SAT vs. ACT

The SAT and the ACT are both standardized tests that are used by colleges during the application process. They are both given periodically throughout the school year (SAT: 7 times, ACT: 6 times). Many students take one test or both tests more than once.

The SAT and ACT are accepted by most schools

It used to be that colleges and universities on the east and west coasts required (or preferred) the SAT, while schools in the Midwest and the South preferred the ACT. Today, most schools will accept either test without a preference for one over the other. Although they are scored differently, the scores can easily be converted from one scale to the other, so college admissions officers can compare an SAT score with an ACT score. Check the admissions website or a college guide book to see if the schools you are interested in take both tests.

The SAT penalizes for guessing, the ACT does not

The SAT takes 1/4 of a point off for a wrong answer. This means that pure guessing is not recommended. But educated guessing can be helpful--if you can eliminate two or more answer choices, then taking your best guess of the remaining choices is the wise thing to do.

The ACT does not take off points for wrong answers. This means that guessing and getting an answer wrong will not hurt your score. Before guessing, you should make every effort to eliminate as many answer choices as possible.

The SAT uses more"distractors" than the ACT

The SAT is a trickier test, because the makers of the test try to make the wrong answers look correct. These tempting wrong answer choices are called "distractors." This makes it even more important to work carefully so that you end up choosing the one truly correct answer, rather than the answer that is close, but not quite. The ACT does not use as many distractors--the test is more straight forward in the way it asks questions.

The sections are broken down differently

The SAT has 9 sections, including one experimental section that is masked to look like a regular test section. The sections range from 10 to 25 minutes. For instance, the math is broken into 3 sections, two 25 minute sections, and a 20 minute section.

The ACT has 4 sections, and they tend to be longer. The math section, for instance, is 60 minutes long in one shot. The sections range from 35 to 60 minutes. The essay is 30 minutes, and it is optional. Students taking the ACT should check to see if the schools they are applying to require a writing test.

There are content differences

The SAT math section tests up to Algebra II, including basic Geometry. The ACT tests up to Trigonometry (usually 4 questions).

The SAT Reading Section has long and short reading passages and sentence completion focusing on vocabulary in context. The Writing Section consists of an essay and questions testing grammar, usage and word choice. The essay is mandatory.

The ACT reading section consists of four passages: Fiction, Social Science, Humanities and Natural Science. The English Section tests grammar, usage and word choice in the context of written passages.

The ACT also adds a science section, but it does not test science knowledge. It tests a student's ability to read passages, graphs, and charts from experiments and labs. It is more of a reading comprehension test than a science test.

They are scored differently

Each section of the SAT (reading, writing, mathematics) is scored separately on a scale of 200-800. The scores are then added up to arrive at a total composite score. The highest possible composite score is 2400.

Each section of the ACT is scored separately on a scale from 1 to 36. These section scores are averaged together to arrive at a composite score. The highest possible score is a 36.

SAT scores can be translated into an equivalent ACT score, and vice versa. Many schools publish the formula they use to translate between the scores on their admissions web pages.

They report differently

The SAT reports all scores for all sittings of the test to each school a student selects. Students cannot exclude low scores.

The ACT allows students to choose which schools will receive score reports, and which scores they will be allowed to see. (Bad test scores can be excluded.)

For more information on the tests, visit the websites of the test makers:

The SAT
www.collegeboard.com
www.ets.org

The ACT
www.ACT.org

More questions? Need a tutor for the SAT? ACT? Need Help with College Applications? We can help!

Call us at:
888-802-7587

You can also send us a message..

Read more about our Free Tutoring Consultation