What's the likelihood to increase about the same number of points for both SAT and ACT?

Test Preparation
1

I would like some recommendations on which type of test I should study for to have better chance of increasing the the most points. These are my recent practice tests that I took for ACT and PSAT.

PSAT Math: 760, EBRW: 690
Reading 43/47
Writing and Language 38/44
Math (no calculator) 16/17
Math (with calculator) 31/31

ACT composite score 33
English 70/75 =>34
Math. 52/60 => 31
Reading 37/40 =33
Science 37/40 = 32

Ideally, I would like to get at least 35 on ACT or SAT about 1560.

2

Did you really take a practice PSAT, or was it an SAT? PSAT Max score is 1520, 760 each section, so if you did take a practice PSAT that 1450 out of 1520 is a higher score than the ACT 33.

If you actually took a practice SAT, the 1450 is equivalent to the ACT 33. But your math SAT is much higher than your math ACT…so it seems the SAT may be more suited to you.

3

Your ACT composite is actually 32.5, rounded up to 33 for reporting. To raise it to a 34, you need to increase it by 4 net section points (to get to 33.5, rounded up to 34). To get a super score of 34, you need to get 4 more section points (disregarding losses).

4

It was a practice PSAT using PSAT scoring system. So a 1450 PSAT would equal to what score in SAT?

5

1450 PSAT concords to a 34 ACT. You might find this article helpful: Using PSAT Scores to Compare SAT and ACT - Compass Education Group

6

I’m sorry, could you explain the net points gain more plainly? I’m don’t really understand what you said.

7

Your section scores are 34, 31, 33, 32 which totals to 130 which averages to 32.5 which rounds up to 33.

4 net section points means getting 4 more points across the sections (net of losses) to get to a total of 134 which averages to 33.5 which rounds up to 34. For example, the following sets of section scores would do that:

  • 35, 32, 34, 33 (+1 on each section → net +4)
  • 34, 36, 32, 32 (+5 on one section, -1 on a different section → net +4)

To achieve a super score of 34, gaining 4 more points ignoring losses would do it. For example, the following would do it:

  • 32, 33, 31, 34 (+2 on each of two sections, -2 on the two other sections, gives a super score of 34, 33, 33, 34)
8

It is very easy to get the ACT science score up. All you have to do is take a bunch of science practice sections (easily accessed either by buying The Official Guide to the ACT, any recent year - they only seem to change one of the tests in the book annually), or looking on Reddit for legally released ACTs and printing them out. The idea is to familiarize yourself with the ways in which they present data.

A 1450 PSAT equates to a 1510 SAT. But the ACT is reputed to be easier on the English/Reading side, than the SAT. A lot of non-native speakers of English choose the ACT for this reason. I think that taking a few practice ACTs to diagnose and correct your likely minor grammar/punctuation issues, and to help to train you on how to choose the more correct answer, could easily get your English/Reading scores up.

In terms of math, the biggest issue on the ACT is time pressure. No matter how much my kid, who had gotten through honors pre-calc before taking it, self-prepped for it, they said that they would run out of time, and didn’t know how to do the last few questions. Later on, after they’d had a couple of months in Calc BC, they said that if they’d had the Calc BC before taking the test, they would have been able to get a better score in math. As it was, they got a 34 in math, 36 on the other three. The science 36 was all from just having done a few practice tests. The English/reading was mostly from simply having been a reader, and having grown up in a household with educated native speakers of correct, high level English, but doing the practice tests did fix a few minor punctuation issues.

Overall, I get the impression that your math is a bit stronger than your English. As I said, it’s easy to fix science. English on the ACT is easier than on the SAT. With math, the issue is mostly speed. Overall, I think that you’d have an easier time getting to a 35 on the ACT than a 1560 on the SAT, but with you not having taken an actual diagnostic SAT, harder to say, based only on the extrapolation from the PSAT. I’d advise you to take a diagnostic at-home SAT under timed conditions, and make a decision based upon that.

9

Thanks for all the previous comments.

I took a SAT practice test #8 today to compare to my practice ACT test. Here’s what I have:

Reading: missed 5,
Writing Language: missed 4
Math No calculator: Got all correct
Math with calculator: missed 3

Reading and Writing score: 710
Math Section score: 790 (if I had missed 2 I would have gotten 800)

ACT practice test (April 2022 form E25) composite score 33
English 70/75 =>34
Math. 52/60 => 31
Reading 37/40 =33
Science 37/40 = 32

So when you compare the ACT vs SAT using the concordance chart, this is what it looks like:

compare ACT Math to SAT MATH: ACT 31 (SAT 710 equivalent) but my practice SAT is 790.
compare ACT English+Reading to SAT ERW: ACT 34+33=67 or SAT 720 equivalent, which is similar to my practice SAT of 710.

My goal is to reach close to 36 equivalent for SAT or 36 for ACT.

Question 1: Would I need to reach 1590 on SAT to look as good as someone with ACT 36? Or would reaching 1570 be enough?

Question 2: If I need to reach SAT 1590 to look as good as ACT 36, then which one would be easier to obtain with my summer prepping?

Question 3: If 1570 is enough, then I should just prep for SAT?

10

Probably depends on the college.

  • No difference between 1570, 1590, 36: test blind colleges, colleges where you are a certain admit or reject with any of these test scores, or where test scores do not matter beyond a threshold value which these scores exceed.
  • No or minimal difference between 1570, 1590, 36: probably most colleges with holistic admissions.
  • Minor difference between 1570, 1590, 36: colleges with point systems where scores are added to the formula.
  • Significant difference between 1570, 1590, 36: the top scholarships at University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa (Presidential Elite) and Huntsville (Presidential).
11

I took a SAT practice test #8 yesterday. Here are the results:

Reading: missed 5,
Writing Language: missed 4
Math No calculator: Got all correct
Math with calculator: missed 3

Reading and Writing score: 710
Math Section score: 790 (if I had missed 2 I would have gotten 800)

ACT practice test (April 2022 form E25) composite score 33
English 70/75 =>34
Math. 52/60 => 31
Reading 37/40 =33
Science 37/40 = 32

Do you still think I should go with SAT or ACT?

Or should I try to take both?

Any disadvantage for taking both since some schools will look at all of my scores?

12

Huh, they look like mirror images. You ace the math section of the SAT, and do great, but not amazing on the vernal, while for the ACT you de excellent on English, great on Reading and Science, and great, but not amazing on Math.

You obviously have mastery of the material, so I really think that it is all about practicing the test. Somebody else may have other advice, but I would recommend that you go for the SAT, and do a whole bunch of practice tests, with a particular focus on Reading and Writing. Not on understanding the material, but on understanding the questions and how to answer them.

Others may have recommendations for the ACT - that seems to be @parentologist’s recommendation. They make great points too, so think what will work for you.