SAT-ACT Similarity: You may as well take both

We have heard more than a few private college counselors in Fairfield County suggest that students should focus on either the SAT or the ACT.  While we respect most such counselors, our experience has been that most college counselors are not test prep experts.  This issue creates another example.

The SAT and ACT were never as different as non-experts seemed to think.  The whole yarn about the ACT being more about what is learned in school and the SAT being more of an aptitude test was hyperbolic as demonstrated by the remarkable similarity in scoring by students who prepared for both tests equally.  But now, the two tests are so similar that it makes sense for most students to take both tests – if they have the energy and time to do so.

For those interested in the details:

Reading: The SAT and ACT reading sections are nearly identical now. There are no more sentence completions in the SAT.  Instead, the new SAT has a series of long reading passages, much like the ACT.

Grammar:  The SAT and ACT grammar sections are also now almost identical.  The new SAT has done away with its spot the error and improving sentences sentences.  Now, exactly like the ACT, the new SAT has a series of passages that require editing.

Math: The math on the new SAT is reasonably different than the ACT.   But overall, the need for mastering the fundamentals remains the same.

Science: the ACT has a science section.  This is distinctly different.  But the SAT has incorporated graphs and charts into both its reading and grammar sections. Each is supposed to test what the ACT science section measures.

But otherwise, the basics for each test are similar enough that we can save parents and students time, money, and energy by creating a class that trains students to excel in both.