ACT VS SAT
Timing and Sections
The New SAT has only one reading section and one writing section—the math section is divided into a
calculator portion and a no-calculator portions. The sections will always be in the same order. The test will be 3
hours, plus the optional essay. The exact breakdown, in order, looks like this:
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Reading: 52 questions, 65 minutes
Writing and Language: 44 questions, 35 minutes
Math: no calculator—20 questions, 25 min; with calculator—38 questions, 55 min
Optional essay: 1 prompt, 50 min
The basic ACT structure and timing is remaining the same, with the exception of the new essay, which will be
longer.
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English: 75 questions, 45 min
Math: 60 questions, 60 min
Reading: 40 questions, 35 min
Science: 40 questions, 35 min
Optional writing: 1 prompt, 40 min
Scoring
SAT Scoring
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Returning to the 400-1600 scale. Ten years ago, when the College Board last implemented major
changes to the SAT, it added the Writing section; there were then three scores from 200-800 to combine,
making the top possible score a 2400. Now the writing and reading sections will count to the same
Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score, which will be combined with the Math score to create a
final score between 400-1600.
No more wrong answer penalty. You will no longer be penalized by 1/4 point for every wrong answer!
The idea of that policy was to discourage guessing, but the College Board's research has found that
eliminating won't affect scores that much and will cut down on students' reliance on test-taking
strategies (a major goal for this overhaul).
The essay will be given three different scores and no longer affects your total score. Since it's now
optional, the new SAT essay will work a lot more like the ACT essay—you'll receive a separate
essay score that doesn't factor into your score on the 400-1600 range.
Lots of subscores. As part of their attempt to provide more helpful information to colleges, the College
Board will be providing a number of subscores and cross-test scores: Analysis in History/Social Studies,
Analysis in Science, Command of Evidence, Words in Context, Expression of Ideas, Standard English
Conventions, Heart of Algebra, Problem Solving and Data Analysis, and Passport to Advanced Math.
It's unclear how, or if, colleges will be using these scores, so you shouldn't worry about them for now.
The ACT scoring

Staying mostly the same—section scores from 1-36 averaged to create a composite also between 1 and
36.
The exception is the ACT Writing. It will still be a separate score, but it will now be on a scale of 136, rather than 2-12. Also, like the new SAT essay, it will be scored across multiple domains:
Reading
New SAT
ACT
65 min
35 min
5 passages, 52 questions
4 passages, 40 questions
Passage
types
1 U.S. or World Literature, 2 History or Social
Studies, 2 Science
1 Prose Fiction or Literary Narrative, 1
Social Sciences, 1 Humanities, 1 Natural
Sciences
Question
types
Main Idea, Vocab-in-Context, Inference,
Evidence Support, Data Reasoning, Technique,
Detail-Oriented
Main Idea, Vocab-in-Context, Inference,
Detail-Oriented
Time
# of
questions
Writing
New SAT
ACT
Time
35 min
45 min
# of
questions
4 passages, 44 questions
5 passages, 75 questions
Content
Standard English Conventions: 20 questions
(45%), covering sentence structure, conventions of
usage, and conventions of punctuation
Expression of Ideas: 24 questions (55%), covering
development, organization and effective language
use
Usage and Mechanics: sentence structure
(20-25%), grammar and usage (15-20%),
and punctuation (10-15%)
Rhetorical Skills: style (15-20%), strategy
(15-20%), and organization (10-15%)
Information taken from:
http://blog.prepscholar.com/the-new-sat-vs-the-act-a-full-breakdown
Math
New SAT
ACT
Time
Calculator: 55 min
No Calculator: 25 min
60 min
# of questions
Calculator: 38 questions
No Calculator: 20 questions
60 questions
Topics
Heart of Algebra — 33%
Problem Solving and Data Analysis — 28%
Passport to Advanced Math — 29%
Pre-algebra — 20-25%
Elementary algebra — 15-20%
Intermediate algebra — 15-20%
Coordinate geometry — 15-20%
Additional Topics in Math — 10%
Plane geometry — 20-25%
Trigonometry — 5-10%
ACT Math
Far more geometry and trigonometry. If you like geometry, the ACT will be the test for you. A quarter to a
third of the questions on the math section deal with geometry or trig. However, unlike the SAT, the
ACT doesn't provide formulas, so you'll absolutely have to know the common ones.
Wider range of material. In fact, the ACT tests more topics in general that the new SAT does. You may see
questions about logarithims, graphs of trig functions, and matrices, none of which appear on the SAT.
Writing
The essay is the one section for which both tests are undergoing a major overhaul. Moreover, the SAT essay
and ACT writing test are both becoming more complex, rather than less so, and they will both be optional.
New SAT
ACT
Time
50 min
40 min
Optional?
Yes
Yes
Scoring
Writing, Reading, and
Ideas and Analysis, Development and Support, Organization, and
Domains
Analysis
Language Use and Conventions
Content Differences between the new SAT and ACT
The redesigned SAT is much more content based than the current version, so if you're planning
to take the new SAT make sure you understand what will be on it. Also, keep in mind that the
ACT still tests more grammar and math concepts than the new SAT does.