<p>SAT
March: 1900 CR-560 M-670 W-670
June: Guessing ~2000 CR-600 M-670 W-730</p>
<p>Strengths: Writing </p>
<p>My main problem is the trickiness of the SAT on math and passage based questions. With practice, I'm sure I could improve, it's just I find very little room for improvement on the math. I finish writing and critical reading with just enough time, and on math I usually run out and leave 1 or 2 blank on each section. </p>
<p>ACT
June: Guessing ~29 E-33 M-29 R-27 S-28</p>
<p>Strengths: English, Science</p>
<p>I have one problem on the ACT: time management. The only section I finish on time is English. Other than that, I skip about 8 on math, 6 on reading, and 6 on science. When I do notice I'm running out of time, I panic and start to jump around to random questions, causing me to do very badly. I could easily get a 34+ with unlimited time because I am confident that I am capable of getting almost all of the questions correct. </p>
<p>So, which should I focus on? Is it easier to learn the tricks of the SAT or learn to work more quickly on the ACT? Thanks in advance</p>
<p>I would do the ACT. For me, I can’t stand the SAT because of the guessing penalty. I have a obsession in my head that if I have a chance to get a perfect score, then I have to try, and that means only leaving 1 question at the most blank on each section of the test for the SAT. So I’ll get a 50% shot at some questions that I can narrow down to two, and with my luck I get it wrong. What should’ve been a 680 CR for me(as I assume) became a 620 because I had 14 wrong 
ACT I don’t have to worry about that and can freely answer the questions. And honestly, the time constraint isn’t that bad if you practice an pace yourself well. Don’t use your calculator on every math problem, as that wastes time on some problems that you can’t afford to waste time on. As for the reading, if you are spending a lot of time searching for the answer, skip it and then come back. Same idea for science. Pacing is the key! :)</p>
<p>Thanks so much! I was just worried because I’ve always been a slow tester, but I guess I could probably overcome it with practice</p>
<p>If you are slow, work on the SAT. If I were you, I’d try to bring those Math and Writing scores up to 800. Critical Reading is an entirely different story. It’s really something that takes a long time to prepare for. I’ve never taken the SAT, but I do have a prep book I stole from my friend’s sister, and have completed a few of the tests throughout the school year thus far. My average composite has gone up from about 2000 to around 2300. (I can’t prefect that stubborn CR.)</p>
<p>However, if you think you are willing to study for hours on end, then the ACT may be the better choice. My first ACT practice test was like a 29 or 30. However, after about 15 practice tests and and learning as much as I possibly could about the test and what it covers, I was able to get 35,36,36,36 composite scores respectively on my final 4 practice tests. What’s upsetting is that I couldn’t use my stopwatch on the real ACT yesterday because it had a beep so I screwed up the science section and probably got a 34 or 35 composite -.- .</p>
<p>But yeah, you get the point. Studying for ACT=Great Score
Studying for SAT=Better Score than currently</p>
<p>Is it too much to simply study for both? I had a bad result after studying pretty heavily for my SAT IIs (Bio 670, Math II 620) and was thinking that I’d submit my ACT scores in addition to my SAT scores to get out of sending my SAT IIs. </p>
<p>I know that getting my writing to 800 would be no problem, and with a lot of math studying hopefully I could get it to about 750+ too. Critical Reading also could probably increase to about 690+ after I study Direct Hits (my worst section is sentence completions)</p>
<p>And since I have all summer to practice, I have no problem with doing 10+ ACT practice tests. It’s just that I’m not sure I can overcome all of the issues I have with pacing. Also- if I do screw up even a little bit on my next ACT, it will be downhill from there… On Saturday, after completely blowing the reading section due to time, I had the strongest desire to just quit on the science section, even though it’s my best…</p>
<p>The thing about preparing for both is that u can’t really practice both at the same time becuz they are different styles in their forms. I would do ACT becuz you can easily learn how to do the different sections of the test.</p>
<p>I would think about which school would be receiving the scores. I know for sure that some schools prefer SAT scores than ACT scores. I know I’m trying to improve my SAT scores, because the schools I’m trying to get admitted to prefers SAT rather than ACT (although officially, they don’t say that)</p>