SAT/ACT HelpAnswered
Hi! I just completed my sophomore year and I want to start studying for the SAT and ACT. I have a couple of questions regarding both of them.
1. Which one should I take?
I'm not the best at math, and I'm pretty good at science and reading, but I heard the ACT is harder, plus there aren't as many resources for it (from what I've seen). I'm struggling to choose which to study for. If I study for the SAT, would that help with the ACT as well?
2. How does raising your score work?
Hypothetically, if I were to get a 1350 on the SAT, would it be impossible to raise it to a 1500+? (Same for the ACT?)
3. If I have a lower GPA, will a higher SAT/ACT score help out?
4. Any resources to study for either?
Any workbook suggestions?
Thanks for all your help!
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1 answer
Hi!
1. It completely depends on you. So, as you said, you are good at Sciences and English, but not very good at Math. An option you should consider looking into, are the SAT subject tests. You can choose certain ones depending on interest and strengths.
So if you are good at sciences, you can do this one and also consider just doing the SAT because it really is helpful and plays a major role in college admissions.
2. Raising your score is completely on you. Your dedication and interest are very important. If you cannot commit to sitting down for a couple of hours during the week to prepare for your tests, then you will not see a change. But if you can sit and learn and do practice tests, your scores will increase.
It will not be impossible to get 1500 after scoring 1350. As I said, it's all about dedication.
3. To some extent. I personally think that SAT is only important for college admission, but then when you are in college, you will also be getting GPAs every semester, so it is important to try and maintain your GPA in college as well as school. Your GPA during the college admission process is very important. This will be looked at from Freshman year to show colleges how your academics were during high school.
So the SATs can only help you out to a certain limit, but try your best to maintain a high GPA or not go lower than the one you currently have.
4. For the SAT (I don't know much about the ACTs but these sites also do help with that):
Khan Academy
PrepScholar Blog
Barron's Math Textbook (This is really helpful if your math is your strongest forte)
Varsity Tutors New SAT Study Guide
The Princeton Review.
Hope this helped and good luck with everything!
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As of right now, there are no subject tests, but some other things to think about: ACT english is much more straight forward than SAT english. On the other hand, the ACT's science portion is not too bad, especially since op said that they are good at science, but the ACT math portion is higher level math than the SAT is typically. If you can study the math, it is usually easier to improve than english, than go for the ACT. I would recommend taking both tests and taking your preferred one twice.