Today, I answer another frequently asked question, , What’s the difference between the SAT and ACT?
Let us start with, what is the SAT?
The SAT is a standardized test administered by the College Board. It is meant to allow colleges and universities to make more informed decisions about college admissions.
The SAT measures 3 topics: Mathematics, Critical Reading, and Writing skills.
Most selective colleges will use your SAT scores, together with your transcripts, teacher recommendations, and extracurricular activities to predict the likelihood of your academic success.
The General Guidelines of the SAT Test are that:
It’s not a mandatory test, but it does occur outside the regular high school curriculum. So as to register for it, you’ll need to go online to- www.collegeboard.com. There'll be a $45 registration Charge and it’s administered 7 times each year.
The tests are generally held on Saturday mornings and the Total test time is 3 hours and 45 minutes
After taking the SAT, your scores are typically available on the internet 10-20 days after the exam, but the actual scores are mailed one month after the test.
Your official score report will be provided to you and your highschool, if you included the code, about 5 weeks after the test. Scholars who register online and would like to receive a paper score report by mail as well as the net score report must request it when they register. Students who register by mail and who do not have active College Board online accounts may continue to receive paper score reports.
Score Choice gives you the option to select which scores (by test date for the SAT and by individual test for SAT Subject Tests) you send to schools as agreed by an institution’s stated score-use practice.
If you decide not to use Score Choice, all your scores will be sent to your receivers. Students should still feel comfortable sending all scores, since most schools consider a student’s best score.
Though the ACT has similarities to the SAT, in that’s also intended to allow universities to make better informed admission calls, there are one or two subtle differences. But like the SAT, most selective colleges use your ACT scores, with your transcripts, teacher recommendations, and extracurricular activities to make predictions about the chance of your educational success.
So what is the ACT Test you are asking? The ACT is a national college admissions examination that consists of four multiple-choice tests: English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science. There's also an optional ACT Plus Writing test which encompasses the 4 subject tests, as well as a 30 minute Writing Test.
So as to register for it, you’ll need to go online to- www.act.org . There will be a $34 Registration Charge without the Writing Portion and $49.50 with the Writing.
ACT results are accepted by all 4-year colleges and universities in the U.S.
The ACT includes 215 multiple-choice questions and takes about 3 hours and 30 minutes to finish, including a short break (or just over four hours if you are taking the ACT Plus Writing). Actual testing time is 2 hours and 55 minutes (plus 30 minutes if you're taking the ACT Plus Writing).
The ACT is administered on six test dates within the United States
After taking the ACT, your multiple Choice scores are typically available on the internet within 10-20 days after the examination.
William Lynch is a leading expert and consumer advocate in planning for college. He is coached hundreds of families the best way to successfully navigate the college planning and college funding process.