Consider Both Tests Before Starting
Gone are the days when schools accepted only the SAT or the ACT. Nowadays all colleges accept both tests and have no preference for which test scores students submit. And while it is true that many students score similarly on both tests, many others clearly perform better on one than the other, so it is worth trying to figure out which test is likely to be the better fit before beginning any test prep. So, how does one decide then? Before getting into the specifics, it’s worth pointing out that one need not stress the initial decision excessively. You want to make your best guess for which test is a better fit, but sometimes students just don’t reach their score goals on one of the tests for reasons that are hard to anticipate and sometimes pivoting to the other test does the trick. Once you’ve studied for either the SAT or ACT, it is NOT that hard to pivot to the other one if that becomes potentially beneficial at any point.
Take Two Official Practice Tests…
The best way to know if there is a clear winner between the SAT and ACT is to do an official practice test for each and then compare the scores and experiences. For the SAT, go to the College Board website and download the Blue Book App, where you can take an official digital SAT. The official ACT website has an official practice test that you can download and take. And an SAT/ACT score comparison chart can be found on the official ACT website or by googling “SAT ACT Concordance Table.” If one score is considerably higher than the other, than the student should probably go with that test. If the scores are pretty close, however, it might be useful to consider the student’s actual experience taking the test and his or her comfortability, since the initial diagnostic does not necessarily speak to what that person’s ultimate potential will be on the test. For example, the student may be completely thrown by the time pressure of the ACT and fail to finish most of the sections but at the same time believe that with some practice he or she would be fine with the time allotted for each section. Or the student may be a little more comfortable initially with the slightly more straightforward presentation of questions on some of the ACT sections, but absolutely hate the time constraints of the test and believe that ultimately the SAT would be a better test for them.
Wait, you might say. Do I really need to do TWO full tests?!!! Can’t I use my PSAT score and just take a practice ACT to compare? Well you could, but we don’t advise it. First of all, if you took the PSAT in October and then are taking the ACT diagnostic in April or August of the following year, it’s likely that you’ve developed intellectually and academically, so it’s not really a fair comparison. More importantly, you really want the experiences of both diagnostic tests to be virtually identical so that you have a real apples-to-apples comparison. Taking the PSAT in school under official test conditions but then doing the ACT at home in the comfort of your bedroom and not even keeping proper time on each section is likely to completely skew the comparison.
Don’t Stress it!
Sometimes the decision is clearcut and sometimes it is not. Remember, while it may seem less than ideal to have to switch tests midway through one’s prep, it’s not that big a deal and happens all the time with students we tutor. The SAT and ACT are about 70% similar, so it’s not that hard to pivot to the other test. Sometimes you make your best guess as to which test is a better starting point only to learn over time that the other test might in fact be a better fit. Almost all of the prep that a student will have done for the first test will be valuable for the one they are switching to, and sometimes it’s just impossible to anticipate how things will turn out until the students begins preparing for the tests.
If You Need Help, We Can Guide You
We have helped guide hundreds of students (and their parents) through this process and know how to navigate the difficult scenarios that emerge when there isn’t a clear winner between the two tests. We can also provide the initial diagnostic tests, score them, and consult with you on which tests seems to be a better fit for your child. So feel free to contact us for more information!