Breaking down the differences between the two exams so that students know which is the best fit for them

What exactly is the difference between the SAT and the ACT?  Some people still aren’t quite sure.  

The SAT is a college acceptance test.  How well you do on it may determine which colleges you get into.  First, the stats.  It has three sections; reading, writing and language, math, and an optional essay portion.  It is three hours long without the essay, and three hours and fifty minutes with the essay.  

It has five reading passages, and no science reasoning section.  The math section encompasses Arithmetic, Algebra I and II, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Data Analysis.  You may only use a calculator on some of the math sections. “I definitely liked the sections where you could use a calculator better,” said junior Megan Cordary.

The ACT is also a college acceptance test.  It has four sections:  English, math, reading, and science reasoning, with an optional essay.  It takes two hours and fifty-five minutes without the essay, and three hours and forty minutes with the essay.  It has four reading passages and the science reasoning section tests your critical thinking, not your specific science knowledge.  The math section involves Arithmetic, Algebra I and II, Geometry, as well as Trigonometry, and calculators can be used on all math sections.  “[Having a calculator] is very helpful,; that’s one reason I liked the ACT better,” said senior Anna Bradshaw.

There are also SAT Subject Tests. They are one hour tests, on almost any different core subject. “There’s science, math, history, english, and foreign language subject tests,” said school counselor Richard Bader. “Most colleges don’t require them.”

But what does all this mean?  It means that the ACT gives people slightly less time to do the entire test, yet has one more section than the SAT.  “A lot of the main differences are that [the] ACT has a science section. [The] SAT doesn’t,” said Bader. “With the SAT you’re back and forth between English and math, with the ACT you got your English, your math, your science.”

Also, the way that questions are asked on the tests are slightly different.  According to studypoint.com, “Questions [on the SAT] are evidence and context-based in an effort to focus on real-world situations and multi-step problem-solving. Questions [on the ACT] may be long but are usually less difficult to decipher.”

Many people take both of the tests, and either submit the higher one, or submit both.

“My recommendation to people these days [is to] find a prep book. An SAT prep book and an ACT prep book. Big fat things. Great doorstops, great paperweights. It’s amazing if you open them, what else they can do. Take a look. Take a look at the kinds of questions. Go and look up practice tests to see how the questions are asked. What it looks like, what it feels like,” said Bader. “You don’t have to do a four hour full test. Spend a half hour, spend an hour looking at it, that’s part of the research. And see which one you feel more comfortable with. You can always use either, schools are taking both.  It doesn’t matter which one you take. So go do what’s best for you.”