All high school students are required to take the SAT during the spring of their junior year. However, some students opt to also take the ACT to aid in their college application. For students who are on the fence about taking this extra test or not, it may not be clear if it has enough benefits in comparison to the SAT to be worth the time and money. The two tests, although similar in their setup, have key differences that give value to their respective taker.
The ACT is a 2 hour and 45 minute test, with an optional 40-minute essay portion. The test consists of four sections including English, Math, Reading, and Science, with 36-50 questions in each segment. Each subject has a 35-50 minute time frame, depending on the number of questions it contains. It costs $68 to take the test without the essay (the essay adds $25 to make a total price of $93). Similarly, the SAT, while free when administered by the district, costs $68 to take independently.
The SAT lasts 2 hours and 14 minutes, with a 64-minute reading and writing portion (54 questions) and a 70-minute math portion (44 questions). In context, the ACT averages 1.05 questions per minute, while the SAT averages 0.73 questions per minute. The ACT offers a wider variety of subjects, but in general offers less time to complete each section. Meanwhile, the SAT focuses on fewer skills but allows students to take more time on their test. These key differences between the ACT and SAT may decide which tests students decide to take to include in their college application. Some may score significantly better on the ACT than the SAT, which was the case for Senior Gavin Hess.
“The questions were actually considerably simpler, so that was nice,” Hess said. “Whereas the SAT, it’s a little more difficult, but there’s fewer questions.”
However, Hess also acknowledged the negative effect of time constraints on the ACT. “Actually, I left a couple [questions] blank, and I ended up just guessing on about the last five to eight for most categories.” Although facing this drawback, Hess still preferred taking the ACT over the SAT. “You answered [the questions] faster, you’re just moving at a better pace. Whereas the SAT, you kind of just sit there forever,” Hess shared.
For other students, however, the ACT was not as valuable, as was the case for Senior Michael Hull. “I more preferred the SAT, because I feel like I’m better as a complex problem solver rather than an endurance solver,” Hull explained. For him, the ACT focused too much on solving a greater multitude of simple questions. “The ACT is a long, five-hour test that’s all endurance,” Hull compared. “Then the SAT is a reasonable amount of questions, but more difficult, and I feel like it’s more manageable.” If a student is better at solving fewer, more complicated problems, they may want to focus more on the SAT. On the other hand, if a student has better endurance when testing and can answer questions quickly, the ACT could be the way to go.
From the perspective of an academic counselor, the decision comes down to what students test better on. “It’s different, because the ACT is acquired knowledge, whereas the SAT is applied knowledge,” Milford Counselor Julie Ouellette explained. “I would recommend it if students aren’t happy with their SAT score and they want to try a different type of test to see if they do better.” Ouellette elaborated on the specific differences between the SAT and ACT.
“If you’re really science and math-geared, you might score higher on the ACT than you would the SAT.” The ACT essay also depends on students’ preference.
“I think it’s becoming less and less important to do the essay section, but if you’re a strong writer and English is your subject, then you should do it, because it might improve your score,” Ouellette said. Students may also be more inclined to take the SAT than the ACT because of the preparation that they have.
“[Students] are kind of trained to take the SAT, right? You take the PSAT 8, 9, and 10. So you’re more familiar with the format,” Ouellette observed.
All in all, students’ strengths and testing ability are what make either test valuable. If students are better at answering questions quickly, particularly math and science questions, they may prefer the ACT. Students who take more time and are more inclined towards reading questions, in contrast, may want to take the SAT.
The best option for students on the fence is to take an ACT practice test. Practice tests are an easy way to find out if students will test better on the SAT or ACT. Additionally, talking to a counselor is a great way to get started on finding out which test is best.