The popular conception that the SAT rewards natural ability while the ACT rewards preparation is accurate to some extent, but this certainly doesn’t mean that it’s useless to attempt to study for the SAT. The preparation will not rely as heavily on the memorization of “tricks” as does ACT preparation, but the principle that a less capable student who is familiar with the test will do better than a more capable student who is seeing it for the first time still holds true. If nothing else, a good deal of precious time is saved by memorizing the directions for each part of the test in advance!

The most important difference, of course, is the SAT’s infamous scoring system, in which a wrong answer (- ¼ pt.) hurts a student more than a blank (± 0 pts.) one does. While it’s important to be aware of this, it’s also important not to let it drive you crazy. Too many good students get bogged down in furious odds-calculation about how many to leave blank, or scare themselves into leaving questions blank that they would have gotten right if they’d trusted their instincts. Suffice to say, if you can eliminate two of the choices, it is in your interest to guess.

The SAT has changed since the days when your parents, or even some of your older siblings, took it. It is now out of 2400 points, not 1600; there is an essay portion; the Verbal section has been split up into Writing and Critical Reading sections; and the verbal analogies, once the most famous element of the test, have been eliminated altogether.

But some things never change: vocabulary skills are still a major concern. Accordingly, many students attempt to prepare by memorizing long lists of “big” words. While this may be helpful for students who have exceptionally good memories and a lot of free time, most will find it more beneficial to memorize Greek and Latin word roots, and to work on getting better at figuring out what a word probably means. Luckily, the vocabulary questions are fill-in-the-blank within sentences, rather than just flatly asking you what a word means. This fact, combined with certain methods of dividing the choices (e.g., does the blank call for a word that means a good thing or a bad thing?), means that word-root knowledge will almost always help a student eliminate enough choices to render it statistically advantageous to guess. Remember, don’t be afraid to guess a word you don’t know if you have eliminated the other choices!

Be aware that the grammar portions of the SAT Writing section tend to emphasize “harder” rules than does the English section of the ACT: expect a lot of questions involving misplaced modifiers, parallel phrasing, subjective vs. objective case, and preposition choice.

On the Critical Reading section’s short and long passages, quickly read all you are given, but remember to review for the “main idea” by rereading the first and last sentences of each paragraph. Often, a couple of wrong answers can be eliminated simply because they contradict the main idea. Beyond that, be careful of choices that are too detailed or too absolute (for example, ones that contain the words “always” or “never”). Remember that it only takes one word to make an answer wrong!

Is the SAT more difficult than the ACT? Perhaps. But just like any test, it is primarily a test in how to take a test. Learn what to expect, and although you will still be challenged, at least you won’t be surprised.