Tutor Answers "Should I Take the SAT or ACT?"

In my October newsletter, I presented the pros and cons of taking the SAT / ACT at various times throughout the “long junior year” (from the summer before through the summer after).  Before closing out this calendar year, I’ll address THE most common question parents ask me, a tutor of high school students: “Should my child take the SAT or the ACT?”

 The ACT requires students to answer 66 more questions than the SAT but extends just  15 minutes beyond the SAT’s 160 total minutes (without essay).  The student who will do best on the ACT is, therefore, not just the kid not afraid of science (the ACT has a science section, but the SAT does not), but also the kid with a quick mind and stamina for long, standardized exams.  While a good tutor can help to build the latter, the former quality’s innate.

The ACT gives students an average of just 46.5 seconds to answer each question.  On the other hand, the SAT affords them an average of 64.5 seconds for each question.  Over the course of three to four hours, the ACT’s 18 fewer seconds per question adds up to a pace that many students will find unrelenting.

Image by @ QuinoAl on Unsplash

Some parents to whom I’ve spoken have said that there’s a rumor circulating around a Westchester-County-town-that-shall-remain-nameless that the ACT’s questions are easier than those on the SAT.  (If that were true, that might justify giving students less time to answer each question.)  As a tutor of students who take both the SAT and the ACT, I don’t see that.  Moreover, most students I tutor score in roughly similar percentiles on the pre-ACT and PSAT, suggesting that their difficulty level is about the same.

While it’s clear that I favor the SAT for its slower pace, I also believe that the student’s own gut preference should guide which exam she prepares for.  If she’s unsure, ask her to examine one full previous ACT and one entire SAT and to evaluate which seems more comfortable.  If just perusing the exams doesn’t help her pick a clear winner, have her take one practice exam of each.  (You can find links to a Practice SAT on the Resources page of my website.  You’ll have to buy an “official” ACT prep book to get a full practice test there.)  Important: she should take the entire exam in one sitting to get a good idea of what that will feel like and she should take both in the same format (i.e., print out the online version).  But, she should NOT take both exams in one day!

A word of caution about preparing for both the ACT and the SAT at the same time.  Like learning two foreign languages simultaneously, c’est possible, pero es difícil (it can be done, but it’s difficult).  I strongly suggest taking the time to choose and prepare for ONE exam and then taking it twice before abandoning ship.  (Most students’ scores go up on the second try, but studies show diminishing returns after the third.)  I also recommend talking to a counselor or an experienced tutor before doing so.  I’d be happy to talk you through that process if you’re considering it.

If you’d like to weigh in on your own child’s experience with either the ACT or the SAT – or both! – enter a comment below.  (To receive the latest blog post in your inbox, click here.)

Finally, if you have any questions that you’d like to see answered in future newsletters, my next blog post, or YouTube video, email it to me now.  To get answers to many questions about education, check out and SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube Channel.  

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