The SAT and ACT

The SAT and

ACT

By Vicki Carey

From kindergarten to high school graduation, yearly testing has always been a passion of mine. I’ve always loved the store-bought snacks, chatting with old friends you saw only at testing time, making new friends, but most of all racing against the timer and other testers to get the highest score and fastest time. Once, years ago, I caused my father great consternation by gleefully reporting all the times I’d finished before any one else. He thought I was recklessly filling in answer bubbles. In actuality, I had done my best, but I was enjoying myself in the process.

Since every year of testing afforded me an adventure full of wonderful memories, you would think I was overjoyed when the time came to take the ACT and SAT. Here was an opportunity to tackle harder tests, and, with more testers, I would have more competition and opportunity to make friends. Not so! I was terrified: terrified of what the tests would contain, how my scores would determine in what colleges I could enroll, my scholarship eligibility, even my future career. In the end, however, they weren’t so bad; in fact, I thoroughly enjoyed them. I took the ACT twice and the SAT once, and this is what I found.

The ACT is about three hours long and has four sections: English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning. The English test is 45 minutes, has 75 questions, and tests your skills in the usage and mechanics of words, as well as your rhetorical (editing) skills. Its questions deal more with grammar, punctuation and communication skills than with comprehension. The math section is 60 minutes and has as many problems. It tests your skills in algebra (pre, elementary, and first year), geometry (coordinate and plane), and trigonometry. Saxon math is good for this. You might want to use a supplementary geometry course as Saxon focuses more on algebra and trig. You are allowed to bring a calculator, but you must make sure it is not a graphing one. The ACT has a list of forbidden calculators. When you enroll for the test, you will be given the list.

The reading section tests comprehension of passages in Social Sciences and Sciences, Arts and Literature. You are expected to analyze and interpret passages, and while the passages are supposed to be college level, have no fear. If you comprehend the classics (Persuasion, David Copperfield, Ivanhoe, etc…) or the King James Bible, you won’t have a problem. I found science reasoning to be the most challenging part of the test. You study graphs, analyze one or more experiments at a time, draw conclusions from the experiments, and predict future results if certain aspects of them are changed, based on the information given. You are not allowed a calculator and are expected to draw conclusions through observation and understanding. This is the one part of the test I didn’t really study for, and in retrospect, I think if I had read science books with graphs (lab manuals?) I could have gotten a higher score.

Unlike the ACT, the SAT has only two sections – math and verbal. The math test has about 43 problems. It tests arithmetic, algebra (up to first year), and geometry. The verbal test has about 78 questions. Again, more questions than time! It tests critical reading (comprehension, word order), analogies (yolk is to eggshell as knight is to…), and sentence completion (tests your writing abilities and English skills). The two main tests are divided into subsections and alternated so when you take the test it will be like this: math, verbal, math, verbal.

IMPORTANT: My description of the SAT is valid for this year’s testing only. In 2005, a new SAT test will be unveiled, one that will have three sections: reading, writing, and arithmetic. This test is supposedly less coachable than the original SAT. The reading section replaces the original verbal section, and will contain more reading passages than the old verbal test. The completely new writing section will require an essay, and will ask questions concerning grammar. The reading and writing question will use literary terminology (simile, personification, paradox). The math section’s changes will include second year algebra, and the math problem’s language will be more technical and scholarly ("the union of the two sets" instead of "the total number in both groups"). Word analogies (verbal) and quantitative comparisons (math), my favorite questions in the test, will be nonexistent in the new SAT.

Now, which test are you going to take? Some colleges have a preference. If you know what college you plan to attend, ask them what their preference is. Otherwise, I would advise taking both tests. The SAT and ACT accomplish distinct purposes. I think the ACT is more for you to understand yourself, while the SAT is more for you to understand the colleges you are considering. To me, the ACT was fairly personal and rather like an extra long reading comprehension test, instead of one that tested four distinctly different categories. Even the score sheet focused more on my academic strengths and weaknesses than on prospective colleges. Besides explaining my scores, it actually recommended a major area of study with career ideas based on my strengths. As my highest scores were in the English and reading sections, the ACT recommended Creative Writing.

I found the SAT to be more technical and scholarly, more college-based. That is, the score sheet emphasized colleges: one whole page was dedicated to profiling the colleges you requested to receive your scores. There are four main categories (Institutional Characteristics, High School Preparation, Freshman Admission, Costs/Financial Aid), each with three to five sub-categories such as the size of the college, what high school courses you must take to qualify, what information you must send when enrolling, and application deadlines. This means that the SAT score sheet gives, at a glance, information which could take hours to compile yourself. If you choose not to have your scores sent to any colleges, or if you want further information on schools and universities, you can either purchase the SAT’s College Handbook (Amazon, Alibris, and Half.com sell books at great prices) or request it at your local library.

Enrolling is the easiest part of both tests. IMPORTANT: always enroll on time! The late enrollment fee is nearly twice the ordinary fee. You can either sign up online or mail in your application. You give them your name, address, birth date, Social Security number, etc ... They will choose the testing center which is closest to you. You’re walked through the whole process. On both the ACT and the SAT enrollment sheets, you have the option of sending your scores to four to six colleges free; after that they’re each about six or seven dollars. I didn’t send my scores to any college because I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with them, and I wanted only my very best scores to be considered.

There are many study guides for the SAT and ACT. Computer programs are helpful, too. Kaplan and Princeton are two companies that publish study help books. You can also pick up free study and information packets for whichever test you are taking at your test location. I rather liked using books and study guides. However, in my experience, there is no substitute for practice tests. Since the ACT and SAT test similar subjects, you can use your time wisely by preparing for both at the same time.

Both tests offer to send a transcript of your answers as well as a copy of your testing book. If this is your first time and you are seriously considering taking the test again if your scores aren’t satisfactory, I would advise taking advantage of this option. I did it the first time I took the ACT and found it essential in enabling me to raise my scores. I was able to see first hand what I did and what kind of mistakes I made – "Oops, I hurried on this one," or, "Eeek! I need to study this more!" I didn’t do this with my SAT because I wasn’t intending to take it again.

After you have enrolled, create a plan of action, "On this day I take the test. I have this many days before that time, and this is how I’m going to succeed." Take practice tests. Identify your weaknesses and start studying early in the morning. This is very important. Your mind is freshest in the morning and is more willing to adjust to studying. Unless you have seriously tried to work in the morning and it proved impossible, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness and get up early in the morning. Not only will it help you with studying, it will give you a jump start on your day and enable you to accomplish more. Of course, getting up early means that you have to go to bed at a decent hour. For me, this means that if I’m going to rise at 5:30, I must go to bed at 9:30. When your alarm goes off, GET UP!!! Every time I have slept in, unless I have gone to bed extremely late, I have been tired and draggy for the rest of the day. Seek the Lord and find how best you can make the most of your testing experience.

Well, I hope this has helped you. Any other information you need can be acquired at the ACT and SAT web pages. The ACT web page is at www.act.org and the SAT webpage is at www.collegeboard.com. If you want to find out more about the new SAT, Time magazine ran an article on it in the October 27, 2003 issue. (http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/from_search/0,10987,1101031117-538950,00.html). Unfortunately, you can’t read the article online and must purchase it for $2.50. However, if you will take the test some time in 2005 or after, this article could be very helpful. Happy testing, God bless, and remember that His plans for you are always for good, to give you a hope and a future! (Jeremiah 29:11)

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