SAT VS. ACT

Time is of the essence…a refrain that applies to not only SAT/ACT, but also similarly to the consideration given to constructing your recruiting grid and timeline.

"Early and often" has been told to me by coaches when planning how athletes should integrate standardized tests into their hectic schedules. The priority for the athlete should be to make it easier for a coach to make sense of where you stand as a recruit by getting your tests in as early as possible. The longer you wait the more likely it is that another recruit reports in SAT/ACT scores that will allow the coach to formulate a favorable opinion of your competition.

ACT VS. SAT

Student athletes often ask us which test is better to focus on. There are sites that will give you SAT and ACT conversions, so you can tell which test would be more appropriate for you based on preliminary practice tests. It is important that you take practice diagnostic tests early enough to afford you the hard data to point you in the direction of the better format. www.act.org/aap/concordance

SAT Structure and Content
 

The SAT consists of 10 sections: a 25 minute Essay, 3 Critical Reading sections (two 25 minute and one 20 minute section), 3 Math sections (two 25 minute and one 20 minute section), 2 Writing sections (one 25 minute and one 10 minute section). The Critical Reading section is made up of 19 Sentence completions and 48 Passage-based reading questions. These sections test vocabulary and reading comprehension. On a given test, roughly 600 nontrivial words are tested in the questions, reading passages, and answer choices.

The Math sections are made up of 44 multiple choice questions and 10 free response questions. The content tested includes Arithmetic, Algebra I and II, Functions, Planar and Coordinate geometry, data analysis and probability. Calculators are allowed, including the advanced ones such as TI-89 and TI-nspire.

The Writing sections include 49 multiple choice questions. Twenty-five of these are sentence improvements. Eighteen are identifying sentence errors. Six are paragraph improvements. The writing score will also include the grade you get on your essay. Two readers will grade your essay. Your score on this can range from a 2 through 12. Many schools still put less emphasis on the writing section when doing pre reads on a recruited athletes file. It is incumbent upon you to ascertain what portions of the test a school may assign a higher priority to.

ACT Structure & Content
 

The ACT is made up of four tests with an optional Writing test (a 30 minute essay that you write at the conclusion of the multiple choice sections). The English Test consists of 45 minutes of 75 questions and it tests grammar, syntax, usage, and rhetoric. The Mathematics test consists of 60 minutes of 60 questions. The math content is a little more extensive than what is tested on the SATs, but the questions are much more straightforward. While the SAT Math has tricky, puzzle-type questions, the ACT Math section is more aligned with what you have done in school. Unlike the SAT, however, you cannot use the TI-89 or TI-nspire, although you may use other graphing calculators like the TI-84. The Reading section consists of 35 minutes of 40 questions split into four passages, each followed by 10 questions. Vocabulary is not tested as much on the ACT as it is on the SAT. This test requires the reader to search and find answers quickly. The Science test consists of 35 minutes of seven passages with a total of 40 questions. This section requires that you interpret scientific data presented in texts, tables, charts, and graphs, and that you analyze multiple hypotheses and points of view regarding those hypotheses. If you have done labs in science classes during high school, that work will be helpful for this section.

Recent Developments

Most colleges consider the SAT and ACT equally. What is changing, however, is that more and more colleges are now superscoring the ACTs, as many do for the SATs. This is a significant development for recruited athletes. Given that the ACT component tests can vary in difficulty from one administration to another, superscoring is a terrific benefit to you if you take the test more than once. Here is a list of some schools that now superscore your ACTs: Amherst, Brown, Duke, Franklin and Marshall, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Trinity College, and Tufts. This list is longer than last year’s list and the policies of the schools seem to change frequently. To be safe, call the admissions offices of the colleges recruiting you and confirm with the coaching staff that the policy is in place for your recruiting class. Grab every advantage that you can in attempting to secure a spot in this fiercely competitive world of lacrosse.

Good luck in your educational pursuits!