<p>At least from what I've seen here and at my high school, everyone seems to be opting for the ACT. Kids who couldn't break 2000 on the SAT are getting ~30+ on the ACT. And I hear that such scores are better than say, 2100s on the SAT.</p>
<p>So I'm wondering--will universities consider the fact that the SAT may be the harder test? I made the mistake of not taking the ACT and I got a 2150 on the SAT. I spent so much time studying for the SAT to the point that the ACT seemed like a waste of time. I'm worried that I'm at a serious disadvantage because of this.</p>
<p>But I also wonder--if kids are scoring higher on the ACT, won't a 32 on it drop in its value? Or is that little conversion scale from SAT to ACT static--no considerations will be made for the kids who got their ass whooped on the SAT and had a subpar score while the students who got 33+ on what's considered an "easier test" will be valued more?</p>
<p>I mean, they've also gotta consider that the SAT is a pretty flawed test. It's going through a renovation for a reason.</p>
<p>I'm just worried that students who've taken the ACT have an upper-hand against students who've only taken the SAT.</p>
<p>In statistics, one learns that to get accurate comparisons of the same tests done by tens of thousands, you must either compare the results of all test takers or, alternatively, compare a sufficiently large, randomly selective group from the whole, and not focus on one small group that you may surmise means something. Your belief that most do better on the ACT than the SAT is incorrect. The hearsay evidence you are getting on some test takers in your high score does not establish what actually occurs among all test takers even if what you are hearing could itself be validated as accurate. The reality is that majority actually score in the same percentile range on both and the percentage that score higher on the ACT than the SAT is about the same as the percentage who score higher on the SAT than the ACT. In other words, universities do not consider that some in your high school might have done better on the ACT than the SAT.</p>
<p>My son took both and did well on both, but definately did better on ACT and thought it was easier. They are totally different. One(SAT) is theoretical in many senses, the other is (ACT) is academically based. </p>
<p>I see. Yeah, it makes sense, especially since the ACT has been pretty well-established for some time now. There really won’t be this random discrepancy in the stats, huh?</p>
<p>@ZBD5421 </p>
<p>Yeah that’s odd because I like those theoretical-type answers that you need to think outside of the box a little to solve. And I couldn’t break past 2100. Ugh. I blame the scaling… and me. Ah, well.</p>
<p>SAT is more logic based and ACT is more knowledge based. Which is why hardworkers tend to score higher on the ACT. You can be lazy but smart and have a good score on the SAT, and some people, no matter how hard they work will always suck at it. The ACT is easier for the averagely gifted hard working high school kid, just my opinion.</p>
<p>Yeah, I definitely found the ACT to yield better results, but one wasn’t noticeably harder than the other. The main difference is probably the fact that the ACT has a science section and its reading comprehension is significantly more annoying than SAT CR.</p>