom. My D is a high school jr and does very well in her hs classes, but has always been less-than-confident in math. (Hence, the tutor.) Her PSATs were very strong in CR and writing but not as strong in math. She plans to earn a BFA in acting/musical theater so it is unlikely that she will have to take much, if any, math when she gets to college, but she does have to get good scores on these standardized tests in order to get <em>into</em> the colleges she is considering. (Most of the best schools she is interested in have an academic "bar" that kids must get across before they go onto the next hurdle, which is the audition.) Swimcatsmom, did your D take both the SAT and the ACT more than once, or did she just take each one time?</p>
<p>My d took both as well, and came out about even. Good scores on both, so she only took each one once. Sent both to all her colleges. My d preferred the SAT format to the ACT format - hated the science section, which apparently hits a lot of kids. It's really a misnomer, since it seems to test the ability to read graphs and charts rather than real "science." If your D isn't good at those, she may ultimately regret taking the ACT. But since it has score choice, if she takes it more than once she gets to decide which score goes to schools. With the SAT, all of them go.</p>
<p>She took the SAT twice but only because her high school requires her to take it once in Junior year and once in senior year. She does not need it for any schools she is applying to. She took the ACT once in 10th grade as she needed it to apply to the high school she is at. She has high enough for her college and the honor program but has taken it a couple more times and is scheduled to take it again to try and get it a little higher for a scholarship she is after. I would recommend you buy your daughter a couple of prep books and have her practice practice practice. Most of the posts on the ACT forum the kids recommend the Princeton review for test taking tips and the Real ACT (put out by the ACT people) for real tests. Plus do a couple of the practice tests timed as timing is tough.</p>
<p>I was able to raise my score with the Princeton Review Class and the Premium level Private Tutor (which ended up costing my parents $3000 total) as well as doing just about every test on the CB online course as well as blue book, from a 1920-2320 (single sitting). Since I took the SAT three times, I was able to achieve a best COMPOSITE of a 2400 (800 Math first and second times, 800 Writing second and third times, 800 Critical reading third time). I HIGHLY recommend springing for the premium tutor if it is at all feasible in your budget. No one around here takes the ACT (Florida) and I really like the format of the SAT (and I also don't mind the length too much either). Though my kind of score increase came with an EXTREME amount of hard work, a significant score increase should be well in range for everyone (though not always a 2400, usually not even a 2200, but there is still room for large improvement).</p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>P.S. You can go without the classroom course and get the tutor and still do just as well. But the reverse I would not recommend, get the PREMIUM tutor (all the rest don't need to know much to be tutoring, the Premium Tutors know what they are talking about and I think have to score above a 2300 to be able to tutor).</p>
<p>I have taken the ACT 3 times and the SAT once. I took the ACT in 8th, 9th, and 10th grades and my highest score was a 31. Heres the biggest difference for me: TIME. I think switching from the ACT format to the SAT is a huge advantage. Why? Well on the ACT there are only 4 sections (5 w/ writing). Therefore you do all of the work for a particular subject at once. Since you are going for an hour straight on some sections and 40 - 45 minutes on others, your brain gets deep-fried fast (at least mine does). When I switched to the SAT, I was surprised by the amount of time I had. For example the ACT math is 60 questions in 1 hour. SAT is 20 questions in 24 minutes. Believe me that extra four minutes is HUGE. Normally I barely scrape through the ACT math, but i finish with 5 minutes to spare on the SAT sections, which gives me time to go back to questions that I wasn't so confident on my first swipe through.</p>
<p>So the difference for me is TIME. I think that the questions are relatively similar, maybe a little harder overall on the SAT (verbal especially). Also, I hate the science on the ACT so thats another difference for me.</p>
<p>My math was a lot better on the SAT than the ACT. (660 and 22)
While I would definitely agree that the ACT's questions are more straightforward, the ACT also tests harder math, and the timing is much harder.
60 questions in 60 minutes was a little too fast for me. I also like having the math split up like on the SAT.</p>
<p>There were two major differences for me.</p>
<p>1) Time. IMO, the actual ACT questions are easier than the SAT questions. So the balancing factor is time. On the ACT, you have less time to answer easier questions. On the SAT, you'll have (a lot) more time to answer more difficult questions. That's what I thought, anyway.</p>
<p>2) Science section. This could either help you or hurt you. It hurt me. I didn't take any practice tests, and I had no idea what to expect. I would definitely recommend prepping for this section if you're new to the ACT.</p>
<h2>Other notes</h2>
<ul>
<li><p>I think the ACT English section is comparable to the SAT Writing section. I got a 35 on the ACT English, 780 on the SAT Writing. Some people think the English is easier, but I found them to be about the same.</p></li>
<li><p>I thought the ACT Reading was tougher than the SAT Critical Reading. Again, though, this was mostly because of the time allowed.</p></li>
<li><p>The ACT Math was pretty basic, with a few tough questions. SAT Math was a little more difficult throughout, but overall not too tough. If you're not great at math, watch out for the tricks that both tests throw in. (ex. They might ask for 2x, and not x.)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I took both. I like the SAT more because it doesn't have a science section.</p>
<p>I think the math sections were comparable, though getting only one question wrong on the SAT in math can bring you down to a 770.</p>
<p>Writing was comparable, reading for the SAT was apparently harder...?</p>
<p>It's nice for the SAT that you write the essay first, so that you're not brain dead by the time you write it, as you are for the ACT. I also find the SAT prompts more interesting than the ACT.</p>