<p>My daughter, a Junior, is a great student (one B in Honors Algebra II, otherwise As in Honors and AP classes), an amazing musician, but not a great standardized test taker. Her scores are respectable, but not outstanding. She got a 28 on the ACT in Sept (up from a 26 last Feb), and just received a 181 on the PSAT (up from 175 as a sophomore), which puts her at the 91st% and 89th% respectively. In other words, pretty similar. Her reading scores tend to be a strength, her ACT science is definitely her weakness. </p>
<p>So, we're wondering, if we do some private tutoring for one test or the other, which test should be our focus? Presumably, tutoring for one test may still help scores on the other, but I know they'll give her strategies specific to the test to help her. My gut feeling is that the ACT may be an easier score to raise than the SAT?</p>
<p>I agree with your assessment. Your daughter’s ACT and PSAT scores are quite similar (if you convert the PSAT to an SAT-equivalent score by adding a zero).</p>
<p>If I were your daughter’s tutor, I’d have her take a full-length SAT diagnostic test, compare the SAT score to her best official ACT score, and then go from there. I would certainly ask your daughter which test she felt more comfortable taking. How much a student “likes” the test will affect how much “fun” the student will have prepping for the test. The more “fun” the student has, the harder she’ll work. Hard work = significant score improvement. It’s that simple.</p>
<p>It’s not unheard of for a student scoring in the 27-28 range to improve significantly on the ACT…with fairly minimal prep. I’ve brought bright, motivated students up from a 25 to the 31-33 range in only a few sessions. Get a good tutor, and make sure that your daughter really wants to put in the work. Good luck.</p>
<p>My first SAT, I had a 1750. I went up to a 2090 after getting a tutor, so it definitely helps. It helps the best to take the test over and over. As for choosing between the ACT and SAT, some people are just better at the straight-forward ACT rather than the more analytical SAT.</p>