by Amanda Kovac |

What is one thing in school that everyone hates, but has to do anyway? Testing. Tests can be hard to deal with. Tests involve studying and cramming for hours. Standardized tests involve preparation for months in advance. All the preparation is pointless if you’re not taking the test that will benefit you the most. The test that highlights my personal strengths is the SAT.

For me, one benefit of the SAT is that it doesn’t test such advanced math concepts. Princeton Review claims that the ACT tests a student’s knowledge on Geometry, Algebra I and II, and also over trigonometry, whereas the SAT does not. I have found that once I’ve taken a math class and passed, I lose everything. I can never remember which formula to use when, and when it comes to memorizing reasons for proofs, forget it. It’s not happening. Math is not my strong suit, and because of that I would most likely choose to take the SAT.

Another thing I like about the SAT is that it is split into more parts than the ACT. Aside from regular math, English, and reading, there are ten segments that split the original sections up even more. For some it is best to tackle bigger sections at once, but I like little breaks in testing so that I don’t get so bored with one subject. I’ve found that I have a shorter attention span than most and that I don’t like tasks that take forever. When I have a test that is hours long I would like to give my brain a break, even if it’s only for a minute or so.

Many people believe that the ACT is better because the essay portion is optional. Numerous colleges still require for the writing portion to be taken. I don’t mind writing at all. I mean, I’m on newspaper, I got this. The SAT doesn’t make an essay optional, but personally, I don’t think the ACT should either. Writing is a skill that every person uses daily. Being able to write a good paper or essay is a skill that many colleges look for. If I had to choose between you and someone else with the same score as you, but you didn’t take the writing portion and they did, I would choose the person who wrote the essay.

An additional benefit of the SAT for me is that it doesn’t have a science section, according to the Princeton Review. I’m not terrible at science, but it’s not my favorite subject. On a test that I’m already stressed about, I wouldn’t want to deal with charts and tables. When I took the ACT I saw that the science questions were not over actual science knowledge, but over your ability to answer questions on the information you see in the chart. Even so, my observational skills aren’t the greatest, and I would surely do poorly on that section.

Certain colleges may not require for the SAT or ACT to be taken, but it is always good to double check with the college you would like to attend. Testing might not be fun, but most colleges require it for entry.

Overall it depends on your strengths and weaknesses to determine which test is best for you, but I prefer the SAT due to the fact that it plays to my personal strengths. Whichever test is chosen should be properly prepared for, even if it’s not any fun.