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ISEESSAT PSATACTSATSAT IIAP Tests
The ACT
The ACT is an alternative to the SAT for many students and is becoming more widely accepted by colleges with each passing year. There are some notable differences between the ACT as compared to the SAT, such as the inclusion of a science section that is absent from the SAT and the way the test is scored.
It is generally speaking a good practice for students applying to college to prepare for and take both the SAT and ACT. They are different tests and students often have different relative performances. It is hard to predict how a student will perform on a standardized test of the magnitude of the SAT or ACT, although some experts have asserted that the ACT may be a more accurate reflection of a student's achievement whereas the SAT is an indication of aptitude.
This is based on the assumption that the ACT is a little more content driven and less ambiguous than the SAT, which is slightly more analytical in nature. Consider these two statements taken from the respective test creators: The ACT is "designed to assess students' general educational development and their ability to complete college-level work," while the SAT is "a measure of the critical thinking skills needed for academic success in college."
The best example of the more ’curricular’ nature of the ACT is the fact that it includes a science section, trigonometry concepts, and does not include a direct evaluation of student's vocabulary in context.* This is in contradiction to the SAT, which although it admittedly places heavy demands on students' knowledge of subject matter, is an aptly titled ’Reasoning Test,’ and therefore is more interested in critical thinking than retention of specific curricular concepts. Keep in mind that we are talking about very subtle differences here, but even just a few additional questions right or wrong can result in measurable score changes on both tests.
For more information, visit the ACT student resources page by clicking here. Our academic advisors will happily discuss which test, the SAT or the ACT, is appropriate for your student.
*It could be argued that the sentence completions section of the Critical Reading component of the SAT was created as an evaluative measure of a skill that is curricular in nature, namely vocabulary. However, it would be very difficult to defend this assertion. While most academic curricula through high school have a focus on building vocabulary, there is an absence of an agreed upon standard such as those that exist in mathematics, English language usage and grammar, and core reading competencies. This is due to the fact that the English language is so incomprehensibly expansive -the Old English Dictionary lists over 600,000 distinct words - making any attempt to standardize curriculums somewhat superfluous. The vocabulary that appears on the SAT is culled from reputable and often well-known texts, carefully scrutinized for any regional or cultural bias, and evaluated in experimental tests prior to being included on an actual SAT. There are many words that frequently appear on SAT tests and there are numerous vocabulary lists available that identify several thousand ’SAT words.’ SAT vocabulary lists are a construct of the test preparation industry, and while they can sometimes be an appropriate way to augment preparation for the test, there is no guarantee that learning the definition of every single word that has ever appeared on the SAT will lead to a high score. Ultimately, success on the critical reading section depends on a variety of reading skills. In particular, the sentence completions require the test taker to identify the best word choice in each question based on, not only his or her understanding of the individual meaning of the words in the answer choices, but how each will fit into the context of the sentence.
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