College Admissions Tests

Students need to pick the ACT, the SAT or both.  The SAT went through a major overhaul in 2005, adding a writing section.  The reading section got rid of analogies, but interwove harder vocab throughout the reading.  The math section now lets a student use a calculator.  The trig on the ACT is harder, but the SAT makes up for it with trick questions. The "Science" section on the ACT is really about how well you can read scientific arguments; as long as you know some basic concepts (like Joules, control groups and velocity) you can get the information from the passages.  If you are scoring at a much higher percentile on the ACT and your target schools will allow you to substitute it, that may make better sense.  

Here are the major differences: 

Timeline for the Tests

In an ideal world, you wouldn't have to take one of these tests, but in the real world, they often matter.  For best scores, I like students to begin vocabulary work by the end of your sophomore year.  Spend the summer between your sophomore and junior year working on vocabulary; try to read fun stuff and keep track of words you don't know.  If you like words, study etymology.  You probably want to focus your preparation by fall of your junior year, so you can actually use the PSAT to practice.  (It is generally taken in the fall of your junior year, with some schools doing a practice in spring of your sophomore year.) 

Take the SAT at the end of your junior year.  Try to take a date that offers QAS ("Questions & Answer Service); this gives you the questions and answers back, usually the Saturday tests in Oct & Jan and both tests in May.)  I like students to plan on taking the test twice.  Most students have a section of the test that tires them out and you can't control which kind of experimental section you will get.  If reading exhausts you and you get an experimental reading section, your scores tend to go down.  I think most students do best taking the test in March and May.  If you are taking either AP tests or SATIIs, it is too much to also take the SAT in June.

Evaluate whether you want to take it again in the fall of your senior year.  If you are above the median score for your target school, I don't see a reason to retake, unless you have reason to believe you will strongly improve.  Instead, spend the summer on an internship or strengthening your extra-curricular activities.   (You should note, however, that generally it is more competitive for NYC kids to get into the best schools; you need to be in the upper range for your test.)

If you are below the median score, you will want to focus more intensively on SAT over the summer and fall, retaking the test in time for early admission deadlines.  

Expectations

Math is the easiest to raise up.  Generally, an average student can raise SAT math scores by about 80 points with hard work over three months.  Students who work harder, faster or longer can raise their scores higher.

Writing takes a little longer, but by examining the specific grammar rules that are continually tested, practicing the question types and developing a strategy for the essay, many students should be able to raise their score by 60 points, or so over 2-3 months.

Reading takes the longest to raise as it is primarily vocabulary.  There are certainly some techniques for tackling the passages, but unless you put in the hours (and hours and hours) on vocabulary, you won't budge your scores by much.  That said, vocabulary is the one thing the SAT tests that you will actually use in real life.

It is realistic for most students, with focused work and hard work, to raise your SAT score by about 200 points (over the three tests, which are each graded on an 800 point scale).  It is harder to raise scores that are already higher (but smaller increases make a bigger difference if you look at your percentile ranking).

Math is the easiest score to raise.  Generally, an average student can raise SAT math scores by about 80-100 points with hard work over two months.  Students who work harder, faster or longer can raise their scores higher.

Writing takes a little longer, but by examining the specific grammar rules that are continually tested, practicing the question types and developing a strategy for the essay, most students should be able to raise their score by 60 points, or so over 2-3 months.

Reading takes the longest to raise as it is primarily vocabulary.  There are certainly a few test-taking techniques (primarily working with timing and identifying which questions to skip) that raise a few points, but in order to have a major increase, you will have to work with increasing vocabulary. 

Extra Time

If you hope to get extra time, be warned: it is much harder to have that approved for the ACT than the SAT!

With the SAT, make sure you are submitting a report that is at least 6 months old.  The College Board seems to reject an awful lot of requests for extra time that are less than 6 months old.  That said, if you have a history of getting extra time at your school, you will probably get it on the test.  When you apply, ask for double-time with extended breaks.  They will probably give you time-and-a-half, which is usually find for most students.  But then you are taking a test that is nearly 6 hours long, which is really exhausting!  Generally, with the SAT, if you do get double time, a lot of testing sites will let students apportion the time however they like.  This is less common with time-and-a-half.

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