5 Things You Need to Know About the SAT and ACT

5 Things You Need to Know About the SAT and ACT

Summer is a prime time to be strategizing for standardized testing, and here are five of the most important things every parent and high school student should know about the SAT and ACT tests.

1. You should start taking SAT II Subject Tests at the end of 10th grade. The logical time to take SAT II’s is when you finish the subject

in June; it is when your knowledge is strongest. You don’t want to go back and take Biology or US History a year later! And, you have score choice on the SAT II’s, so there is no downside. The experience of taking the test alone is valuable, even if you don’t get a stellar score.

2. Juniors should begin taking SATs in March, not May or June. March statistically is the date when scores are highest. It then allows you to take SAT II Subject tests in May or June and have one buffer date in case you come down with the flu.

3. It takes an average of three appeals to get extended time for SATs if you have a diagnosed Learning Disability. The College Board significantly tightened restrictions on receiving extended time for LD’s. This means that you need to file paperwork with extensive supporting documentation early and often in order to get your request granted.

Sophomore year is the best time to begin the paperwork process for the PSAT.

4. Many students do better on the ACT, and almost everyone should try both tests. While the ACT has long been popular in the west, its prevalence has been growing steadily in the east, and it is now accepted at ALL four-year colleges in the US. Often students who excel in school but falter on standardized tests will do better on the ACT. The SAT contains more extensive vocabulary while the ACT contains higher level math and some science reasoning questions.

5. SAT Prep does work. While the jury is still out on how much ACT prep helps raise scores, there are significant studies proving that studying for the SAT does increase scores. Will an SAT course or tutor help? Yes, but only marginally if you don’t make the commitment to study several hours a week on your own in addition to class time.
 
Cristiana Quinn, M.Ed. is the founder of College Admission Advisors, LLC, a Providence-based educational consulting firm which provides strategic, individual counseling for college-bound students. www.collegeadvisorsonline.com