Why is the SAT so much more popular then the ACT?

Test Preparation
1

<p>I feel that the ACT is so much easier then the SAT because it's like the same material they teach in school, so why is the SAT so much popular?</p>

2

<p>There is no answer to that question. For one the SAT is not more popular in the midwest, only really on the East and West coast.</p>

<p>Check this graph. </p>

<p>[File:SAT-ACT</a> Preference Map.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SAT-ACT_Preference_Map.svg]File:SAT-ACT”>File:SAT-ACT Preference Map.svg - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>Other reasons for popularity are due to demographic and historical reasons. The SAT has been around longer, your parents have taken the SAT but not the SAT, and some high schools mandate the SAT but not the ACT.</p>

<p>However, statistically speaking the amount of people taking the ACT last year rose 7% while the number of those taking the SAT only rose 2%.</p>

<p>The ACT is by no means easier than the SAT, that is completely subjective.</p>

<p>Without much prep for either test I got a 2130 on the SAT and a 30 on the ACT. I actually found the ACT more difficult to the fact that, while I knew how to do every question, time constraints were a hindrance. </p>

<p>To each his or her own.</p>

3

<p>I live in Chicago, and unless you’re trying to go out West or get into Ivies, no one takes the SAT.</p>

4

<p>I think I may take the SAT, as it’s known some do better on one test than the other. Seems like I’m backwards with things on the ACT, and probably should see to taking the SAT.</p>

5

<p>At sons’ private school in St. Louis, SAT is taken by 80% of the class, ACT by 20% and both by 50%.</p>

6

<p>For 2008, 1,518,859 students took the SAT. 1,421,941 students took the ACT. Thus, by the only objective measure of popularity that I can think of, the SAT is a mere 9% “more popular.” All colleges and universities in the country now explicitly state that they have no preference whatsoever between the two tests, so that metric is unavailing.</p>

<p>Moreover, the score distribution (the bell curve) is essentially identical between the two tests. Thus, unless someone wants to make the rather astounding argument that there is a compelling difference in ability as between the two groups taking the tests (an especially difficult argument, given the millions of students that take each test), there is also no objective evidence that either test is “easier” (or harder) than the other.</p>

<p>As so often needs to be said here, the plural of anecdote is not data.</p>

7

<p>The SAT tests intelligence; the ACT does not.</p>

<p>I have heard from a former admissions director at a top tier university and has told me their is a silent preference towards the SAT, especially for Ivy League Schools</p>

<p>Of course no school would officially admit this as it would be disadvantageous for public relations.</p>

8

<p>^ The Ivies and most other East Coast schools as well as most West Coast schools have historically relied more on the SAT. Most are now equally comfortable with the ACT, as they must be if they want a geographically representative student body because the ACT is the dominant test in about half the country. There may be a few laggards (or retirees) who retain a “silent preference” for the SAT. But the trend is certainly in the direction of equal acceptance.</p>

<p>In the Midwest, the ACT has long been the dominant test. Very few students in this part of the country take the SAT, and most schools here have historically relied on the ACT, though all now accept either test. There may still be a few holdovers here who retain a “silent preference” for the ACT, but they’re a dying breed.</p>

<p>The old idea that SAT measures “intelligence” or “aptitude” while ACT measures academic “achievement” has also broken down, partly because the College Board which produces the SAT has decided it must make the SAT more ACT-like in order to retain market share. The College Board no longer calls the SAT an “aptitude” test, as in “Scholastic Aptitude Test”—the original name of the test. Now it’s just “SAT,” a purely self-referential name for the test. And the College Board no longer claims the SAT measures “intelligence” or “aptitude”; instead they say the SAT “tests students’ knowledge of subjects that are necessary for college success” and “assesses the critical thinking skills students need for academic success in college–skills that students learned in high school.” Sounds a lot like an “achievement” test to me.</p>

9

<p>Your post offers just another anecdote, IntelliGator. Do you really believe there is a “silent preference” within the admissions offices of top tier universities, notwithstanding that they all explicitly tell the world that they have no preference? Do you really believe they are that cynical? Is this a silent plot to subtly prefer coastal kids over the kids from flyover country at top universities? </p>

<p>Sometimes I’m amazed by the prejudices that intelligent people will hold on to in the face of compelling evidence to the contrary. And not just evidence, but reason. What motive could the colleges realistically have for saying they have no preference but in fact having one? It makes no sense that they would act that way.</p>

<p>I have no dog in this fight; my kids have done very well on both tests. I just find this old wives’ tale very irritating when I read it here. And while I’ve had the wherewithal to allow my kids to take both tests, many families do not; it would be a shame if they would fear that they were choosing wrong because there might be a “silent preference.”</p>