You may not even need to think in terms of ACT vs. SAT. If the colleges you're interested in accept scores from either test, you may want to consider taking both admissions tests. Each test is different and tests the individual in a different way. Some students opt to take both to see which one they perform better on.  

 

Many students ask the question should I or shouldn't I? To take a test prep course or to not take a test prep course, that is the question — and an important one. Shelling out hundreds of dollars for test prep is worth it if the student is willing to participate 100%. 

 

One of the best ways to continually prepare for college admission tests is by maintaining a challenging high school curriculum and staying on top of your classes. Test prep is a good idea, especially if you need to review concepts that you may not have covered in a couple of years. Standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT, and PSAT cover a lot of material, so getting familiar with their layout and the subjects they cover is in your best interest. The best time to get started with test prep is in your sophomore year, before you take any tests for the first time.

 

The test prep market is flooded with books, software, videos, courses, and flashcards, all promising to help improve scores. Ultimately, what you choose for your child may be dictated more by time, money, and personal preference than anything else. However, to get what they need it all come down to the same thing — they have to do the work. No test preparation in the world can help a student to know everything, however it is very important for the student to do additional studying to prepare for the test. Choosing any form of test preparation is better than choosing none!  Test prep will boost your familiarity with the testing process and hopefully give you an extra shot of confidence. However, one of the most effective ways to prepare for a standardized test is to choose a form of test prep that includes full-length, timed tests that can help you zero in on your weak areas. Not all methods offer this, so keep it in mind as you explore your options.

 

 

 

The SAT is considered to be a test to measure your critical thinking skills and test your ability to analyze and solve problems in reading, math, and writing.

 

The ACT is considered to be a more 'curriculum-based' exam, testing college preparedness in the areas of English, reading, math, science by calling on information you should have learned from high school coursework.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 If your child struggles with distractions, poor vision, physical handicaps, or some other disabling condition the biggest hurdle for them may be the test booklet and the answer sheet. For others, the seating arrangements, time limitations, or distraction of others around them will limit their ability to succeed on the test. It can be hard to sit still for three hours if you have ADHD, or to fill in the small circles on the answer sheet if you experience tremors. Good news is special accommodations can be made to help ensure your child have a fair opportunity to do well on test day. The testing agency will require documentation, so you'll need to enlist the help of your school counselor to pull everything together. If the student is eligible, accommodations can be made for the SAT, PSAT,and the ACT.  A greater number of disabled students than ever now sit for pre-admission tests and get into college, allowing them the opportunity to attain more education and get further in life an accomplishment that wasn't always in reach for those who could not be as successful in traditional learning and testing environments. Students and their parents should work with the school counselors, teachers, to ensure that the requests for accommodations are submitted completely and on time. The guidance counselor is a particularly important component of the college-admission-test experience, since he or she has all the information and forms necessary to initiate the process. They will let you know which forms your parents are required to sign for special accommodations on your behalf. Along with these forms, a School Certification must be completed by the appropriate school official and then be submitted to the College Board's Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) or the ACT office. The earlier you can get this done, the better! Submitting forms as early as possible ensures that the students eligibility processing will be completed before the test date. Test dates are the same for everyone, but there are some additional deadlines for eligibility paperwork, so make sure to get them all on the calendar as part of your test prep plan. Test dates and documentation deadlines for the PSAT, SAT, and AP exams can be found at www.collegeboard.com/ssd/student/time.html. For the ACT, documentation needs to be in by the test registration deadline, but since it will require additional review to get approval for student accommodations, the earlier you get it in, the better. To arrange for special accommodations there are a variety of disabilities and conditions for which reasonable accommodations are allowed. In general, eligible disabilities and conditions include:

 

 

The student will need to have documentation of their disability provided by a psychologist, medical doctor, or psychiatrist. They professional will need to submit their name, title, and professional credentials, as well as verification that the student has a disability that interferes with their capacity to complete admission testing under normal conditions. Along with this documentation and all of the required signatures, the student will need to include the proposed test date, the type of accommodation you're requesting, and the name of an alternative test administrator if you are requesting one.