The New SAT V.S. The New ACT: A Closer Look
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Why the Changes?
According to David Coleman, the CEO and Board President for College Board, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is making changes so that students won’t have to spend as much money on testing preparation; also, “these exams have become disconnected from the work of high school classrooms...” (CNN) All in all, the College Board wants to keep their tests up-to-date for college readiness.
The makers and researchers of the American College Testing (ACT) are constantly looking for ways to make sure that the ACT is a reflection of what is taught and learned in school; in addition, just like the SAT, the ACT is targeted to be a an accurate guide for your college and career.
SAT
Overall, the content you will be tested on has changed. The math section emphasizes graph and data interpretation; the reading section focuses on data reasoning and evidence support; the writing section is now a passage-based section; lastly, instead of 25 minutes, you now have 50 minutes for your essay and you will be analyzing other writings as well. Don’t these changes kind of sound like the ACT test? Well, that is what most people are claiming! To cheer up those who are dreading these changes, there will be no penalty for guessing on questions; before, you’d get a ¼ point deduction for every wrong question. Are you wondering how the scoring changed? The SAT is going back to the 1600-point scale, but the essay will be graded separately from your section scores.
Fortunately, the new SAT might be a little easier for some because of the no-guessing penalty and somewhat simpler questions; also, the old SAT has been administered for a long time so there are plenty of study materials to help you out.
Also, the essay is now optional; however, double check with your potential colleges because they may or may not require an essay.
ACT
The main changes that educators and students are looking at when it comes to the ACT are the new sub-scores. These include STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and ELA (English Language) sub-scores. Both the STEM and ELA sub-scores will allow students to know what their weak and strong points are on certain subjects.
Another major change that you should pay attention to is the Writing section. Don’t worry! It’s still an optional section, but now you’ll have one prompt, one issue, and three total perspectives. Instead of just defending your side of an argument, you now have to “explain the relationship your perspective has with the three that are given.” (Petersons) In addition, the Writing Section time has extended to a total of 40 minutes.
SAT VS ACT
Overall, with the new changes to both tests, the SAT and ACT, are becoming more similar; however, the SAT is more so designed to test your critical thinking and reasoning skills while the ACT is designed to test you on content you should have learned in school. I can’t tell you which test you should take but with these changes and all of these different types of resources available, you’ll make the right choice for you and your future.
