High SAT vs High ACT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids find the ACT easier.

+ 1. ACT is much easier. In fact, what I heard is non-intellectual students submits ACT because they cannot get a high SAT score.

Source?

An admissions officer at a college in the 20-40 range.

[Anonymous]

Which do you think my child should take? He's autistic, with learning disabilities in reading and writing. Very strong in math, and will take calculus Junior year. When he took the PSATs as a 9th grader (unscored), he said the reading comprehension was really, really hard, but the grammar and math sections were fine. He's already been approved for double time for the SATs and I assume will get the same for the ACTs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s interesting. The ACT rewards speed, so it makes sense that it would reward those who read a lot (more than just what’s required for school).

Anecdotally, my DC did better on the ACT, which surprised me a bit, since math is not his strong suit, and I thought he’d benefit from having more time there. But it wasn’t even close.

My DC does conform to the hypothesis. He is a voracious reader — he’s currently reading a book on the history of the Ottoman Empire for fun, and knows as much about current events and politics as just about anyone I know (and I worked on Capitol Hill). He’s near the top of his class, but he’s not going to waste his time studying stuff he’s not interested in any more than he has to, so his grades aren’t perfect. That said, his teachers give him rave reviews, because “he’s always got something interesting to say.” I think he’s going to blossom in college when he gets to focus on things that he’s passionate about, and he’s going to be one of those kids that professors enjoy teaching.

So, one anecdote in favor of the theory, I guess.

Would you mind sharing a little more about this? What level of math had he completed when he took the ACT? And how big was the difference in his score between ACT and SAT?

DP here. Look, another poster's experience on this really isn't helpful to yours or anyone else's. Just have your kid take both the SAT and ACT and see what the results are. They're often unpredictable.

Example. We had three kids take both. One got a 600 on the SAT verbal, a 710 on the math -- but a 34 on the English section of the ACT and a 30 on the math. Another got a 770 on the SAT verbal and a 660 on the math, but only had a 24 composite on the ACT and didn't crack anywhere near a 30 on any subject. The third got virtually identical scores on both. And for what it worth, the one who got the 770 on the SAT verbal was a voracious reader, and the one who got the 34 on the English ACT was not. Not even close.

Look, my kid has anxiety and hates standardized testing, so I’m trying to help them avoid having to take any more tests than they have to. Interested to know what “math is not his strong suit” meant in this context. But thanks for sharing your experience (immediately after noting that “another poster’s experience on this really isn’t helpful to yours or anyone else’s, LOL).

I’m the pp who described their kid, and I don’t remember the SAT math score, but the composite was 100s of points lower (comparatively). The tutor we hired said that he should absolutely focus on the ACT. DC was just finishing geometry when he took the SAT. What I mean by “not his strong suit” — he’s a straight A student, except for Bs in one math class, and he is in honors math, but not the top tier “AP” math track (we made the decision that he would be better off in the long run being more comfortable vs. struggling in the higher track). He had a 36 in Reading the first time, and after some tutoring, brought his math up from a 25 to a 29 and his science up from a 33 to a 36 (English was a bit lower the first time, but I don’t remember the exact ##). Anyway, he ended up with a composite of 34 (29/36/35/36), which is great (I’m very proud of him), but still pretty unbalanced.

I do agree with those above who point out that “speed” involves processing speed, as well as reading speed. Also agree that every kid is different.

FWIW, my kid has pretty severe test anxiety (nausea, the whole bit), and taking the test multiple times was a good thing. One really helpful thing that the tutoring did was force my kid to take timed practice tests. Obviously, a motivated kid can do this on their own, but a kid with anxiety is less likely to do it voluntarily. He learned a lot of substance and test-taking strategies from the tutor, but it was also a form of anxiety “exposure therapy.” By the time he got to the second ACT, he was so much more confident and “desensitized,” for lack of a better word.

Thanks, very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids find the ACT easier.

+ 1. ACT is much easier. In fact, what I heard is non-intellectual students submits ACT because they cannot get a high SAT score.

Source?

An admissions officer at a college in the 20-40 range.

This is an absurd statement...there are concordance tables that map SAT to ACT scores...and each score is tied to percentiles. So, even if one test is "easier"--and there is no evidence that that is the case--colleges are going to look at the percentiles that are associated with the scores. Unless someone is suggesting that the 95th percentilae of SAT scores means something different than the 95th percentile of ACTs...but even that is absurd because they are nationalized percentiles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids find the ACT easier.

+ 1. ACT is much easier. In fact, what I heard is non-intellectual students submits ACT because they cannot get a high SAT score.

Source?

An admissions officer at a college in the 20-40 range.

This is an absurd statement...there are concordance tables that map SAT to ACT scores...and each score is tied to percentiles. So, even if one test is "easier"--and there is no evidence that that is the case--colleges are going to look at the percentiles that are associated with the scores. Unless someone is suggesting that the 95th percentilae of SAT scores means something different than the 95th percentile of ACTs...but even that is absurd because they are nationalized percentiles.

Go back to read OP's post. That's absolutely absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids find the ACT easier.

+ 1. ACT is much easier. In fact, what I heard is non-intellectual students submits ACT because they cannot get a high SAT score.

Source?

An admissions officer at a college in the 20-40 range.

This is an absurd statement...there are concordance tables that map SAT to ACT scores...and each score is tied to percentiles. So, even if one test is "easier"--and there is no evidence that that is the case--colleges are going to look at the percentiles that are associated with the scores. Unless someone is suggesting that the 95th percentilae of SAT scores means something different than the 95th percentile of ACTs...but even that is absurd because they are nationalized percentiles.

Go back to read OP's post. That's absolutely absurd.

Why? OP described an individual’s personal observation. The discussion so far has focused on the differences in the two tests (which are significant) and the fact that most students do better on one vs. the other. Why that is, and what common characteristics are shared by the students that prefer each test, is a very interesting question to me. If you don’t want to think about this, I’d suggest reading another thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which do you think my child should take? He's autistic, with learning disabilities in reading and writing. Very strong in math, and will take calculus Junior year. When he took the PSATs as a 9th grader (unscored), he said the reading comprehension was really, really hard, but the grammar and math sections were fine. He's already been approved for double time for the SATs and I assume will get the same for the ACTs.

You won’t really know unless you have him take both. It’s what almost everyone I know does, anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids find the ACT easier.

+ 1. ACT is much easier. In fact, what I heard is non-intellectual students submits ACT because they cannot get a high SAT score.

Source?

An admissions officer at a college in the 20-40 range.

This is an absurd statement...there are concordance tables that map SAT to ACT scores...and each score is tied to percentiles. So, even if one test is "easier"--and there is no evidence that that is the case--colleges are going to look at the percentiles that are associated with the scores. Unless someone is suggesting that the 95th percentilae of SAT scores means something different than the 95th percentile of ACTs...but even that is absurd because they are nationalized percentiles.

There are various concordance tables published and they aren’t uniform.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which do you think my child should take? He's autistic, with learning disabilities in reading and writing. Very strong in math, and will take calculus Junior year. When he took the PSATs as a 9th grader (unscored), he said the reading comprehension was really, really hard, but the grammar and math sections were fine. He's already been approved for double time for the SATs and I assume will get the same for the ACTs.

You won’t really know unless you have him take both. It’s what almost everyone I know does, anyway.

Yes, and it is possible to take practice versions of the SAT and ACT on a Saturday, returned with scores. (Our high school PSTA organizes this.) Then look at SAT/ACT concordance tables to tell which one produced a higher score, and then focus on taking that test officially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids find the ACT easier.

+ 1. ACT is much easier. In fact, what I heard is non-intellectual students submits ACT because they cannot get a high SAT score.

Source?

An admissions officer at a college in the 20-40 range.

This is an absurd statement...there are concordance tables that map SAT to ACT scores...and each score is tied to percentiles. So, even if one test is "easier"--and there is no evidence that that is the case--colleges are going to look at the percentiles that are associated with the scores. Unless someone is suggesting that the 95th percentilae of SAT scores means something different than the 95th percentile of ACTs...but even that is absurd because they are nationalized percentiles.

There are various concordance tables published and they aren’t uniform.

But there are official concordance tables done by the ACT & SAT. I'm not claiming that some kids don't do better on one vs the other...I'm saying the statement "ACT is much easier so nonintellectual students take it" is an absurd statement. Both tests have scores that are normally distributed so the score that corresponds to the xth percentile of one is similar to the score that corresponds to the same percentile on the other. It's not rocket science.

You'll find other threads on this website that talk about how all the SAT scores are inflated because of all the UMC kids who get accommodations (apparently it's harder to get accommodations for the ACT)....take everything you read on this website with a shovelfull of salt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids find the ACT easier.

+ 1. ACT is much easier. In fact, what I heard is non-intellectual students submits ACT because they cannot get a high SAT score.

You're not insecure at *all*!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids find the ACT easier.

+ 1. ACT is much easier. In fact, what I heard is non-intellectual students submits ACT because they cannot get a high SAT score.

Source?

The PP's butt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are various concordance tables published and they aren’t uniform.

There is only one current official concordance table, available on both ACT and College Board websites. There are older ones out there, on other websites, but they are not current.
https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/ACT-SAT-Concordance-Information.pdf
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/guide-2018-act-sat-concordance.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought they tested the same stuff. Does the ACT favor students who do better on the verbal side? That definitely describes my kid.

From this article: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/act-vs-sat-how-to-decide-which-test-to-take

“The two exams may appeal to different types of students, says Jumamil. A key difference is that students with a strong English background ‘may flourish on the ACT,’ which puts more emphasis on verbal skills, she says, while for students who are strong in math, ‘the SAT may reflect that much better.’”

I find all of this interesting but the generalizations in the OP don't make sense to me. At my kid's HS, ACT isn't really considered by students. Everyone just assumes they should take the SAT, so those kids very well could have gotten high scores on the ACT but just never took it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought they tested the same stuff. Does the ACT favor students who do better on the verbal side? That definitely describes my kid.

From this article: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/act-vs-sat-how-to-decide-which-test-to-take

“The two exams may appeal to different types of students, says Jumamil. A key difference is that students with a strong English background ‘may flourish on the ACT,’ which puts more emphasis on verbal skills, she says, while for students who are strong in math, ‘the SAT may reflect that much better.’”

I find all of this interesting but the generalizations in the OP don't make sense to me. At my kid's HS, ACT isn't really considered by students. Everyone just assumes they should take the SAT, so those kids very well could have gotten high scores on the ACT but just never took it.

It would be interesting to know what region of the country you’re in, because the data shows that this would be unusual outside of the Northeast. In the 80’s, everyone I knew took the SAT, because that’s what the elite colleges required, but that has changed steadily over time. I’m familiar with several very different parts of the country right now, and all of the HS students I know who are seriously into the college application process have taken both and then focused on prepping for a retake of the one they did best on (even if they had a very high score the first time).