ACT or SAT: Which standardized test suits you better?

"All kidding aside, here’s the truth: testing counts far less than most students and parents think it does, but more than most colleges are willing to admit.”

– Robin Mamlet, Former Dean of Admissions at Stanford, Swarthmore, and Sarah Lawrence

If you’re planning to pursue your higher education in the US, we’re certain you’ve come across the two most commonly taken standardized tests - the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Testing Assessment (ACT). While both the tests are standardized, they are distinctly different from each other.

The purpose behind both the exams is quite similar: to demonstrate the students’ college readiness. However, despite their comparable aim, the tests differ in structure, timings, content matter, and scoring.

So, beginning of the sophomore year, most students sharpen their No.2 pencils - and debate which exam to take. A commonly circulated opinion about the two tests is that the students with a more robust English background might perform better on the ACTs, while students who are strong in Math might perform better on the SATs. However, that is folk fiction.

We’ll provide a more comprehensive analysis of the two tests to help you choose better than just trust opinions.

	ACT	SAT
Tests’ Structure	English Math Reading Science Writing (Optional)	Reading Writing and Language Math (No calculator) Math (Calculator)
Length of Assessment	2 Hours 55 Minutes (Without Writing) 3 Hours 35 Minutes (With Writing)	3 Hours
Time Allotted to Individual Sections	English - 45 Minutes Math - 60 Minutes Reading - 35 Minutes Science - 35 Minutes Writing - 40 Minutes (Optional)	Reading - 65 Minutes Writing and Language - 25 Minutes Math (No Calculator) - 25 Minutes Math (Calculator) - 55 Minutes
Total Number of Questions	215	154
​Number of Questions in Individual Sections	English - 75 Questions Math - 60 Questions Reading - 40 Questions Science - 40 Questions Writing - 1 Essay	Reading - 52 Questions Writing and Language - 44 Questions Math (No Calculator) - 20 Questions Math (Calculator) - 38 Questions
Scoring	1-36	​400-1600
Cost	$60 (Without essay) $85 (With essay)	$55
Testing Dates	February, April, June, July September, October, December	March, May, June, August, October, December

Both the SAT and ACT provide special accommodations for students with disabilities or documented learning differences. This can include wheelchair-accessible rooms, braille versions of tests, access to speech-to-text technology or interpreter, large-type test booklets, additional breaks, and more.

However, students who plan to take the SAT are encouraged to request accommodations through their high schools. In contrast, students who plan to take the ACT are encouraged to do the same through ACT’s Test Accessibility and Accommodations System.

The timelines for the accommodation request might differ, so we urge the students to check the official websites as early as possible.

THE HEADMASTER TIP

Instead of settling on one test based on the above-mentioned differences, we highly recommend you take a practice test of each under ideal exam conditions and compare your scores. Find the official practice tests for both the ACT and the SAT and compare your performance across both on - https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/ACT-SAT-Concordance-Tables.pdf