New Admission Tests: What to Take, and When to Take Them

SAT and ACT: The Basics

The new SAT—with writing, critical reading and mathematics sections—is in its second year.

The one-hour writing section is the latest addition to the test. It has two parts:

• Write an essay by taking a position on an issue and using reasoning and examples to support your position (25 min.)
• Answer multiple-choice questions that ask you to identify sentence errors, improve sentences, and improve paragraphs (35 min.).

Since many colleges and universities do not require the writing score, you should research the schools you're interested in before you begin to prepare for the test.

The SAT math section includes topics from third-year college-preparatory math—exponential growth, absolute value, functional notation, and negative and fractional exponents. Quantitative comparisons from the old SAT are no longer part of the test.

The final piece of the puzzle is the critical reading section (previously known as the verbal section); this section includes short and long reading passages from a variety of texts. Though analogies were eliminated, sentence-completion questions remain.

The perfect score is 2400 (as opposed to 1600); and the exam houses three sections, each scored on a 200 to 800 point scale.

The test takes three hours and 45 minutes to complete, including an unscored 25-minute variable section. The 2006-2007 test dates are:

• October 14
• November 4
• December 2
• January 27
• March 10
• May 5
• June 2.

The College Board will also offer Sunday administrations the day after each Saturday test date for those students who cannot test on Saturday for religious reasons. The October Sunday Test will be held on October 22 to avoid conflict with Jewish holiday Simchat Torah.

Visit the College Board's Web site for more SAT info.

In early 2005, ACT also changed its test by adding a 30-minute Writing Test as an optional component to the ACT Assessment, for students testing within the U.S. who are applying to college. The ACT Writing Test complements the English Test.

What Have We Learned?

First, make sure to research the schools that you are interested in applying to. Ask them how they will be using the writing portions of the ACT and SAT. Some schools are using the writing score for placement purposes, some as the application essay. Other schools do not require you take the writing portion of the ACT. So be well informed about how your score is being used.

Take My Advice

Also, practice may not always make perfect but it sure helps to make you more comfortable. This is a relatively new test and so you need to do whatever is necessary for you to have a productive experience. For you that may mean taking a practice test online or taking a prep class. You may also speak to your English teacher about giving you a timed essay test to prepare you for the written portion of the test.

You should also ask yourself if you really know your score. A lot of schools are still deciding how they will use the writing score, so when making decisions they are just looking at the critical reading and the math scores. With the ACT, a lot of schools are just looking at your composite score. So therefore, when you are talking to an admissions representative, be sure that you are clear about the score they are using to evaluate your application.

One major point has come up with the new tests that more and more students are starting to consider and it's really quite simple: Take both the ACT and the SAT! It is most definitely to your advantage to have both scores. You always want to give yourself as much ammunition in the college application process as possible. Having a score for both tests will give a college admission professional more to work with when reviewing your application.

Then, once you have taken both tests, take at least one of them MORE than once. How many people do you know that can score a perfect score on the SAT or ACT on the first try? Not many! Taking the test more than once helps you to be more familiar with the test and takes some of the fear out of the situation. Also, a lot of colleges and universities will take your highest combined score. Besides, if you take the test your sophomore or junior year, think how much more you know by the time you are a senior. Trust me, it helps!

Finally and most importantly, don't wait until the last minute to take the test!! You should start thinking about when you want to take your tests at the beginning of your junior year. Some will start picking dates as early as their sophomore year. The idea is to give yourself plenty of time for starting the admissions process. Some students will take a test their junior year and then take another their senior year so that there will be some space in between for knowledge building and preparation. Different students have different approaches and ideas about how many times to take the test. Find the one that works best for you! The spring semester of your senior year should not find you stressing about taking the SAT or ACT! You should be receiving acceptance letters and preparing for graduation.

According to Richard Ferguson, the chief executive officer at ACT, by offering the Writing Test as an option, ACT hopes to provide a "flexible solution rather than imposing a single approach on all students and institutions."

Colleges and universities make their own decisions about whether to require the results from the ACT Writing Test for admission and/or course-placement purposes. Based on the requirements of the institutions they are considering, students decide whether to take the Writing Test. According to ACT, students will not be required to take a test that they do not need to take, thus incurring unnecessary expense, and institutions will have the freedom to require the tests that best meet their information needs.

To find out which colleges require the writing portion, visit

ACT's Web site .   For 2006-2007, the ACT is offered on:

It's Long. Bring a Snack.

Reprinted with permission. Copyright 2007 National Association for College Admission Counseling. 

Though most counselors will tell you not to worry too much about preparing for the SAT or ACT—how you perform on the test should, after all, be a reflection of what you've learned in school.

Counselor John Boshoven offers some quick and easy tips for those of you who can't seem to shake the testing-anxiety blues:

"Bring food, plan on the marathon and continue to prep as much as [you] want," he said. "As before, practice, practice, practice."

The fact of the matter is, regardless of writing sections and more advanced math, if you want to go to college, you have to take one of these tests. But the testing experience does not have to rank up there as one of the worst of your lives. And, hey, now that you know what to expect, it may not be as bad as you think. So, before you take the SAT or ACT, try your hand at one of the practice tests, don't let the anxiety get to you, and make sure you rest up the night before the exam.

Oh, and don't forget to bring a snack.