This is probably the most common question I get.  We prepare students for both. We emphasize the SAT for two reasons.  First, around 80% of our students use their SAT score because it is far more susceptible to practice.  In most cases, practicing and learning the test can increase scores.  And preparing for the SAT makes the ACT seem “easier.” The ACT can seem more straightforward.

The principal reason we can’t be 100% certain which test a student will do better on is that we cannot precisely replicate the testing conditions so that we know how a student will react to the severe time constraints students encounter in taking the ACT.  We prepare the students here for both tests and coordinate the preparations.

There are differences in the two tests.  The structures of the two tests are described on the next pages.

The SAT was originally designed to be an aptitude test.  In more recent years, they have tried to describe it as an academic assessment and reasoning test.  But it still keeps aptitude elements in its questions.  Being aware of those elements and preparing for them is one of the keys to increasing SAT test scores.

The ACT claims it measures what it says is academic achievement.  It is more staightforward and is less “tricky” than the SAT. There are more questions on the ACT and less time to take it.  The ACT depends more on pacing and speed because it relies on time as a factor of difficulty.  The ACT may be a fairer test and friendlier because it asks questions that students are used to seeing, however certain elements of the ACT like the advanced math questions (trigonometry), some of the reading, and science section make it more difficult for substance.  The ACT is much more time pressured and is broken into fewer longer format content tests which require steady concentration.