Which Test Should You Take: the SAT vs ACT
Just like everyone else, we are not exempt from the struggle to figure out which is easier: the SAT or ACT.
There are timing considerations
At 3 hours and 45 minutes long, the SAT is longer than the ACT, which is about 3 hours and 20 minutes.
There are focus considerations
The SAT has 10 sections.
Whereas…
The ACT has 5.
There are subject considerations
The SAT test includes vocabulary.
But…
The ACT test includes science.
How to Decide Which Test to Take
I present this as the fundamental method for deciding which test to take:
- Figure out your accuracy (problems correct/total problems) on the SAT passage part of Critical Reading.
- Figure out your accuracy on the rest of the SAT
- If the calculation from 1 is greater than 2, then switch to the ACT
- If the calculation from 1 is less than 2, then stay on the SAT.
Here’s why:
The science test on the ACT does not test science knowledge. It is a critical reading test with scientific information instead of literary information.
You will see your Science score and Reading score move in tandem. So if you have a high accuracy at reading and answering passage-based questions, then you should take a test that has more weight on passage-based problems.
The ACT has the Reading and the Science sections which test the same ability.
Conversely, if passage-based questions are not your strong suit, then go with the SAT whose total score is less than 1/3 passage-based.