At this point, you may be considering to take your college admission test. You might be wondering whether you’ll take the ACT or the SAT. When it comes to the SAT vs ACT comparison, you could be at a loss about which standardized exam to take. Is it either the SAT or the ACT, or maybe both? This article will guide you pertaining to your decision.
Note that when it pertains to the SAT vs ACT, nobody can say that one is more superior than the other. But nonetheless, how do you choose between the ACT and the SAT?
What are the admission criteria of the colleges that you want to attend? Do they require a score either for the SAT or otherwise the ACT in order to admit new students? Then again if your target colleges do not specify thus, you can make your own decision whether to take either of these tests. There’s actually no saying that the ACT is easier than the SAT or vice versa. In selecting the right standardized exam , you just have to consider the format that is more suited to your academic strengths. Look for a test that is more familiar to you, mainly because each of the ACT and SAT has different structures and emphases. In whatever test you obtain a higher score will help you avail of a slot in your chosen college or university.
How To Prepare For The ACT
Four major subjects make up the ACT, and namely they are English, Science, Math and Reading. As a standardized test, the ACT measures your capability, competency and readiness for college . The time limit of the ACT is 2 hours and 55 minutes, excluding breaks.
Your score for the ACT ranges from 1 as the lowest, and 36 as the highest. A student’s average score for all the 4 subjects is derived to be able to obtain a composite score. You can likewise opt to take the ACT Writing test, which is but optional. The ACT Essay test will be scored separately.
If writing happens to be a weak area for you, it may be prudent to skip the ACT Writing test. But if an ACT Essay score is required by your target college, you are obliged to take it.
How To Prepare For The SAT
Whereas the ACT has been designed to measure your total educational development, the SAT has been formatted to gauge a high school student’s general thinking and problem-solving capabilities. The 2 major sections of the SAT are Evidence-Based Reading and Writing, and Math. This standardized exam has a 2-hour time limit.
Both the ACT and the SAT cover multiple-choice questions. However, in the SAT Math test, you have to provide your direct answers. You therefore cannot make guesses here. The two tests ACT and SAT do not apply penalties for wrong answers.
So Are You Going To Choose To Take The ACT Or The SAT?
There are various factors to consider. There may be differences in the structure, format and content of the SAT and the ACT, but both of them present opportunities for you to achieve high scores. And it’s not even a dilemma of ACT “versus” SAT because each of them can highlight your particular strengths, and you can choose to take both of them if your chosen colleges do not specify their preference for their incoming students’ standardized exam scores.
Winnie Custodio has been a publicist and writer for over 10 years. She has broad experience in online and personal mentoring. Working with Test Prep Toolkit, an online GED, ACT and SAT study guide has been one of her most fulfilling careers where she and her fellow TPT staff work together as a power team in helping thousands of test takers pass their exams. With such an outstanding achievement, Test Prep Toolkit has become one of the top test prep websites on the Internet today.