ACT or SAT: Which Test Is Better?
I’m finalizing my ACT and SAT prep schedule for the coming school year and have debated a question that troubles families of juniors each year. ACT or SAT: which test is better?
Of course, I’m looking from the perspective of an instructor. Which test is more coachable? Which test will offer the most benefits to my students with the fewest drawbacks? Which test will allow my students to score more?
There isn’t a simple answer. Before I share my decision, lets look at some facts students and parents should consider when making their own evaluations.
Coke vs. Pepsi
I have often said that choosing between the SAT and ACT is like the choice between Coke and Pepsi. Both drinks are colas. Both are manufactured by huge corporations intent on marketing their products worldwide. Often the choice comes down to personal preference or availability. The ACT / SAT choice is no different. Both tests are multiple-choice exams for college admission. Both are produced by large corporations who promote their product to schools and consumers worldwide. Both the ACT and SAT are accepted at all colleges and universities with no preference given to either one. Like the cola market, there have been some regional biases. I live in Texas, traditionally an SAT state. But don’t let old biases make you think one test is superior. Often choice comes down to personal preference and sometime which test fits into a busy student’s schedule.Similar Exams
From a distance the SAT and ACT appear very similar. Both include passage based reading and grammar questions and math problems. Each test now has an optional written essay that students take at the end of the exam. Students are not penalized for wrong answers on either test. Both assessments are constructed to make it very challenging to earn top scores. Most test takers will find themselves somewhere in the middle of the pack with fewer students earning very high or very low marks. The tests are so similar that they are interchangeable in the eyes of college admissions systems. All colleges and universities requiring standardized admissions tests will accept either the ACT or SAT. Yes, you may see a school publish one set of admissions scores and not the other, but that is based on the data at hand, not an institutional preference. If 75% of students applying to Big U. submit SAT scores, Big U will publish the average SAT scores of its students and may not include ACT results due to a lack of data. The main point is that colleges and universities don’t care. So students should focus on their preferred exam.Key Differences
When you are choosing the best exam for something as important as college admission, little differences are important. Here is where the subtle differences between the SAT and ACT become significant. The top differences my students identify: 1. Format & Structure With the new SAT introduced in March 2016, there are fewer differences in the structure of the two exams. Both now have longer sections in which all questions of a certain type are tested in a single section. Here’s the format and order of sections on the new SAT: 65 minutes Reading passages (5 passages, 52 questions) 35 minutes Writing passages (4 passages, 44 questions) 25 minutes NO Calculator math (20 questions) 55 minutes Math (38 questions) Here’s the format and order of sections on the ACT: 45 minutes English passages (5 passages, 75 questions) 60 minutes Math (60 questions) 35 minutes Reading passages (4 passages, 40 questions) 35 minutes Science passages (7 passages, 40 questions) Both exams are long and challenging. One structural difference that stands out to me is the SAT’s passage-heavy first half. Too many students suffer from fatigue after doing 100 minutes of intense passage-based reading on the SAT. The order of the sections on the ACT, in contrast, offers a little relief as students switch from English (writing editing) to math to reading and finally to science. 2. Content Details While on the surface the reading, writing, and math on these two tests is very similar, there are some content differences. Writing / English The new SAT writing looks almost exactly like ACT English. Both require students to edit the grammar and usage in paragraphs. The error types tested are similar, so students need a solid foundation in grammar, usage, and elements of good writing for either test. Reading Passages The SAT continues to test more college-bound vocabulary than the ACT. Instead of the old sentence completion SAT questions, the new test imbeds vocabulary words in the passages, questions, and answers. Students with exceptional vocabularies may prefer the SAT. SAT reading seems to test a more analysis while ACT reading has more questions that test whether you can find the specific answer in the passage (a difference of finding versus thinking and processing.) Both tests truly come down to issues of speed for most students because the ability to read challenging material and pay attention to detail is harder when you are racing the clock. Math Both exams test basic trig functions (SOH-CAH-TOA) as well as standard algebra and geometry concepts. Both have a distribution of easy, medium, and hard questions. The SAT tests more advanced Algebra II concepts. Students who have successfully completed Algebra II may prefer that aspect of SAT math. However, the SAT math questions tend to be longer and include irrelevant details. While it is a valuable skill to identify which elements are necessary to solve a particular problem, some students, tired by the fatigue of reading for the first 100 minutes of the exam, may not do as well on this type of math test. In contrast ACT problems require less reading and rarely include details unnecessary for the solution. One downside to ACT math is that no formulas are provided. Student must memorize equations for things like the circumference and area of a circle. The content differences in math may make one exam more appealing than the other. For most students, the content is about the same. 3. No Calculator Math Section (and no multiple choice options) This is a big enough issue that it deserves its own point. SAT math is divided into two timed sections. On one section must be done WITHOUT the assistance of a calculator. Showing my age, I’ll admit that the entire SAT had to be done without the use of a calculator when I was in school (just after the advent of electricity according to my children!) Personally, I’m not at a disadvantage on this new section because I’ve been in the habit of calculating things with paper and pencil for decades. Unfortunately, today’s students don’t have this experience. Most students are encouraged to use a calculator from the time they enter Algebra I. Basic computation is not something they are comfortable with or good at. Yes, most students can do the math without a calculator, but they take longer and typically approach the section with trepidation. Additionally, 22% of the SAT math questions require students to produce an answer that can be bubbled into a numerical grid. These questions cannot be solved with test taking strategies like plugging in the answers or picking numbers. Between the 25-minute no calculator section and the math questions that do not have multiple choice answer, many students will prefer the math on the ACT. 4. Scoring Students receive two scores on the SAT- Evidenced Based Reading and Writing
- Math
More Coachable Exam
Part of my perspective is to find the exam that is more coachable. In other words, if you are going to spend any time and money on improving scores, which test favors your efforts? Currently I find the most coachable section of all tests to be the ACT science section. With a few strategies and some practice, I can help students earn more points. In contrast, it is much harder to coach the type of reading analysis found on the SAT, particularly if a student hasn’t developed this type of thinking after years of high school work. A major factor at this time is the amount of quality practice material—official practice exams from the test writers. College Board has released four practice SATs and one PSAT. That’s not a lot of material. In contrast, ACT has a book with five practice tests and you can access previously released exams going back ten to twenty years. There is plenty of ACT material without having to use unofficial questions.How to Decide
Ignore the old rumors that say one test is more like school or the other test is better for students applying to highly-selective universities. These rumors are NOT true. Often the difference comes down to personal preference. Here are some practical considerations to guide your decision:- Compare scores from previous or practice tests. Make sure you are using NEW SAT scores not old ones. You can use this concordance table from College Board.
- If you haven’t taken either test, obtain an official full-length practice test at no cost from your guidance counseling office at school or print them from the ACT and College Board
- Does one test offer a better format? Was the content of one test more familiar?
- Consider test prep factors. Does one test / class better meet your schedule? Check for conflicts with school holidays, sports or extracurricular, and family activities.
My Choice
So which test is more coachable? Which test will offer the most benefits to my students with the fewest drawbacks? Which test will allow my students to score more? My answer for the 2016-17 school year is the ACT. I’ve been an SAT fan for years, but there are a few key factors that have led me to favor the ACT:- The amount of quality practice materials. 15 easily accessible ACTs far outweighs 5 SATs.
- Timely score results. This spring it took 10 weeks for students to receive SAT scores. This didn’t allow time to register and retake. In contrast, ACT scores are available online in 2 to 3 weeks—plenty of time to retest if needed.
- While the new SAT may feel easier to some students, the new scores are inflated and typically students have to earn an additional 100 points to compare with scores on the old SAT. Also, a majority of my tutoring students have found they can get better scores with the ACT.