Many students take both the SAT and ACT tests every year for college admissions, but what are the differences in the the two tests?
The SAT which originally was an acronym of “Scholastic Aptitude Test” consists of two sections of reading and writing, and math. The math section has 44 questions with a time limit of two 35 minute sections, while on the other hand the reading and writing section has 54 questions with two 32 minute sections. The test adds up to a total of 98 questions within a time span of 134 minutes. The SAT starts with the reading and writing section then students have a 10 minute break before starting the math section.
This year, College Board changed the SAT formatting from being on paper to being solely online using secure test browsers. When the student takes the first section of each subject, the test analyzes how the student performed on that section before adapting the following section to either be more or less difficult. Scoring for the SAT is done on a scale of between a 400-1600. Each section consists of a maximum of 800 points to be earned.
The ACT which stands for American College Testing includes English, math, reading, and science within its test. Testing for the ACT is at least 2 hour and 55 minutes, and another 40 minutes if students take the optional writing test. The order of the five sections in the ACT are English, math, reading, science, and an optional essay. The English section is 45 minutes with 75 questions, the math section is 60 minutes with 60 questions, the reading section is 35 minutes with 40 questions, the science section is 35 minutes with 40 minutes, and the optional essay is 40 minutes with one prompt. The ACT without the optional essay adds up to 215 questions with 175 minutes to be completed. Students have a 15 minute break after the math section, and an additional 5 minute break before the optional essay.
Currently, the ACT is offered in both online, and paper testing formats. The test is formatted the exact same between both digital and paper options. The ACT is scored on a scale of 1-36. The scoring on the ACT is done through averaging the four tests into a composite score which is either rounded up or down.
Both the ACT and SAT are accepted at all colleges with neither test being a preference at admissions offices. The SAT offers a shorter test with more time per question, and has a greater emphasis on math when compared to the ACT. However, The ACT still offers a paper test and has a science section. Ultimately, both tests offer concise ways of measuring where a student is regarding their high school education before going to college.
Sources:
College Board
ACT
