SAT vs. ACT

Throughout your college search process, your guidance counselor, family and friends probably keep telling you that your SAT test and ACT test are a key part of the college admissions process. In fact, some school counselors think that your SAT tests and ACT scores are even more important than your school grades, your admissions essay and letters of recommendation.  So you probably need to know that “sat” is not just the past tense of sit and that ”act” isn’t just what stars do!

Don’t despair! To help you out, here are CampusCompare’s  definitions of the SAT and ACT tests to keep you a cut above the class.

SAT and ACT Prep

To start, the ACT and SAT tests are both standardized tests for college admissions in the United States. They were
designed to measure students from different schools and different states on a national level.

The SAT, once known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test and now just referred to as the SAT Reasoning Test (that’s right, the acronym no longer stands for anything), was originally developed in the early 1900s by Carl Brigham. It was developed for use in several northeastern states to give students from any socioeconomic background a chance to get into a college (before the SAT test, students were only allowed into colleges based on their parents’ status in college!) The SAT became more formal in the middle of the century as it was picked up for use by more and more colleges as a way to determine a student’s intelligence.

The ACT, on the other hand, didn’t surface until the late 1950s thanks to Everett Franklin Lindquist, as a competitor to the SAT test.  The American College Testing program was designed to show the colleges what the students learned in high school and to show how the colleges should properly teach the students based on what they knew and didn’t know. The ACT would prove to be a favorite of Midwestern and southern states, with those on the coasts preferring the SAT.

The SAT revealed: how to take this test while sitting down

The SAT Reasoning test is administered by the College Board, a non-profit organization in the United States.  The SAT consists of 3 major sections: Critical Reading, Mathematics and Writing. Each section receives a score on a scale of 200-800, with a total score of 2400. Each major section is divided into three parts. There are 10 subsections, including an additional 25-minute experimental or “equating” section that may be in any of the three major sections. The experimental section is used to normalize questions for future administrations of the SAT and does not count toward the final score. You officially have 3 hours and 45 minutes to take the SAT, but many administrations allow 4 hours when taking into account the distribution time and orientation.

The Critical Reading (formerly verbal) section of the SAT is made up of three scored sections, two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section, with varying types of questions, including sentence completions and questions about short and long reading passages. Critical Reading sections normally begin with 5 to 8 sentence completion questions; the rest of the questions are focused on the reading passages.

The Mathematics section of the SAT consists of three scored sections, two of which are 25 minutes and one that is 20 minutes. One of the 25-minute sections is entirely multiple-choice, with 20 questions. The other 25-minute section contains 8 multiple-choice questions and 10 grid-in questions. The shorter section is all multiple-choice, with only 16 questions. The math concepts include numbers and operations, algebra and functions, geometry,measurement and data analysis, statistics and probability.

The Writing section of the SAT is a new addition since 2005 (it used to be an optional subject test—see below for more info). Within this section, there are both multiple-choice questions and a brief essay. The multiple-choice questions include error identification questions, sentence improvement questions, and paragraph improvement questions (35 minutes allotted to the multiple-choice section). The essay section, which is always administered as the first section of the test, is 25 minutes long. You have to write an essay for an assigned subject; these are generally broad and philosophical and are designed to measure your writing skills regardless of your educational and socioeconomic background.

Don’t stand up yet! Now on to the SAT subject tests…

Thought the SAT tests were done, huh? Well, there are also subject tests, which certain colleges require for certain majors.  The SAT Subject Tests is the collective name for 20 multiple-choice standardized tests given on individual subjects. You typically choose which tests to take depending upon your college entrance requirements for the schools in which you are planning to apply. Until 1994, the SAT Subject Tests were known as Achievement Tests, and until January 2005, they were known as SAT IIs and are still commonly known by these names. Every test is now a one-hour timed test. The writing test used to be a Subject Test but was introduced into the main component of the SATs in March 2005.

You can take up to three SAT Subject Tests on any given date. Most SAT Subject Tests are offered on the same dates as the regular SAT, except for the March administration. The language tests with listening are generally available only once a year, in November. When you are seated for the SAT subject test, you receive a large booklet containing all of the subject tests available on that date along with an answer sheet, and you have the option of taking the tests in whatever order you like. Students receive a five-minute break between the first and second tests and a one-minute ”stretch break” between the second and third tests (at least you’ll be able to stand up now!)

Before the new SAT test (which includes the writing section), some colleges required applicants to take three SAT Subject Tests, including the writing test and two other tests of the applicant’s choosing, in addition to the SAT. But now with writing being a standard component of the SAT, many selective colleges recommend applicants to submit scores for any two SAT Subject Tests. On the other hand, some of the most competitive schools still do require applicants to take 3 SAT Subject Tests and all three sections of the SAT.

Very important:  Check with CampusCompare’s Admissions Section on the specific college’s page or directly with the colleges of your interest to make sure you take the right tests (it’s crucial that you know what you take; you don’t want to miss out or  do more studying than you need to!).

Acting on the ACT

The ACT is also a standardized achievement test for college admissions in the United States and produced by ACT, Inc. The ACT test is divided into four multiple-choice subject tests: English, Math, Reading, and Science Reasoning. In February 2005, an optional writing test was added to the ACT, pretty much the same time that the writing section was added to the SAT test.

Here is how the scoring works. Subject test scores range from 1 to 36 and the composite score is calculated by taking the average of all four tests, which also ranges between 1 and 36. You can also take the writing test which does not affect the composite score; instead it gets its own mark ranging somewhere between 2 and 12, which takes into account both the English score and the essay. Sometimes the test includes an experimental section that may be a short version of any of the four major sections to test out new questions for upcoming ACT tests.  The experimental section doesn’t affect your overall score and is usually found during the June test.

The English section is the 45-minute English test covering grammar and rhetorical skills. There are 75-questions in this section which consists of a few passages sections underlined on one side of the page and options to correct the underlined portions on the other side of the page. There are also a few questions about the order of sentences in a paragraph and the author’s tone.

The Mathematics section is the 60-minute, 60-question math test which covers concepts such as algebra, geometry and trigonometry. Calculators are allowed in this section only. The calculator requirements are stricter than those for the SAT, in that computer algebra systems are prohibited.  This is the only section that has five “answer” choices instead of four.

The Reading section is 35 minutes with 40 questions that measure reading comprehension in four passages (taken and edited from books and magazines) on different subjects and styles including fiction, social science, humanities, and natural science.

The Science Reasoning test is a 35-minute, 40-question test. There are seven passages and each one is followed by five to seven questions. There are Data Representation passages with questions following each passage, Research Summary passages with six questions each, and one Conflicting Viewpoints passage with 7 questions.

The Optional Writing section is always administered at the end of the test and you have 30 minutes to write an essay. It is basically similar to the writing section in the SAT test, in which you have to respond to a given subject, generally about a social issue applicable to high school students. Two trained readers assign each essay a score between 1 and 6. The scores are then added to get to a final mark between 2 to 12. You can get a 0 if you leave your paper blank, are completely off topic, if you write in a language other than English (it is an English writing test, after all!), if it’s illegible (so write clearly), or if you don’t use a no. 2 pencil (so come withan extra stash of those to be on the safe side.)

No more need to act out or stay seated

Now you know your ACTs from your SATs… which is the first step to making the grade! Check out CampusCompare’s blog SAT Test vs. ACT Test: Find the Right Match for You! 

POSTED BY Reisa Resource IN SAT and ACT

02.25.08

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