<p>I was planning on taking the SAT in May of this year and the ACT in June of this year to boost my college chances; however my parents think that taking the ACT in addition to the SAT is a waste of time since "it's a separate exam" and I should just take the SAT twice. Any advice on this?</p>
<p>You have nothing to lose by taking both the ACT and SAT. DD took both and performed much better on the ACT taking it cold. Got into her ED school in December. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>It can’t hurt.</p>
<p>Yes because you may be better at one than the other.</p>
<p>Yeah, you should take both if you can. They vary greatly. In short, the ACT has math, science, english, and reading, and it gives you less time. The essays are easier to write for me though because the topics are less vague than those of the SAT. The SAT gives you more time, which is a bonus for slower workers. It’s also easier to prepare for the SAT because of a greater variety of apps (such as SAT QOTD and SAT UP). If you prepare a lot, you end up not wasting time reading the directions on the real test, and it actually saves time. Taking the time to get used to the format of the tests is important though, so make sure you study well for both by taking practice tests (blue book for SAT and red book for ACT).</p>