Which College Prep Exam Should I Take, ACT or SAT?

As you are already aware, the state of Michigan has changed the exam that all juniors will take next spring from the ACT to the SAT.  This will be a new experience for almost all of our students as they had been preparing for the ACT for many years.  This change as prompted some to start asking questions about which exam they SHOULD take, or does it matter.  About 80% of our juniors took the PSAT last week, which is good practice for the the spring, but again, the SAT will be new next spring, so there is still some question as to what it will look like exactly.  We wanted to provide a little more of an answer for you regarding the two tests.  There was also an article in Time magazine last week about the impending change, and what it might mean for your student.  I wanted to try and post that article here as well, but I have not been able to find a "free" link.  If I do, I will post it at a later date.  I will also continue to post more information over the coming months on the SAT, and ways in which students can practice and be ready for this big test.

In the meantime, a little history—back in the day, some colleges required the SAT (East and West coast mostly), and some required the ACT (Midwest).  However, over the last 20 years, that has changed, and ALL colleges accept either the ACT or the SAT. They are both valid college entrance tests used in the college application review process.  There is actually also a growing movement by some colleges to not even factor the score for either test into the application process, but that is another post for another time. 

So if colleges don’t have a preference, how do we decide?   The short answer is: take both.

They each measure the same body of knowledge but ACT and SAT go at it in different ways. One approach might be better for your student, or one approach might be better for my student.  You won’t really know until your student actually takes the tests.

In general, our juniors take a college entrance test late in their junior year (in spring 2016 it will be on April 12), so they will have the most amount of knowledge to apply to the test as possible, while still having a test score ready for their senior fall college applications.

There are national tests dates on Saturdays for both tests in June, right after school gets out, so that’s a good time to take the tests.

To complicate matters just a bit though, is the fact that all juniors will take the SAT this year (last year it was the ACT), and so our students will already have one test in the bank, as they approach the end of their junior year.

For some students, that one college entrance test will suffice, and if they know that the score they received will be acceptable to the college(s) of their choice, they may not need to take the ACT.

For others though, who are applying to selective colleges (which may require or recommend one test over the other) and who are not sure if the SAT they took in April was their best effort, we are advising that they sign up to take the ACT in June.

Make sense? If not, have your student contact their guidance counselor!