The Spark Admissions Guide to Should I Take the SAT or ACT?

The SAT is a standardized entrance exam for college admissions. The SAT is now only available as a digital test and it is adaptive, which means that the questions it gives you change based upon how well you are doing on the test. So, if you start to get questions wrong, it will start to give you easier questions and if you start to get answers right, it will start to give you harder questions.

The digital SAT is multiple-choice, taken entirely on a computer, and is 2 hours 14 minutes in duration (without breaks). It comprises two sections: the SAT Math section and the SAT Reading and Writing section. Each section is scored out of a possible 200-to-800-point scale, for a total score out of 1600. There is also a 50-minute Essay section that is only required in certain states that administer it as part of the SAT School Day administrations (check with your school to see whether it will be included).

Like the SAT, the ACT is a standardized entrance exam used in college admissions. As of August 2024, the ACT is a multiple-choice test that is 2 hours and 55 minutes in duration (without breaks). It can be taken digitally or on paper. For now, it is huge benefit that you can take the test on paper. The ACT is composed of four separate sections: English, Math, Reading, and Science. It also includes an optional Writing test that does not affect the final score. Each of the four main sections are scored out of a total of 36 points, and then used to calculate a final composite score also out of 36.

However, the ACT has recently announced that the test will be transitioning to a new, shorter format beginning at national testing centers in spring 2025 and school-day test sites in spring 2026. While these changes will not affect students in the high school graduating class of 2025, students in the class of 2026 or later who are interested in taking the ACT will have the opportunity to take both versions of the test (or wait until the new version is released before testing). It is important to consider the timeline of the new ACT rollout and the specific updates to the test format when deciding which test to take and formulating your personal test preparation strategy.

Most notably, the new ACT will be a shorter test; the core version will take only 2 hours for students to complete, rather than the 3 hours it takes now. Despite that decreased time frame, students will now face fewer questions overall and shorter reading passages and will therefore have more time per question, which can be helpful for students who struggle with faster-paced tests. Additionally, the Science portion will now be optional. For students who choose not to take the Science section, their score will be calculated as a rounded average of their English, Reading, and Math section scores.

In making these shifts, the ACT is aligning itself more closely with the latest version of the SAT, which is also two hours in length, has no Science section, and is digital in format. The primary remaining difference between the tests, at least for now, is that the ACT will continue to offer a paper-and-pencil version in addition to the online version.

No, not every college requires standardized test scores. Some schools have test-optional policies. These schools leave it up to students to decide whether to submit standardized test scores or not. An even smaller number of colleges and universities are test blind (with the University of California system being the most prominent example), meaning standardized test scores are not considered and cannot be submitted. That said, the majority of colleges and universities require either an SAT or ACT score as part of each student’s application. As a result, it is worthwhile to consider which is best for you.

While some students do choose to take both exams, preparing for each can take a lot of time and energy, so it’s advisable to choose either the SAT or the ACT given your knowledge, preferences, and test-taking abilities.

The first step is to complete a diagnostic test or full-length practice test for each exam so that you can get a sense of each test and how you might score on them. The PSAT and PLAN are not full-length tests. Many test prep companies offer free diagnostic testing or you can find a practice test on the SAT’s site or on the ACT’s site.

• You take both the SAT practice test and ACT practice test and you score significantly higher on the SAT diagnostic test. Make sure to use a reliable SAT to ACT score conversion chart to compare your scores.
• Your score on the SAT Math section is particularly strong. The Math section of the SAT accounts for 50% of the total SAT score whereas the Math section of the ACT currently only accounts for 25% of the composite ACT score. So, if you do well on the math sections, it will count for more on the SAT exam.
• You struggle with the Science section of the ACT test. The SAT does not include a Science section, so you can avoid Science altogether if you take the SAT.
• You like to have more time for each question. The SAT affords more time per question than the ACT (although the new ACT that debuts in spring 2025 will also feature more time per question). This is a really important point because the ACT requires that you move more quickly from question to question.

• You take diagnostic tests for both the SAT and ACT and you score significantly higher on the ACT diagnostic test. Make sure to use a reliable SAT to ACT score conversion chart to compare your scores.
• You struggle with math. The Math section of the ACT is currently only worth 25% of the composite ACT score, compared to the Math section of the SAT which is worth 50% of the total SAT score. Beginning in 2025, Math will comprise one third of the composite score of the new ACT for students who elect not to complete the Science section.
• You do particularly well on the Science section of an ACT diagnostic or practice test. This means you will likely do well on the Science section of the ACT exam itself, which is currently worth 25% of the composite score. On the new ACT, the Science section will be optional. The SAT does not have a Science section so you would not be able to show this skill on the SAT.
• You score evenly on diagnostic tests for both exams and don’t feel a strong preference for the SAT. Many students report that the content of the ACT is more straightforward and that the exam is easier to prepare for.
• You need to take a paper-and-pencil test instead of a computer-based test.

A final piece of advice is to think about how you felt taking each practice test. If you felt significantly more comfortable with one, that might be a good indication that you could do better preparing for and sitting that exam in the future.