ACT and SAT
Planning for Colleges Admissions Testing: What Students and Their Families Need to Know about the ACT and the SAT
Championship long-distance runners have a saying: “the hay is in the barn.” It refers to the period in the training process for a race where all the hard workouts are in the rearview and it’s time to rest and recover in preparation for the big event. For high school seniors, this time of year brings a similar feeling. After years of hard work preparing for college—focusing on grades, standardized tests, applications, essays, scholarships, and more—graduation marks a finish line. The big event—college—is still coming (and soon!), but for now, it’s time to reflect on a job well done and enjoy some well-deserved rest and recovery.
If your student is a high school sophomore or junior, though, then the end of this particular school year is anything but a finish line. The hay is not in the barn just yet! It’s time to gear up, buckle down, and get to work on preparing for college. One of the first and most crucial steps of that process is college admissions testing.
Why Standardized College Admissions Tests Exist
You may wonder: “What’s the point of college admissions testing? Aren’t grades a good enough for colleges to judge students by?” Certainly, colleges will pay a lot of attention to factors like your student’s grades, class rank, and extracurriculars. But standardized tests are an important part of the college admissions equation because they are standardized. So many variables can impact a GPA, from the courses a student took to whether they had a few easy graders as teachers. With the SAT or ACT, colleges have a more universal barometer to compare students across the country. An ACT score of 28 in Michigan is the same as an ACT score of 28 in California.
For this reason, every student must take at least one standardized test if he or she is interested in pursuing college admission. This fact is common knowledge. What tends to be more confusing for students and their parents is the decision of whether to take the ACT, the SAT, or both.
The ACT or the SAT? What You Need to Know
Deciding which college test to take—or which one to focus most of your energy on—is one of the big challenges of the college planning process. Many parents assume that having their students take both tests is the best bet. That way, they’re prepared no matter what specific schools might be looking for. This strategy isn’t a bad one—especially if your student is a natural test taker. However, there can also be benefits to focusing on just one of the tests and taking it three or four times, rather than taking both tests just once or twice.
Most colleges do not have a preference for one test over the other. As far as admissions professionals are concerned, the SAT is just as good for assessing students as the ACT, and vice versa. The decision of which test to take, then, falls with the student and their family.
From an objective point of view, there is not an “easier” test between the ACT and the SAT. Both exams have their challenges. From an individual student’s point of view, however, it is entirely possible that one test will seem easier than the other. Each student brings a unique skillset to the table when it comes to standardized testing, and that skillset may prove to be better suited to one college admissions test than the other. A student whose skills align better with the ACT should focus on that test, as a means of putting his or her best foot forward with colleges. The same is true for students who excel with the format of the SAT.
At first glance, the ACT and the SAT look fairly similar. The ACT has an English section; the SAT has a Writing and Language section. Both tests have Math and Reading sections, as well as optional Essay sections (more on that later). The major difference, at least on the surface level, is that the ACT has a Science section and the SAT does not.
As you delve deeper into these exams, though, the differences come to light. For example, the ACT is known for being a time-intensive test. The four main sections break down to a 45-minute, 75-question English test; a 60-minute, 60-question Math section; a 35-minute, 40-question reading section; and a 35-minute, 40-question Science exam. The SAT, on the other hand, gives you 35 minutes for the 44-question Writing and Language section, 80 minutes for the 58-question math section, and 65 minutes for the 52-question Reading section. The optional essay section is also longer on the SAT: 50 minutes versus the 40 you get on the ACT. On average, students get 50 seconds per question on the ACT, compared to 70 seconds per question on the SAT.
Simply put, for a student to excel on the ACT, he or she needs to be fast: a fast test taker; a fast reader; a good time manager. If your student is someone who is typically one of the first three or four people to finish exams at school—and someone who still performs well on those tests—he or she will probably feel right at home with the ACT. Students who are a bit slower with tests, or who don’t read particularly quickly, might feel crunched by the time limitations of the ACT. Feeling stressed about time in a standardized test is no good, as it leads to rushing, guessing, sloppy work, and wrong answers. Students who typically need a bit more time on their exams, therefore, will likely do better on the SAT.
In fact, a slower and steadier approach is often a strength on the SAT, not a liability. The SAT reading sections are typically at a higher level than on the ACT, which means they demand a bit more processing and attention to detail. Students who are slow readers, but who really take the time to understand and digest the complexities of the material, will thrive here. The longer time period allotted for the SAT means it’s okay to take that extra time, but students who are naturally fast test takers may struggle to adapt their strategies to take advantage of the additional 20 second per question.
The other differences in the tests are worth considering, too. For instance, if your student loves science, he or she should absolutely take the ACT at least once. While the ACT Science section is technically more of a science-based reading section than it is a test of knowledge on biology, chemistry, and physics, it still favors those who are passionate about these subjects. The section is all about interpreting data and drawing conclusions about findings and trends. Students who love their science classes at school are probably already used to that kind of deductive reasoning, which means they will feel right at home on this section. Students who are less passionate about science might prioritize the SAT.
Finally, consider the math sections. First of all, the ACT Math segment allows students to use calculators all the way through, while the SAT Math section incorporates both calculator and non-calculator parts. The non-calculator questions aren’t meant to be impossible, and are certainly simple enough to do by hand. Still, they favor students who are good at mental math and aren’t afraid to step away from their calculators. The ACT math test is also 100 percent multiple choice, while the SAT math test is 20 percent fill-in-the-blanks. Bottom line, students who have a knack for math have an advantage on the SAT, just as students who love science have a leg up on the ACT.
Some students will know right away which test sounds easier, just from looking at these points of difference. Others won’t be so sure. Either way, students can benefit from taking a practice version of both tests and seeing how they perform. There’s a difference between reading about the format of each test and actually experiencing it firsthand. Practice tests (and practice test scores) provide a helpful barometer for picking a college standardized test.
At Right Path College and Career Planning, we’re also happy to help students and their families make the choice between the ACT and SAT. By talking with your student and helping them analyze their strengths and weaknesses, we can get a sense of which test would likely be better for them. We also provide ACT and SAT test prep in Traverse City, Michigan, depending on which test your student chooses as a point of focus. In any case, we’re here to help your student start putting the “hay in the barn,” so that their college plans are all set when graduation rolls around in a year or two. Contact us today to learn more, or to schedule a consultation at one of our two locations.
A Few Final Points
Before you go, consider these final points:
You don’t need to take both tests: If your student is a strong test taker, then there isn’t really a downside to him or her taking both the ACT and the SAT. There are some schools—mostly in the Ivy League—that will want to see scores for both tests. For students who struggle with testing, though, it can be more productive to focus on one test. That way, the student isn’t splitting his or her study and test prep time.
You can take each test multiple times: Taking the ACT and SAT multiple times each is fine, and is a good idea for students who don’t hit their target score the first time out. Students typically do better as they become more familiar and comfortable with the format of each test. It’s perfectly within the realm of possibility for a student who gets a 26 on the ACT the first time to get a 28 the second time and a 30 the third time. A student can take the SAT as many times as they want, though note that only the six most recent attempts will stay on file. The ACT is a bit more limited: a student can only take that exam a maximum of 12 times. Generally speaking, 2-4 attempts is the sweet spot for both tests, depending on initial scores, college goals, available test dates, and budget.
Students may have an opportunity to take one college admissions test in school: Most of the time, a student will need to find an SAT and ACT test date near them, sign up for it online, and pay the fee for the exam. In some cases, though, students will have the chance to take one exam in school, paid for by their school district. For instance, in Michigan, all juniors take a standardized high school exam that includes the SAT.
A note on the PSAT: The PSAT, or the “Preliminary SAT,” is not required for any college admissions purposes. However, the PSAT—also known as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT)—is required for students interested in pursuing National Merit Scholarships. Scores from this test determine who is eligible to proceed in the National Merit Scholarship Program, which honors the top students in the nation and awards roughly $35 million in scholarships each year.
A note on the optional writing sections: Most schools don’t require scores from the writing sections on either the ACT or the SAT. As such, students who are not confident writers may do well to avoid this part of the test. On the other hand, it’s not a bad idea for your student to try the writing section on their preferred test at least once. The last thing any student wants is to find out late in the game that one of the schools they want to apply to does, in fact, require an ACT or SAT writing score. Additionally, writing is one of the most important skills students will use in college, and comes into play in virtually all career paths. Using SAT and ACT prep as an opportunity to practice an hone writing skills is a good choice for any student.