Which test is right for my child?
SAT - is 84 years old and was only accepted at Ivy League schools. Today all colleges accept the SAT. The SAT covers Critical Reading, Math and Writing. It is a logic, reasoning test and is written at a very high level and has deliberately confusing questions. It is typically taken by juniors and seniors.
ACT - is 50 years old. The ACT is based on facts learned in school (content knowledge) and measures the ability of the student to complete college-level work. The ACT covers English, Critial Reading, Math and Science.
One test may be a better fit for some students. For example, students who perform poorly on the ACT may find that they do better on the SAT and vice versa. Since there's a good chance of doing well on at least one of these exams, a student would be wise to take both. In fact, more and more students are opting to take one of each test rather than repeating the same test over again to try and improve their score.
We can help you decide - Sylvan offers free practice tests and analysis with no obligation.