currently a sophomore, and do not really have a clue on what i should prepare for and take. Id love if someone could draw up some pros and cons on each one. thatd be very helpful
ACT: Very interpretation-based; higher level math (aka it has trigonometry and matrices); weird science section; essay is less abstract; more of a time crunch (=how well you can do when pressed for time on a not-very-hard test).
SAT: More analysis-based; vocab section (okay if you read a lot though); abstract essay; not very much of a time crunch (=how well you analyze a text); easy math section
New SAT: Weird analysis; math section with lots of statistics/interpretation; less vocab; you can only use a graphing calculator for part of the math section; evidence-based essay; nobody really knows exactly how it’s going to work yet.
If I were you, I’d stick with either the ACT or the old SAT, as they are better-established and the new SAT is kind of… weird…
Take some practice tests and see which one you’re more comfortable with/do better on. For some people it’s the ACT, for some it’s the SAT.