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ACT vs SAT now...


lisabees
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Before the redesigned SAT, most would say a student does better on one than the other.  Is that still true? DSD got a lower SAT score the second time (1140).  I have hesitated about the ACT because of the fast pace.  She never finishes her exams.  On her AP Lang exam, she didn't have time for 21 problems and got a 3!!!!

 

 

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My slower speed child could not finish the SAT and ACT the first time round. He did finish the recent June SAT and his composite score went up by 250 points. Both my kids are stronger in math than reading comprehension which shows in a high ACT English score and a lower ACT Reading score. Their SAT math score is also higher than their SAT ERW score.

 

Try this ACT practice test PDF by ACT under timed conditions and see how she score. Is her reading speed slow or color the bubble speed slow? https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/Preparing-for-the-ACT.pdf

 

ETA:

Both my kids did badly for ACT science and they said they were exhausted by the time science section came around. They took SAT a few months later and were prepared for the long slog for all four sections of SAT. My oldest did not retake the SAT but my youngest did and he wasn't tired this time round after the test. So test stamina did improve for this kid.

Edited by Arcadia
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My daughter definitly preferred the ACT over the SAT. That being said she never took the SAT, just the PSAT and a practice SAT.

 

ETA: My daughter is VERY strong in math and science. Has a very fast reading speed/comprehension. She always finishes tests with lots of time to spare. The ACT she said she did not really have extra time.

Edited by Plateau Mama
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You're not going to know until you take a practice test, but it is a perfectly reasonable ACT strategy for mid-20's to do three of the four passages a little slow but with high accuracy then guess on the fourth.

 

It was a slog to get DD's speed up to finish reading and science on time, but she needed all the passages for the scores she needed.

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You're not going to know until you take a practice test, but it is a perfectly reasonable ACT strategy for mid-20's to do three of the four passages a little slow but with high accuracy then guess on the fourth.

 

It was a slog to get DD's speed up to finish reading and science on time, but she needed all the passages for the scores she needed.

 

Ah!  These are the kinds of strategies we need to know.

 

She is taking practice tests this week.  Time will tell.

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My older one did extremely well on the "old" SAT, so we went with that.

 

My one that just graduated took the "old" SAT in the fall of 2015, of course right before they changed the content in 2016. We have to submit scores to the county, so mine took college tests relatively early for that and the practice. We decided that she would not do as well on the newer version, so she took the ACT on the next round. She liked it better overall and did much better on math. So for her, the ACT was better.

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