Come junior year and the tumult of post high school plans unleash upon students. Those four years are halfway over, meaning teenagers will actually have to start to answer the question, what they want to be when they grow up? Many dodge this with an answer involving college, and with that comes a whole different obstacle course. As if campus tours, college applications, scholarships, and national test preparation aren’t enough, students have to decide which test to take in the first place. So as you jump through the hoops as a college-bound junior and senior, consider this your 101 on high school’s two most infamous tests, the SAT and ACT.

The Basics

For those who are just learning the ropes of the college admissions process, the SAT and ACT are two different national tests most colleges require high school students to take before applying.

“The reason [colleges] have you take a national test is [that] it’s a way they can compare students across the country on an equal basis,” said Wenatchee High School counselor Mary Howie.

Colleges review your tests scores in addition to the rest of your application, and high scores can also serve as qualifiers for scholarships and special programs. Though some colleges on the East Coast are no longer requiring test scores, according to Howie, almost all schools across the nation accept scores from either test. However, this is not to say the two tests are the same.

Subjects

The SAT tests students on three sections: math, reading, and writing an essay. The ACT, however, tests students on four sections: math, reading, science, and English. Students are not required to write an essay for the ACT, though they may for an additional fee.

For those students lacking confidence about writing an essay in 25 to 30 minutes, this may be a plus of the ACT. Both exams ask multiple-choice questions about improving sentences and paragraphs, but the SAT focuses on advanced vocabulary while the ACT focuses on grammar, punctuation, and syntax.

When helping a student decide which test to take, Howie said she first looks at their strength in math. “If math isn’t a student’s strongpoint, I would recommend doing the ACT because you have four sections your scores are spread out over,” said Howie. “Obviously math is 25 percent, whereas on the SAT it is 33 percent [of the score].”

Though the ACT covers trigonometry, algebra, and geometry, the SAT only covers algebra and geometry.

Format

Despite covering only three subjects versus four, the SAT takes more time than the ACT. Broken down into 10 timed sections, the SAT is three hours and 45 minutes long, in comparison to four timed sections, taking a total of two hours and 55 minutes for the ACT. With the writing component, it takes three hours and 25 minutes.

After taking both tests, senior Sadie Wilson said the SAT felt harder due to its longer duration.

“The SAT is more brain-draining,” said Wilson. “It’s so long that [by the end] you don’t want to do it anymore.”

Those who prefer completing portions of the test all at once may like the ACT better, which finishes each subject in one section. The SAT bounces back and forth between the three subjects.

“I felt like the SAT was very repetitive with all its sections, and I liked the ACT more because it was short, concise, and kind of to the point,” said senior Chandler Engel.

Not including the essay, the ACT is all multiple choice; the SAT has both multiple choice and free response questions for the math section.

Scoring

Scores for each section on the SAT range from 200 to 800 points, with the best total score being 2,400 points. For each wrong answer, a quarter of a point is deducted from the score. Due to this, the College Board, the organization behind the SAT, recommends making educated guesses and skipping questions one can’t answer, as no points are subtracted from a blank answer.

The ACT uses a different approach. Each section is scored on a one to 36 point range, and are averaged together to calculate the composite score (also out of 36). Since no points are deducted from a wrong answer, students are encouraged to guess rather than skip questions.The writing test is scored separately.

Difficulty

Based on the subjects, format, and scoring, a student can get an idea of which test will be easier or harder for them. Yet, another factor to consider is what the exams truly test beyond the surface.

The ACT is curriculum-based, meaning it measures what students have learned in school. The SAT is reasoning-based, so it measures how students can use the information they have learned. This translates into questions being more tricky and ambiguous on the SAT and more straightforward on the ACT.

“The bright underachievers who are bored and get through school using one quarter of their brains will do better on the SAT, because you just need good reasoning skills for that,” said Scott White, director of guidance at Montclair High School in New Jersey. “And the overachievers, I don’t want to call them grinds, but they’re the ones who get the highest grades in the toughest classes because they work really hard, will do better on the ACT.”

No matter which test may seem harder, most colleges maintain that they don’t see one higher than the other. “Since it’s a choice you can make, it has the feeling of being a significant choice, fraught with implication, but I don’t think it does matter,” said Marlyn McGrath-Lewis, director of admissions at Harvard College. “Either is fine with us, and we don’t have a feeling that either favors students with any particular profile.”

So which one should I take?

According to Howie, the starting point is looking at what tests the colleges a student is interested in require or accept. Besides just deciding between the two tests, this can indicate if taking the writing option of ACT is needed. Furthermore, certain colleges or fields may require taking SAT subject tests, one hour exams on a specific subject, as well.

Even if not required, some colleges recommended taking these subject tests to display a students achievement in the areas or science, math, history, languages, or literature. And some colleges step away from traditional national testing. Schools like New York University will accept three SAT subject tests of three AP exam scores in place of the SAT or ACT.

If the colleges you plan to apply to accept both tests, consider the differences between them and how they may dictate your results. Taking the SAT and ACT preliminarily tests in sophomore and junior years, the PSAT and the PLAN respectively, can help a student get  better acquainted with each test’s format.

Still can’t decide? Though she said twice as many students take the SAT versus the ACT at WHS, Howie has seen many students take both and recommends it when one can’t decide. Taking either test in the spring of junior year additionally gives students time to retake the tests to improve their scores.

Nevertheless, how much a student prepares will affect a student’s performance. Though he wasn’t expecting to do better on the SAT, senior Tristan Cunderla said he studied significantly more for it and scored higher than on the ACT.

“Take both tests to see how you do,” said Cunderla. “You submit your own scores, so take them as many times as you want. And definitely study.”