SAT vs ACT-Which test is right for you

1. SATvsACT:Whichtestisrightfor you? SATand ACT are the most popular tests undergraduate applicants take to study abroad. Universities and colleges use SAT/ACT scores for admissions & scholarships,andtherefore,studentsgenerallyquestionthepreferencesofonetest over the other, and also, which exam is easier or will increase their chances of gettinginto their desired college. ManystudentsbeginthecollegepreparationprocessbycomparingtheSATand ACT tests. Although they generally cover the same topics. Both SAT and ACT scoresareusedforthecollegeadmissionsprocessforprovidingmerit-based scholarships. Most colleges and universities do not prefer one over the other. Well, to begin with, no test is easy or hard but they definitely are different. Students must identifythe differences andunderstandtheirownlikingandcomfortzoneinorderto identifywhichtestsuitsthem.Thecontentandpatternofbothexamsarepretty much similar,withsomeexceptionstobehighlightedinthisarticle.Andtoconclude, wewill helpyou todecide whetheryou shouldtake theSAT orACT. SATvs ACT: KeyDifferences

2. Now, let’s begin our SAT vs ACT comparison. Although both exams share several similarities,herearethekey differences foryoutoconsiderbeforedecidingwhether totake the SAT or ACT. TimePerQuestion Well,timecrunches?ThenyoumightoptfortheSATtestovertheACTastheSAT givesyou more timeper question thanthe ACT. Thebelowchartillustratesthe differences intimeperquestion(Inagivensectionif youwere tospend thesame amountof timeon eachquestion):

3. ItisquiteclearthattheSAT offers moretimeperquestiononallsectionsofthetest. You’llhavemoretimeperquestionontheSATMathsandSATReadingsections, withtheMathsCalculatorsubsectionallottingyounearly25secondsmoreper questionthan the ACTMaths one! So,ifyou’reworriedabouttimemanagement,particularlyintheMathssection,the SAT offers much more time and far less stress-inducing time constraints than the ACT. SATvsACTScoring ReadingSection:Evidence-Support Howgoodareyouatpinpointingareasintextstosupportyouranswerstothegiven questions?Ifyouransweris“YES”,theSATmightbeabettergo-tooptionforyou.

4. Evidence-support questions are a vital part of the SAT Reading Section but are completely absent from the ACT Reading Section. Questions like these build off of thequestionsthatcomebeforethemandaskyoutociteparticularlines/paragraphs asevidence for youranswer to theprevious one. Evidence-basedquestionscanbereallytricky,especiallyifyou’reunsureabout whereyoufoundyouranswerin thepassage.Ifyou’retroubledwith the interconnectedquestions,trytheACTtestinstead(whoseReadingquestionsare alwaysseparated from eachother). ReadingSection:ChronologicalQuestions In the SAT Reading section, all questions follow a chronological order i.e., in the orderofthepassagetowhichtheyrefer.ButintheACTReadingsection,questions generally flow randomly i.e., do not routinely follow the order of the content in the passage. As a result, SAT Reading questions are easier to follow and thus simpler to answer than the ACT Reading ones. Chronological order questions can also save you time ontheSAT,asyoudon’tneedtolookouttheentirepassagefortheareato whicha questionis referring. Maths:NoCalculatorSection UnliketheACT,whichallowsyoutouseacalculatoronallMathsquestions,theSAT contains a Maths “No Calculator” subsection for which you can’t use a calculator. As a result, if you struggle with quick solving or without a calculator, you’d probably do better on ACT Maths than you would on SAT Maths. On the other hand, if you’re confident in your Maths skills and can work fast without a calculator, the SAT is a greatoption. Notethis:InboththeSATandACT,youcantechnicallysolveallMathsquestions without using a calculator. The “No Calculator” questions aren’t all that different from the “Calculator” ones. The “No Calculator” questions are meant to be easier to solve withoutacalculatorandarethusmostlymorereasoning-basedthanarithmeticones.

5. Maths Concept:Types andBalance InregardtoMathscontent,theSATandACTbothhaveabigemphasisonalgebra. ButtheACTalsotestsacoupleofconceptsthattheSATdoesn’treallyfocuson. The ACT has a much larger focus on geometry, which makes up about 30-45% of theMathssection.WhenyoucompareitwithSAT,geometryaccountsforlessthan 10% of the Maths questions. In addition, trigonometry accounts for less than 5% of the SAT and about 7% of the ACT, so on the ACT there’s a slightly larger emphasis ontrigonometry than the SAT. TheACTalsotestsafewconceptsthattheSATdoesn’t.Theseincludethingssuch asmatrices, logarithms,and graphsof trigonometricfunctions. So,whatdoesthisallmean?Ifyou’regoodatalgebraanddataanalysis,you’llmost probablydowellon theSAT.But ifyou’reafan ofgeometry,and trigonometric functions, and are comfortable with logs and matrices, the ACT is going to be the betterchoice. Maths Formula:ReferenceGuide Here’sanotherMaths-related difference: TheSATtestprovidesyouwithadiagram ofMaths formulas, whereasthe ACT doesnot. Before the two SAT Maths subsections, you’ll be provided a diagram containing geometry formulas and laws. Although, all these formulas and laws pertain to geometry that doesn’t make up a huge part of the SAT. What this also means is that youwon’tneedtospendatonoftimememorizingformulasbeforehand(thoughyou mustmemorizesome importantformulasnot includedinthe diagram). UnliketheSAT,theACTdoesn’tprovideyouwithanyformulasmeaningyouneedto memorizeall potentialformulas beforeappearing forthe test.

6. Nowmakingitcleartoyou,ifyou’reconcernedaboutforgettingcertainformulas,the SAT offers a littlemore of a crutchthan the ACT. Maths:NumberofAnswerChoices The two exams also vary in the number of answer choices they give you in the Mathssection.BoththeSATandACTMathssectionsarepredominantlyMCQ. While ACT Maths gives you five possible answer choices (A-E or F-K) for each question,SAT Mathsgives you onlyfour (A-D). Asareminder,bothexamshavenonegativemarking,meaningyou’llneverlosea point for an incorrect answer. So, if you were to guess on an SAT Maths question, you’dhavea25%chanceofgettingthatright.ButifyouweretoguessonanACT Mathsquestion,you’d haveonly a20%chance ofgetting itcorrect. Hereby,ifyouthinkyoumightneedtoguessonMaths,SAT offers aslight advantageovertheACT,witha5%higherprobabilityofgettingitright. MathsQuestions:Grid-In Ifyou’reanMCQlover,especiallywhenitcomestoMathsquestions,youmightwant tostickwiththe ACT.TheSAT test,thoughmostly offers multiplechoice, has student-producedresponsequestions(grid-ins),whichareMathsquestionsforwhich you need to fill inyour own answer. Inshort, you’ll have noanswer choices to choosefrom on these questions! ACTMathshasonlymultiple-choicequestions.Ifyou’renotafanofMathsquestions thatdon’t offer youany answerchoices, theACT isthe go-tooption. Maths:ImportanceinFinalScore HowbigofaroledoesMathsplayinyourfinalscore?Theanswerdependson whetheryou’retakingtheSATorACT.IntheACT,Maths accountsfor¼thofyour totalscore(yourscoreisaveragedwithyourotherthreesectionscores).However,in theSAT,Mathsaccountsforhalfofyourtotalscore,makingitverymuchimportant!

7. So,ifMathsisn’tyourstrongsuit,considergoingfortheACT.WiththeACT,alower Mathsscorewon’tnegatively affect yourtotal scoreasmuchasitwill ontheSAT. • Tounderstandthisclearly, let’s consideran example.Ifyouweretoscorein similar percentiles on the SAT and ACT with significantly lower Maths section scores you mightthinkthatyourtotalpercentilesonboththeexamswouldbemostlythesame. Butas you look downbelow, this isn’t thecase. • SATpercentiles: • EBRW:700(94thpercentile) • Math:460(33rdpercentile) • Composite: 1160(68thpercentile) • ACTpercentiles: • English:32(92ndpercentile) • Math:16(33rdpercentile) • Reading:32(91stpercentile) • Science:30(93rdpercentile) • Composite:28(88thpercentile) • Asthisexampleindicates,evenifyouweretoscoreinasimilarmanneronevery section of the SAT and ACT with lower Math section scores on each test, your compositescorepercentileswould differ dramatically.Inthiscase,yourfinalACT percentileis 20%higher than yourSAT percentile. • Inotherwords,ifMathsisn’tyourcupoftea,you’llhaveabettershotathittingthe totalpercentile youwant on theACT thanyou will onthe SAT. • ScienceSection • Anothermajor difference hastodowiththesciencesection.TheACTcontainsa sectionentirely devotedto science, theSAT doesn’t.

8. TheACTSciencesectioncontains40questionsandlasts35minutes.Liketheother sections,Scienceconstitutes¼thofthetotalACTscore.So,ifyou’resomeonewho loves the idea of having the complete section based on graphs, data and hypotheses,then ACT mightbe a greatfit for you. With that being said, the SAT definitely tests scientific concepts but not through a separateSciencesection.IntheSAT,you’llgenerallycomeacrossquestionsdealing with scientific passages, data, and charts in the Reading, Writing, and Maths sections. As you are very well aware, there’s no Science score on the SAT as there is on the ACTtest,butthere’sananalysisoftheSciencecross-testscore,whichisoneofthe many subscores given on the SAT exam. That said, most colleges won’t pay much attention(ifany)toyourSATscores,whereasthey’lltakeintoconsiderationyour ACTSciencescore. SATvsACT:WhichTestShouldYou Take? Atlast,it’stimetoaskyourself:Whichtestisrightforyou—theSATorACT?Here area few waysto help youmake your decision. Method 1: Take Free SAT/ACT Diagnostic Test Insteadofjustguessingwhetheryou’llbebetterattheSATorACT,thebestwayto decide is to actually take our Free SAT/ACT Diagnostic Testand then check your strengthandweakness. Todo this,you’ll needto registeryourself. Method2:TakePracticeTests Practicetestsaretheonesthatcangetyoutotherealdeal.HereatReWiser,we’ve gotallSAT andACT practicetests compiledfor yourconvenience.

9. Here’swhatyou’lldo:Selectone official practicetestforeachexamandthendecide on the days to take. As you’re already aware, each exam takes approximately four hours, so make sure you set aside enough time to complete each exam without any interruption. Please avoid taking the tests on the same day or even two days in a row. In addition, make sure that you’re taking the tests in a quiet place keeping an eyeon the clockas you wouldbe onthe actual exam. Onceyou’vegivenbothSATandACTpracticetests,calculateyourscoresusing yourpracticetests'respectivescoringguidesandthencompareyourscores. Alternatively, you can compare percentiles for your SAT and ACT scores to see on whichtestyourpercentilewasmore.Atlast,whichevertestyouscoredhigheronis theoneyoushouldultimatelystartpreparingforanduseforcollegeadmissions. If your SAT and ACT scores are nearly equal or exactly the same, you’ll probably perform equally well on either exam. So the decision is up to you, then, to decide whetheryou’dliketotrytakingbothexamsorprefertotakeanyoneoutofthetwo. Method 3: TakeSATvsACTQuiz Another way to determine which one is right for you is to take a short quiz. In the belowchart,checkwhetheryouagreeordisagreewitheachandeverystatement.

10. Now,countupyourcheckmarksineachcolumntofindoutthenumberofAgreeand Disagree. MostlyAgrees—TheSATisyourmatch!

11. Ifyouagreedwithmostoralloftheabovestatements,thenSATiswhatyoushould gofor.WiththeSAT,you’llsurely havealotmoretimefor eachquestionandwon’t needtodealwith atonof geometryquestionsor apeskyscience section. MostlyDisagrees—TheACTistheoneforyou! Ifyoudisagreedwithmostorallofthestatements,youshouldprefertheACTover the SAT. In the ACT, you don’t need to come up with your own answers to Maths problems,and inwriting, youget to letyour opinionshine. SameAgreesandDisagrees—Eithertestwillwork! If you checked “Agree” and “Disagree” an equal number of times, either test will suit you.Unlessyoudecidetotakeboth,wewouldrecommendtakingourFreeSAT/ACT Diagnostic Tests(as described in Method 1 above) and Practice Tests (as described inMethod2above)tocheck whichtestformatyouaremore comfortablewith. Needmoreindividualizedadvice? With the help of this blog, we have certainly smoothed it over for you. If you want to find more amazing blogs, then make sure you keep visiting our website, follow our Instagram, Twitter, and Linkedin channel, like, follow our Facebook channel, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channelfor more content like this in the future!Fromhelpingstudentsprepareandscorebetterintheareasofstandardized testing: SAT, ACT, and AP teststo providing high school academic support requirements: IGCSE, IB Subjects, and AS/A Level classes; ReWiseris with you every step of the way! Also, if you need any personal assistance, reach out to our expertshere. We’re morethan happytohelp inwhatever waywecan.