So I'm the type of student who took the SAT three times and tried the ACT once. It's more common on the eastern side of the US to take the SAT and ACT in the western side. The funny thing is I got a better score in Math on the SAT and a better score in English on the ACT.
Anyway for those who haven't taken it yet or can't decide if they should take both this blog is to tell you a brief description of how they differ and which one may be better for you.
The SAT is seperated into Math, Reading Comprehension, and Writting and grammar. The math to me seems to go up to Algebra Level 2 and Geometry. The writting is basically a persuasive essay. The grammar generally covers sentence structure and form. I think people who are better in English should take this one because there is a lot of vocabulary and grammmar in it.
The ACT has more sections but differ. It covers writting (Optional),science, language arts/grammar, reading comprehension, and math. The math goes into Pre-Calculus and trigonometry stuff. The essay is also persuasive generally about chosing one side or another of a certain issue. The science is based on reading comprehension. The english part of it is more on sentence structure and punctuation, not as much vocabulary. I think this test is more for the math and science strong people. It also helps if you are strong in grammar.
I'm glad I took both though I hated my scores and wished I did better. I hope this helps and is somewhat accurate. Its been awhile.
ACT versus SAT!
By verticallychallenged - Posted on March 2nd, 2007
Tagged: Education



ACT in the east, SAT in the west.
Nicholas Aden
Well I live in New England and most of the people here take the SATs first.