One of my go-to quips in life as I stand dumbfounded in the grocery store aisle trying to pick out a single item is, “If you don’t want that many choices, go to Cuba!” True, choices are good, but they do cost us the effort of choosing. As if the college application process isn’t complicated enough, now we find there are two admission tests. ACT and SAT? How do I decide?
If you are one of the “lucky” graduates, your top school choices will be the rarity to require one over the other. For the rest of us, the first-world struggle continues. If two exist, one has to be better than the other, right? Take comfort. While it is true that there are subtle, structural differences which means theoretically there could be different outcomes, statistically if you score X on one you will score Y on the other. Ever notice that schools publish score ranges for both tests? Ever wonder how they determine those ranges? Those are the X and Y from studies the ACT and SAT creators collaborated on several years ago. Schools compare to their tables to get an ACT equivalent of any SAT, and vice-versa.
Ah, but that comparison is only for the majority of students, not the entirety. Maybe you are a student who will beat the odds and be stronger on one, so here are some differences to consider. First, the format for the English (SAT Writing) and Reading sections are very similar but with a marked difference in pacing, especially for Reading. The ACT provides about 7 minutes per passage compared to SAT’s nearly 11 minutes. To compensate, the overall ACT Reading difficulty level is lower, meaning they ask a higher percentage of the easier question types. The question types are the same on both; it’s just that ACT focuses on processing speed while SAT tests more depth of comprehension.
The same theme applies to Math: ACT is perhaps slightly easier (eye of the beholder caveats apply) but definitely quicker, one minute per question vs 1:23. Also, some students may cringe at the SAT’s ‘No Calculator’ torture gauntlet of 20 questions (smiley face).
Finally, ACT has a dedicated Science section, which fortunately is not about science facts; it is about reading tables and charts, and following the logic of the experiment. SAT scatters charts throughout the other sections.
So, can you tell from those differences if you’ll score “higher” on one versus the other? If you don’t care and just want to take both, go ahead and send all scores. Conveniently, schools typically do the comparison for you and just consider your strongest. However, if you absolutely must choose today, use your personal preference of quicker and easier, or slower and tougher. But if you have time to prepare, there’s a better way. Take one of each and compare. Seriously, it’s that simple, and you can do it for free. Shut yourself in a quiet room for about 3 hours on different days — Saturday and Sunday are great — treating each practice test like a dress rehearsal. Use page 7 of the Concordance Tables linked below to see if either is stronger. If you try this approach, just make sure the two sessions are close together, are in as similar of conditions as feasible, and that you DO NO PREP in between. Don’t grade the first and try to correct mistakes before the second. That’s not the point. The point is to see if you have a natural affinity towards one. No matter the outcome, you can save the time and effort of studying for two tests. Either you’re strong in one, so you’ll pick it, or you’re equivalent in both and you are free to choose! It’s a win-win strategy for you.