For the past few months, my daughter has been working with Kennon on ACT Math prep and she has already seen an improvement in her score. He does a great job with explaining all types of math problems and equations and knows how to motivate his students to achieve their goals. He is very passionate about teaching his students and watching them learn and progress. Transformative Tutoring has been a great experience!
A. C.
The SAT and ACT are radically different tests when it comes to the math section. In this post, we will attempt to outline the key differences and hopefully help you select the test that might be best for you. Before registering for one test or the other, check with your favorite school(s) to be sure they accept whichever test you plan to take.
Watch my fast-paced, funny and in-depth YouTube videos for SAT Prep!
Assess Your SAT & ACT Skills First
Invest one minute watching your child do this worksheet without a calculator. If they struggle some (more than 2 minutes, more than 1 mistake), the ACT is probably a much better choice for them. If they passed the 10 question quick quiz, have them do a an official ACT practice test and then an official SAT practice test to see which they are more comfortable with. Do the ACT test first because it does not list any formulas, whereas SAT tests do include formulas, so you should get an unbiased assessment of how many geometry formulas they still remember.
Learn more about the details of the SAT by watching this YouTube video
Side by Side Comparison
| SAT | ACT | |
| Bright Futures – 75% Scholarship | 1200 (81st %) | Composite: 25 (82nd %) |
| Bright Futures – Full Scholarship | 1340 (93rd %) | Composite: 29 (92nd %) |
| Questions | 22 questions each module (there are 2) | 60 questions |
| Time Allowed | 35 minutes per module | 60 minutes |
| Type of Questions | 48 multiple choice 10 short answer (4 choices per question) | 60 multiple choice (20 easy, 20 medium, and 20 advanced) (5 choices per question) |
| Difficulty | A couple of the questions are harder. Generally, all of the wording confuses many students, but tutoring and practice pay off. | The questions are shorter and often require only one step and a simple formula. |
| Summary | Think deep thoughts, understand the concepts and be a good problem solver. | It’s a race against time. Lots of easy questions that must be answered quickly. |
| Formulas | Many are provided. | Must be memorized. |
| Geometry | 15% or so | Nearly 50% |
| Probability | 2% | 10% |
| Trig. | 2% (1 question) | 7% (5 questions) |
| FOIL, Parabolas | 15% (single biggest topic) | 5% |
| Algebra | 50% or more | 20% or less |
| Topics | Heavy on: Parabolas FOIL & Factoring General Algebra & Lines Systems of Equations Light on: Trig (1 question) Far fewer topics to learn. | Heavy on: Geometry Moderate on: Trigonometry Lots of single questions on a wide variety of topics: Logarithms Matrices Probability Statistics Permutations Sequences & Series |
| Separate Science Score/Section | No | Yes (mainly reading complicated graphs) |