SAT or ACT?
Which test should your student take?
The short answer: for most students, it doesn’t matter. Every college accepts both, and most students score comparably on the two. Our best advice is to pick one and prepare well for it.
The long answer
80% score the same. The other 20% is why you test.
Colleges use standardized tests as one indicator of academic performance, and they use equivalency tables to compare scores across the two — what matters is the percentile, not the raw number. In our experience, about 80% of students score within a few percentile ranks on both tests. But about 10% do substantially better on the SAT, and 10% substantially better on the ACT.
There’s no reliable way to tell who falls into which group from a short survey or quiz — despite what the big test prep companies might have you think. The only real answer is to have your student take a proctored practice test of each and compare the percentiles.
The tests today
What’s different — and what isn’t.
Different
- Format: the SAT is digital and adaptive (the test adjusts to your student’s performance); the ACT is a fixed, linear test — and can still be taken on paper.
- Pace: the ACT gives less time per question; its questions tend to be more direct, while SAT questions are trickier.
- Reading: the SAT uses many short passages with one question each; the ACT uses longer passages with sets of questions.
- Math weight: math is half of the SAT score, but one-third of the ACT Composite — and the SAT has a built-in calculator available for every math question.
- Science: the ACT has an optional Science section (no longer part of the Composite); the SAT has none.
The same
- Accepted by every four-year college in the U.S. — no school prefers one over the other.
- Similar math, reading, and writing concepts at similar difficulty.
- Both are shorter than they used to be — a little over two hours each.
- No penalty for wrong answers on either test.
Can’t decide?
The SAT-or-ACT decision package.
Take both, compare, decide — free. Schedule a proctored SAT diagnostic and a proctored ACT diagnostic at no charge. Both are scored, both post to your parent portal, and for most families the percentile comparison answers the question on its own.
Want a definitive recommendation? $75. The Director reviews both exams, writes a formal recommendation, and meets with you for a half hour to walk through the results and the reasoning.
Starting early is always better, but the decision can be made any time before your student’s senior year begins.
Or call 610.688.6441 to talk it through.