I am positive this has been discussed on the board before, however you are not allowed to search for three letter terms! Gak!
Anyways, I am more of a hands on person and I have had a hard time on the SAT pretest. Everyone tells me its not knowing the material its knowing how to take the test. Is the ACT like this as well?
Im just wondering what the main differences are between the two tests before I pick one to study exclusively for.
Thanks If you happen to know about the meyers-briggs psychological type test, I am an ISTP, and my type, as well as having the lowest college entrance percentage (we go off and become mechanics etc…), also sucks on tests so i’m trying to get a heads up
I took them quite a few years ago :o But the SAT has Math and Verbal sections, and the ACT has 4 IIRC.
If you are going to prepare for one, I would suggest the SAT. It is much more straightforward to prepare for in that you are not tested as much on reading comprehension, science knowledge, etc. It is mainly math and vocabulary.
Again it’s been a while since I’ve had them, and I’m sure they’ve changed, but that is how I remember it. My “adjusted” score on the ACT (based on SAT score) was quite a bit higher than my ACT score, and I actively prepared for both.
In my experience, which one you prepare for and take should be determined by which one the college you want to go to prefers. I’ve never heard of anyone doing significantly better on one than the other, and while I’m sure it happens, I don’t think it’s something that’s easy to predict.
I vote for taking them both. It might be easier to study for the SAT, but you might surprise yourself on the ACT. I did well enough on the science and reading sections that my ACT adjusted score was a lot higher than my SAT score.
Also, you might want to take the SAT multiple times. IIRC, you can combine scores from different tests. I had a friend who got a 1600 this way.
I found the ACT to be much easier. I found the math to be more straightforward and less of the “Which is a higher number…ten to some goofy power or 1/10 to the 1/1000 power times 1000” type questions.
I think I can suggest that you buy (or check out from your library) actual copies of older SAT and ACT tests. They’re a more accurate way to judge how you’ll do as opposed to commercial test preparation books which use simulated tests.
I’ll second this. In my experience, some colleges require the SAT but not the ACT, some require both, and some require your choice of either, but I don’t recall any that require only the ACT. Also, you may well be applying to multiple colleges, so you may end up having to take both to satisfy all of the schools you’re applying to. If the cost to take both tests is prohibitive (you don’t have to tell us if this is a problem), then you might talk to your school’s guidance counsellor: There may be options available to defray the cost.
There are other differences in the format, by the way. For instance, on the ACT, there’s no penalty for guessing, such that if, with a minute left, you just go down the column and fill in “c” for everything, you’re guaranteed to be better off than if you left them blank. But on the SAT, a wrong answer counts as a little bit worse than no answer at all, so a purely random guess will on average do nothing to your score, compared to leaving the answer blank (but it will take more time). On the other hand, even on the SAT, if you have a hunch, or if you can eliminate one or more answer choices, then your odds improve, and it’s probably in your favor to guess.
The ACT is more of an achievement test while the SAT is an aptitude test, inteded to predict college success. I recommend taking both; some people prefer one over the other. Do take standardized testing seriously…unlike me. Good Luck!
