All about the SAT and a little bit about the ACT

When I took the PSAT in tenth grade, I only had a vague understanding of what it was, let alone what the SAT was, and I had never even heard of the ACT before. I was severely underprepared and did terribly on it. When we retook the PSAT in 11th grade, I did slightly better on it, even though I hadn't studied for it at all. That's one thing about the SAT--every time you take it, you tend to do a little bit better. Because doing well on the SAT is not about knowing the most stuff, its about knowing the SAT. My experience with the previous PSAT, no matter how short, ultimately helped me do better on it the second time, because I knew it a little bit better. When I took the real SAT in May of 11th grade, my score had gone way up, simply because I had done tons of practice tests. I didn't have to learn any new material or even review old material, because the SAT just reuses the same problem formats with different numbers or names. What I've learned from older students and SAT tutors is that really the best way to get a good score on the SAT is to just do practice problems over and over again. 

Here is a quick comparison of the SAT and the ACT

The ACT, unlike the SAT, has a science section and also includes trigonometry in the math section. I didn't take the ACT so I can't say much beyond that, except that it's a good idea to try out both the SAT and the ACT and see which one you're better at. Some people have the idea that a lot of colleges prefer SAT scores, but in fact, schools will treat ACT scores and SAT scores equally. If you want more information about the ACT compared to the SAT, here is a link to a NY Times article with a lot of information: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/education/edlife/guidance.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

According to the article, “The bright underachievers who are bored and get through school using one quarter of their brains will do better on the SAT, because you just need good reasoning skills for that,” says Mr. White. “And the overachievers, I don’t want to call them grinds, but they’re the ones who get the highest grades in the toughest classes because they work really hard, will do better on the ACT.”

That may not necessarily apply to everyone but it's something to consider. 

Isabel