Wondering which test you should take?  Unsure about the differences between the SAT and the ACT?  You’re not alone – these are absolutely the most common questions I receive as a tutor and there is a lot of misinformation and propaganda about this topic.

I’m going to tell you the facts and let you decide, because there is no right answer. The only right answer is that if you want to go to college in the US you will need to take at least one of these tests and do your very best.

Test basics:

• The SAT and the ACT take about the same total time.
• Both tests are reasoning tests, which means they test your critical thinking skills.  They are not like tests in school or AP exams, which test your comprehension and recall of specific content.
• Both tests require you to sacrifice a Saturday morning.  (Sorry.)
• Colleges treat these tests equally.  No school favors one test over another.
• The SAT has a scoring penalty (-1/4 point per wrong answer), while the ACT does not penalize for wrong answers.  However, each test maker takes these facts into account when converting from raw scores (# right out of total #) to scaled scores (the familiar scores out of 2400 or 36, depending on the test), which eliminates any advantage that these scoring procedures might seem to offer.
• The ACT has fewer sections than the SAT, but each section is longer.
• The SAT offers slightly more time per multiple choice question than does the ACT:
  • 1 minute 17 seconds per SAT math question vs 1 minute per ACT math question
  • 1 minute 2 seconds per SAT reading question vs 53 seconds per ACT reading question
  • 1 minute 12 seconds per SAT writing question vs 36 seconds per ACT writing question
• However, the optional ACT essay is given 30 minutes, while the mandatory SAT essay is given 25. (Each school indicates whether it requires the ACT essay or not.)  The SAT essay is part of the overall writing section score.

About the test content:

• The SAT writing section and the ACT English sections test very similar content, though the presentation is slightly different; the SAT separates its three types of questions, while the ACT mixes all the questions together.
• The SAT and ACT reading sections test very similar content in similar formats.  The SAT has paired passages (two passages about related topics that are compared and contrasted), while the ACT does not.
• The SAT also has 19 sentence completion questions in the reading section to test verbal reasoning, while the ACT does not have any.
• The SAT math stops at Geometry, while the ACT goes through Algebra II (including logarithms, trigonometry, etc.).
• The SAT essay is about an abstract principal or concept – power, success, technology, heroism, etc.  The ACT essay is about an issue relevant to high school students – extending the school year, wearing uniforms, grading policies, etc.
• The ACT includes a science reasoning section that has no analog on the SAT.

In my 13+ years of experience, I have only seen students receive equivalent scores on these tests.  I have never seen a student do significantly better on one test than another.

Still wondering which test to take? Try a practice test for each one and see which test feels like a better fit. If you’re in Houston and you’d like me to send you a free practice test, just send me an email.