If you’re in high school and just starting to think about your future—or you’re the parent of your first (or only!) high schooler—you probably understand that the college admissions road ahead might get stressful and complicated.
There are a LOT of questions for you to ponder and answer in the coming years. But you don’t have to tackle them alone—I’ve written handy walk-throughs of each of them:
And if so, should I/my teen take the SAT or the ACT?
But another question I get asked by virtually every newcomer parent—understandably!—is one that I want to walk you through today.
Article Contents
1. Watch this article as a video
2. Does the DSAT or the ACT make your college application stronger?
3. Is the SAT or the ACT more popular?
4. Do colleges have a preferred standardized test?
5. Do I have to take BOTH the SAT and the ACT?
6. Overall, does the DSAT or ACT give you more of an advantage in admissions?
Watch this article as a video:
Does the DSAT or the ACT make your college application stronger?
After all, most of the parents who come to me these days for my strategic, personalized private SAT and ACT tutoring packages are largely basing their knowledge on how things were when THEY were in high school. Decades ago, that is. At that time, students often took whichever test was more popular in their state/region (SAT for the coasts, ACT for the midwest and certain southern states). Parents might also remember the SAT being the preferred test for the country’s more elite institutions, and, in fact, the overwhelming majority of them took the SAT over the ACT…just because that was what you did. Does that oldschool wisdom still hold true?
Is the SAT or the ACT more popular?
Source: Knowable Magazine
Though the SAT may have been more popular in the past (and if you’re a parent reading this, that’s probably what you remember), the gap between the number of students taking the ACT vs. the SAT started closing around 2009 and was virtually nonexistent by 2012.
Then something strange happened: the ACT actually became MORE popular than the SAT! In response, the College Board rehauled the SAT in January 2016. They also launched a partnership with Khan Academy shortly thereafter, which helped the SAT surpass the ACT in popularity once again. The above chart tracks these numbers through graduating class year 2020, but in the years since, the trend has continued of the SAT beating out the ACT in terms of enrollment numbers.
And most recently, of course, the SAT has become fully digital. We don’t yet have enough data to conclude one way or the other whether this transformation from paper- to computer-based will affect the DSAT’s popularity versus the ACT. Only time will tell, there.
But ultimately, what’s even more crucial than the matter of which test is “more popular” among test-takers is:
Do colleges have a preferred standardized test?
The first thing you should know about college admissions testing is this: the ACT and the Digital SAT both fulfill the exact same requirement in your college application.
That is, IF a college requires a standardized test in order for you to apply to their institution, either test—the SAT or the ACT—will check that box for you.
And in these cases, no, it does NOT matter which you take: admissions officers have concordance tables that translate Digital SAT scores to ACT scores and vice versa. (And in case you were curious: these are the same concordance tables that were used for the old paper-based SAT!) This lets the officers quickly see how well you did in comparison to all the other applicants.
Do I have to take BOTH the SAT and the ACT?
When I give presentations to parents of students at specialized NYC high schools about “Demystifying the SAT and the ACT,” one of the first things I do is make an analogy that they can all understand: the SAT and the ACT are like Visa and Mastercard.
Yes, you might prefer one over the other for whatever reason (more perks, more points, more miles, etc.), but at the end of the day, if you walk into a store and want to purchase a pair of pants, do you hand over BOTH of your credit cards to pay for them? No, of course not! You hand the store assistant only ONE of them (whichever’s easier to grab from your wallet, maybe) to pay for your item. And does the clerk care which one you gave her? Of course she doesn’t…so long as the transaction was approved, and they get the money to pay for the pants you’re buying!
It’s the same deal for the DSAT and the ACT. YOU may prefer one over the other, but they both do the same job (provide a standardized test score), so long as whichever test score you provide in your applications represents your abilities well!
When my audience is students rather than parents, I often change the analogy slightly: The SAT and the ACT are like Coke and Pepsi.
Yes, people have STRONG PREFERENCES about which one they like better! Many soda drinkers are loyal to their brand and won’t switch. (“Oh, you only have Pepsi? Blech—I’ll take an iced tea!”) However, if your goal is to consume a sugary, caffeinated, carbonated beverage made with high fructose corn syrup, EITHER ONE fulfills that task! And you don’t need to drink both of them (indeed, your blood sugar will thank you later if you don’t); you only need one.
So, substitute “DSAT and ACT” for “Coke and Pepsi”—and take out the high fructose corn syrup part!—and it’s basically the same idea. Make sense?
Overall, does the DSAT or ACT give you more of an advantage in admissions?
Here’s the brass-tacks conclusion for you: neither test is “better” or “worse.” What matters is which test is “better” FOR YOU! As in, which one will show off your strengths better to admissions officers? Which one will YOU get a higher score on?
How to decide between the SAT and the ACT
Given that admissions officers’ preferences aren’t going to make this decision for you, then, this can seem like a daunting choice. But it doesn’t have to actually be, in practice! There are three ways you can pick your test:
The first way is to take my free, straightforward “Should you take the DSAT or ACT?” quiz.
The second way is to watch my video explaining exactly How to decide whether to take the Digital SAT or the ACT.
The third way is to have me do it FOR you! It’s simple: all you have to do is take one diagnostic DSAT and one diagnostic ACT, make a rough list of 5+ colleges you’re thinking about applying to, and then book your Ace the Test: Game Plan™ session with me over Zoom!
I do the rest: pick your test, create your target scores, figure out exactly which concepts and strategies you need to learn to reach your target score in as little time as possible, plan your testing timeline, and in general, take the management of the entire standardized testing process off your plate! Sound like a helpful set of tools? Let’s get started here.
