SAT vs ACT – Which One Should You Take?

The ACT and SAT college entrance exams have recently received a lot of attention. To start, last year the ACT surpassed the SAT in popularity (determined by number of students taking the exams) for the first time in either test’s history. Then the makers of both tests announced major changes on the horizon for SAT and ACT – everything to moving from paper-and-pencil to a digital test-taking format (ACT in 2015), to restructuring the scoring (SAT is moving from a 2400 score back to its old 1600 score in 2016), and entirely revamping content in some cases (getting rid of obscure vocabulary on the SAT for example). So why the major changes? Well with nearly ever college in the US and abroad accepting either the SAT or ACT exam scores for admittance, it will be important for the exams to remain relevant if they want to maintain (or gain!) market share with students. The good news is that this means students can be strategic in choosing which test to focus on to maximize score potential! Many students find that they fare better on one test versus the other, but how is a student to know which test is optimal for them? Let’s start with a breakdown of the current SAT and ACT structures:

• The ACT is an achievement test, measuring what a student has learned in school. The SAT is more of an aptitude test, testing reasoning and verbal abilities.
• The ACT has up to 5 components: English, Mathematics, Reading, Science, and an optional Writing Test. The SAT has only 3 components: Critical Reasoning, Mathematics, and a required Writing Test.
• SAT math covers arithmetic operations, algebra, geometry, statistics and probability; ACT math also covers trigonometry!
• A perfect score on the SAT is 2400 (this is a cumulative score, with a total possible score of 800 per category, critical reading, math and writing)
• A perfect score on the ACT is 36 (this is an average score, with a total possible score of 36 per category, English, math, reading, science and writing – the cumulative score is the average of all scores from each individual section)
• The SAT has a correction for guessing. That is, they take off for wrong answers. The ACT is scored based on the number of correct answers with no penalty for guessing.
• The timing of the ACT is more intense (more questions in less time) than the SAT.

Given these differences, here are a few things to think about when determining which test to take – what is the highest level of math you’ve completed in school? And how recently? Many juniors taking the tests for the first time are currently enrolled in Trigonometry at school. This means that the subject material is recent and fresh in your mind, which may help boost your math score on the ACT. If you haven’t taken Algebra or Geometry in a few years, it may mean more work to try to recall important concepts from these subjects.   Another major consideration should be how well you guess on tests. The SAT penalizes for incorrect responses by marking the score down, which means that if you’re not a strong guesser, you may do better on the ACT, which does not penalize for incorrect responses; the ACT score is based on the number of correct answers only. But the ACT is a test of endurance. It has more questions, to be answered in a shorter amount of time, than the SAT. So if you tend to struggle with test anxiety, or lose focus easily on longer tests, the SAT may be a better bet.   It probably comes as no surprise then that many students are taking both tests, multiple times, in order to yield the greatest results. The experts at Club Z! wholeheartedly support this strategy as well. In fact, Club Z! offers diagnostic tests for both the SAT and the ACT and encourages students to take both to get a feel for the format and types of questions on each exam, the subject matter tested, and the pacing of both tests. The Club Z! SAT and ACT diagnostic tests are available online and mimic the exams in terms of test format, difficulty and timing. The results of the diagnostic offer both a summary of student strengths and weaknesses, but also a projected score for the SAT or ACT. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses, and practicing for test day, are two proven strategies for success, particularly if you’re preparing for the year’s first tests (October 11th for the SAT and September 13th for the ACT). For more information on how you can prepare to do your best on these important exams, call Club Z! at 800-434-2582 today.