SAT vs ACT?

The Battle of the Tests

Choices are great, right? We get to choose which test we want to take. That ought to be a fantastic deal! However, when it comes down to choosing between the SAT and the ACT, the decision may not be so easy. Which test is better? Which test will I do well on? Which test do colleges like?

Well, we live in a world of options. From the Ivy Leagues to the community colleges, it seems that almost all universities today accept both the SAT and the ACT. So it isn’t a matter of impressing a college, but it simply comes down to personal choice. There are many stereotypes concerning the two tests. Some say that boys tend to do better on the SAT and others say that those with a shorter attention span should favor the ACT. Well, how to separate the myth from the fact? It comes down to analyzing yourself with a few simple questions.

1) Do I prefer knowledge based tests or strategy based tests? The SAT tends to prefer using different strategies in order to trick the test taker on even easy questions. The ACT however, is very straightforward with the questions but requires knowledge of more material.

2) Am I good at science? While the science section on the ACT isn’t entirely based on knowledge alone, it does have a science section that requires problem solving and analytical abilities. Hate science? The SAT does not include a science section!

3) Vocabulary or Grammar? Both tests pay strong attention to English. However, the SAT focuses more on vocabulary and strategy based reading comprehension while the ACT tends to pay more attention to grammar, syntax, etc. Don’t like vocabulary or grammar? Well then you’re out of luck.

4) Do I prefer skipping or simply guessing? Well, while neither test is scored more leniently than the other, they both have different methods of scoring. The SAT is based off of 2400 points (which I hope everyone knows by now). The test awards you 1 point for every correct answer, deducts 1/4 of a point for every wrong answer, and gives no points for a blank answer. Yes, this means that skipping is allowed. The ACT on the other hand, grades each section out of 36 and does not deduct any points for wrong answers. Therefore, guess away!

5) How much do I love writing? The SAT starts the test off with a bang, or an essay to be more precise. The 25 minute section is required and is scored out of 12 points. The essay is read by two readers, each of whom grade out of 6 points. Technically, the ACT essay section is optional. It comes at the end of the exam and is 30 minutes long. However, most colleges do like to see the essay section in order to accept the ACT score.

It is all easier said then done. In order to really find out which test is the right one, the best decision is to take both the tests. While it may seem like unnecessary work, it is important to find out which test works better for you personally, rather than what Mom or Grandma or the neighbor thinks. No one can know which test you will do better on until you take both exams.

Call one of Victory Step's consultants today. We will be more than happy to guide you to your right path!

The importance of College!

As young children never wanting to let go of our parents’ fingers, we all dreamed big. Our parents’ love and encouragement made us believe that we could be the President. The Movie Star. The richest person on earth. As we grow older, these dreams are often shattered by the reality of probability and the awareness of opportunities. No matter what our future goals, we are told one thing. “You must go to college to be successful”.

This seems like the most difficult statement to understand as we are comfortable teenagers protected by the doors of our homes and the walls of the familiar high schools. Why do I have to leave? Why do I have to start over? Going to school with the same friends for years, and having parents or guardians to guide us seems like too good of a deal to leave behind. We all think that we have excellent maturity and can handle anything that life throws our way. However, it is sometimes important to wonder, have we really experienced everything that life has to offer?

That’s where college comes in and offers us something vitally important-experience. Experience makes us wiser. Experience makes us stronger, and more willing to persevere. Taking the sometimes impossibly difficult classes, meeting people from all over the world, and travelling to the most remote places, each day of the 4 years of college brings something new, something we have never experienced before. The long exam week, the diverse student body, the community activities done through various clubs, team work established between peers, knowledge gained through experiments, relationships and networks created - all of this and more changes us into strong, skilled citizens. We are then truly equipped to handle all of the world’s problems.

President Obama attended Occidental College, got his BA from Columbia University, and studied Law at Harvard. Julia Roberts attended Georgia State University. Finally, Bill Gates attended Harvard. Suddenly, the dreams of being the future president, a movie start, and the richest man in the world don’t seem so impossible. While it is true that we grow the most in the first few months after we are born, college is the time for one to grow the most as a person. Without this growth, the remote dreams of our childhoods seem to remain distant.

As high school seniors it is difficult to understand why we must work so hard to get into a college of our dreams. The grades aren’t enough to get us in. We must have extracurricular activities, do well on the SATs or the ACTs, fill out numerous applications, etc. However, the simple word ‘college’ does not justify the prestigious and significant portion of our lives that the word brings with it. College is important. College is crucial. Why? Well, there is no better way to seek an answer to that question than to live through it.

Paying for College: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!

As someone planning for college, you may have paid attention to the news stories of soaring college tuition, over-inflated textbook prices, and worried students and parents accruing tens of thousands of dollars in loans. The numbers are certainly daunting, especially if you plan to attend a private school or to go on to a graduate or professional program.

Students have scores of options available to them to pay for school, some based on need and others on merit. These options are available from a variety of agencies from colleges to philanthropic organizations to the government. When looking at how you will pay for your education, it is important to study your options and to pursue them wisely.

First, there are scholarships, given out mainly by colleges and philanthropic organizations, covering either a set amount, such as $3,000 a year, or a percentage of your tuition, like the coveted full-tuition scholarship. Generally based on your work as a student or your SAT score (PSAT for National Merit Scholarships), scholarships are perhaps the best means of paying for college, as they essentially provide free money for your education. Unlike other sources of financial aid, you never have to repay scholarships. You may have to maintain a certain GPA in order to retain your scholarship from year to year. This could be a boon to you, providing marvelous motivation to go the extra mile during finals week.

Next are grants, which also are funds for your tuition that never need to be repaid. While these can be merit-based, grants are often based on a student’s financial need or other factors, such as race or ethnicity. In addition, you may not have to maintain a certain GPA in order for your grants to renew from year to year. Philanthropic organizations that give out grants often look at whether a student supports the goals of that organization, meaning that applications for these grants often require essays. The more money you can get from scholarships and grants, the better off you will be paying for your college degree.

Finally, there are the student loans. Like scholarships and grants, you can receive student loans from a number of sources; however, rather than schools or outside organizations, these are most often obtained from banks and the government, usually through federal agencies like Sallie Mae. Like all loans, you must repay these on a set schedule, with interest to boot. This means that, in addition to eventually paying the cumbersome cost of college, you have to pay the interest as well. However, unlike normal loans, federal loans at least can be deferred so long as you are enrolled full-time at an accredited university. The good side of this is that you don’t have to worry about making payments until you are out of school with a job; the bad news is that some federal loans accrue interest even while they have been deferred. With that in mind, the fewer student loans you take out, the better off you will be once you have graduated.

So, to sum up, scholarships and grants are a college student’s best option for paying for college, as they are free money given to you for your education. They can pay either a set amount each time you receive them, or they could cover a percentage of your tuition, meaning that as tuition increases, the amount they pay does as well. Your best bet for being in the running for scholarships is to score high on the SAT/PSAT’s or the ACT, rack up a healthy GPA, and build a strong resume by engaging in community activities (read our blog about volunteering here) and garnering leadership experience in the process. Of course, we must remember that having a college degree actually makes all the financial concerns worthwhile, with some studies estimating that degree holders earn upwards of $1 million more in their lifetimes than their counterparts without degrees do.

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Toni Whalen (SAT/ACT Instructor)

Email: toniwhalen@victorysteponline.com

The day of the exam - May 7th SAT

For students taking the SAT on May 7th -

After weeks of preparation and months of stress, it all comes down to one Saturday morning. Just those few hours. It can be so easy to let the nervousness get rid of all the preparation and fill the mind with anxiety. For that reason, it is important to take the few days before the SAT exam slow and to keep the mind healthy and relaxed.

There is nothing more tempting than to try and soak up as much vocabulary and as many strategies as possible the night before the test. It makes me feel like I've accomplished something. Instead, this only helps to stress out the mind, making it difficult to recall information that was once safely stored away in the brain. Rather than stressing out the night before the SAT, it can be more beneficial to take a nice bath, watch a funny movie, and go to bed at a decent hour. I can say from unfortunate experience, there is no need to go to bed at an oddly early hour because then you’ll just end up laying in bed, and stress yourself out needlessly.

The SAT exam can be an enormous event. So much planning goes into it. So much thought, so much effort. Then, it can be over before you even realize it. The satisfaction that can come from a good SAT score is unbelievable. Every hour spent planning, every practice test taken, every vocabulary term memorized...it all seems to be worth it. Therefore, it is crucial not to let a little anxiety take this away.

The stress of the SAT exam for some can make it difficult to even take a bite of breakfast. Trust me, you will need all the energy you can get. A healthy breakfast keeps the mind working at a good pace and allows you to make it through all the sections with ease. Also, the SAT is almost like a workout for the brain, so it can be helpful to bring a snack for one of the breaks. Go easy on the water before and during the exam though, for obvious reasons.

Most importantly, you must bring along a little bit of confidence. It is the secret ingredient that takes the score up a considerable amount. Confidence is an important strategy that could really make the difference.

The SAT Day Checklist

1. Plenty of #2 pencils and erasers

2. Appropriate calculator with extra batteries

3. Photo ID/Admission ticket

4. Directions to testing site

5. Water bottle/snacks

6. A jacket (wear layers depending on the temperature of the room)

7. A watch

8. CONFIDENCE!

Victory Step realizes how stressful and dreadful taking a 4 hour long exam can be, and this is why we provide SAT and ACT Prep classes to help you relieve the stress. Visit our website today!

Victory Step Classroom Programs

Victory Step offers classroom instruction for the SAT and PSAT in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metropolitan Area! These classes are designed by experts who have broken down these tests into strategic sections, and prepared material targeted at high school students to maximize their scores. Our classes are then taught by master instructors that have aced these tests themselves, and have been trained to connect with students and reinforce fundamentals, teach strategies, and build motivation needed to score high.

To find out more about our classroom programs, please click here.