Vida Winter Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 DD has been prepping for the SAT but may end up taking the ACT. I'd like to know how the essay portions compare (I know it is an optional part in the ACT but the colleges she will apply to require it). I guess I should have said "essay" instead of "writing" in the title of this post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Slightly different. As far as I understand: The ACT writing prompt is always a topic that is "relevant to high school students" - examples are school uniforms, soda ban in schools, censorship of school newspaper. Pick a side and argue, but also briefly address the other side's arguments. The SAT writing prompt has a more general topic (stress-good or bad, can failure lead to success...). Pick a side and argue, include examples from history, literature, and/or personal life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Here's a good chart showing the difference between the ACT and the SAT. http://www.kaptest.com/College/Getting-into-College/About-the-Tests/SAT/sat-vs-act.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 Thanks, all. It looks like ACT might be easier overall for dd, including the essay. Her list of colleges don't seem to stress SAT or ACT either way. Teachin'Mine, thanks for the Kaplan link - it spells out the differences between the tests clearly. This is my least favorite part of high school - I wish we didn't have to spend precious school time on test prep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 For what it is worth, my son preferred the general format of the ACT over the SAT, but preferred the SAT writing prompts. It was just hard for him to get worked up over those school related issues that the ACT writing prompts raise. Bear in mind that the ACT writing portion is optional and comes at the end of the testing period, whereas the SAT essay is given to all test takers at the beginning of the exam. My adolescent son was ready to eat his test booklet by the end of the regular ACT testing time. Writing an essay on a subject for he had no interest after several hours of filling in bubble sheets was not a pleasant experience for him. Your mileage may vary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuvingLife Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Here's a good chart showing the difference between the ACT and the SAT. http://www.kaptest.com/College/Getting-into-College/About-the-Tests/SAT/sat-vs-act.html I really like this, thank you for posting Teachin'Mine.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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