Quick answer: It depends on your academic strengths – most colleges now accept both!
Here are some quick tools to help you decide:
- Get familiar with each test!
First, just get to know what the ACT and SAT look like:
ACT:- English (75 Questions, 45m)
- Math (60 Q, 60m)
- Reading (40 Q 35m)
- Science (40 Q, 35m)
- Writing (40m, “optional” section but required by many colleges)
- (Your score depends on the total number of correct answers, so if you don’t finish, guess!)
SAT:
- Reading (52 Questions, 65m)
- Writing & Language (44 Q, 35m)
- Math – No Calculator (20 Q, 25m)
- Math – With Calculator (38 Q, 55m)
- Essay (50m, “optional” section but required by many colleges)
- (Your score depends on the total number of correct answers, so if you don’t finish, guess! Your older siblings or parents may remember the SAT “guessing penalty,” but this is a thing of the past!)
- Take the Princeton Review Quiz to see which test you are best suited for!
This simple quiz uses eleven questions about your reading, writing, vocabulary, and math skills to determine which test would probably work best! - Just take both tests and compare your scores!
Click here to print a free ACT practice test, and here to print a free SAT practice test! Make sure you time yourself and work under actual testing conditions!After you take both tests, use this scale from Compass Prep to compare your scores! (Find the column with your SAT score. Then find the row with your ACT score. Look for the box where they meet, and this handy chart will tell you which test to prefer!)
