Has anyone had a child who did significantly better on the SAT than the ACT?

[Jugglin'5]

I am kicking myself. My oldest has taken the ACT for the second time and not performed in a way that I would think corresponds to her actual abilities. She managed to get her score up two points after working through The Real ACT book, but it still isn't a great score. In other words - her grades, ranks in outside classes, ITBS scores all suggest she should have scored much higher. I pushed the ACT because I did so much better on it myself, and I heard over and over that most girls do better on it. I started having her take College Board produced SAT practice tests (the blue book) after her last ACT two weeks ago, and she is scoring MUCH better, at least on these practice tests. She says the time allowed makes it easier. She never can finish properly on the ACT. She'll take the SAT Oct. 6. I'm hoping those practice tests are reasonably accurate. :glare: Live and learn. I won't make any assumptions with my next kid. She will take both before I push her one way or another.

[chepyl]

I started taking the ACT in 7th grade. I took it once every year until my senior year when I took it twice. I never scored above a 26. My equivalent score on the SAT was significantly higher and I took it 2 times. I hated the science reasoning section of the ACT!

[Jugglin'5]

Yes, that was my own experience. It seems like doing significantly, not just slightly, better on the ACT is more common, at least anecdotally. I am hoping my daughter does the oppposite, but you don't seem to hear about that as much.

 

Chepyl, the science section is definitely the worst part of the problem for her. She is underperforming on all the sections, though, even reading and English.

[snowbeltmom]

I had my oldest take both the PSAT and the ACT last year. His scores were in the same percentile for both tests. However, he took the PSAT "cold" and he worked through the Reading and English sections (under timed conditions)from the Red ACT Book prior to taking the ACT.

 

While his ACT English score remained constant (within 1 point) for each practice test, his reading score ranged from a low of high 20's to a high of 36 depending on the test. From reading the posts on cc, this score fluctuation is not unusual on the ACT, both for the Reading section and the Science section. Imo, this is a flaw in the test. Kids' scores should not fluctuate that much.

 

He has worked through the Reading sections of 4 SAT tests from the SAT Blue Book. His Reading score has only fluctuated by 20 points.

 

For oldest, he is going to concentrate on the SAT because I think it is a more reliable test. I am hoping that the SAT is the better choice for my younger kids as well.

 

If not, I will make sure that they take the ACT more than once since the score results seem to be somewhat dependent on the version of the test that is taken.

[Barbara H]

She never can finish properly on the ACT. She'll take the SAT Oct. 6. I'm hoping those practice tests are reasonably accurate. :glare: Live and learn. I won't make any assumptions with my next kid. She will take both before I push her one way or another.

 

Best of luck with the Oct SAT - hope she comes through with a great score.

 

I agree it is really is an individual thing and the best approach is to sample tests of both and see which the student does better with and then concentrate on that test.

 

The problem your daughter is experiencing with time on the ACT is a common one. It does tend to be the case that some students who struggle with time find it less of a problem on the SAT.

[Jugglin'5]

She took the PSAT both sophomore year and junior year, and her scores actually went down her junior year. :001_huh: Of course, looking back, I realize that perhaps it wasn't a good idea to let her stay out late the night before at a football game. :tongue_smilie: This was another reason I decided to go for the ACT, but I probably overreacted to the lower PSAT score which was probably due to the late night.

 

She tells me she actually has time on the SAT to go back and check, which she has never been able to do on the ACT. She says feeling so rushed makes her anxious. I hope this confidence with the practice SATs transfers to the real one.

[Storm Bay]

So far, we've done only the SAT as dd did well & when we asked at colleges, they said that most students do about the same. That said, if you don't do as well as you'd like on one consistently, then try the other one because there are exceptions, as we've seen here.

 

It can also depend on the day. Dd did better on the PSAT her sophomore year despite improving her score in the two harder sections (significantly in one of them) because she had an off day on the easiest one for her (only 1 wrong the first time). She is a good test taker, & received a letter of commendation from the National Merit peole, but won't be a National Merit semifinalist (she was in tears when she got her score.)

 

Dd also did her SAT cold, & did it again a month later. Because she's never practiced, she didn't finish her essay the first time through. Most schools don't even look at that, of course. She went up in 2 categories & down in one. Many colleges now do super scoring, so it's worth doing them more than once.

[Kendall]

I had a child do better on the SAT than the ACT so we took the SAT a 2nd time and didn't redo the ACT. He didn't take them the same year though, so maybe that isn't fair, but I know he would have had to prep to improve the ACT. The SAT was higher just from living/schooling.

[elizabeth]

Yes my daughter performed better and enjoyed the SAT it will likely be her ticket to merit aid. The ACT we just received today was 3 points lower than it should have been to match the SAT score. Every point matters when you are seeking merit aid. She loathes the ACT with the passion of a thousand burning suns. She is retaking it in Oct. This time she WILL practice the science reasoning portions.;) We are just using the SAT scores for most apps but the school she wants in the most we had already picked as a report for the ACT so the less than stellar scores are going there, I hope they see a higher score in the Oct exam and a strong work ethic to get right back up and go at it again.

[Lori D.]

I had DSs do one of each (SAT and ACT) precisely for this reason. Ironically, they scored almost identically on each; one son was identical; the other scored a bit higher on the SAT (which surprised me -- he's the one I esp. thought would NOT do so well on the SAT and do better on the ACT...The ACT was 2 points lower than his equivalent SAT score was.)

 

Both DSs scored a little lower than where the PSAT score from the previous year placed them, but the SAT practice tests were pretty accurate. I don't regret the decision; I think it was good for them to do both. BTW: In case you are interested, here's the comparison chart of SAT and ACT scores.

 

BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Lori D.