Admissions


Finishing STRONG! Tips to Maximize GRADES

It’s easy for juniors to forget during the standardized testing crunch of May and June that the most important thing you can do to get accepted to competitive colleges is to earn the best grades you can in whatever courses you’re taking. Period. Here’s some good advice to remember down the home stretch: Conventional wisdom is that the first impression we make is the most important, but when it comes to impressions grades make on teachers, the LAST impression is the most important, i.e., the most LASTing. Take it from a 20+ year classroom teacher: When teachers go to enter […]


7 Tips for Writing New Year’s Resolutions in the College Admissions Game

On behalf of everyone at CollegePrepExpress, I wish you a happy, productive, successful, and COVID-free 2023! At CPE, we’re great believers that “today is the first day of the rest of your life,” that you can choose to wipe the slate clean and start fresh any day and time you choose, with new thinking, new activities, new routines, and, over time, new habits. But there are two ideal times for students, in particular, to pause for serious introspection and reassessment, two ideal times to set new goals: the beginning of the academic year and the beginning of the calendar year. So RIGHT […]


Are You Helping or Hurting Your Kids’ Chances? Common Myths About How to Get into Selective Colleges in 2022 and Beyond!

The mythological “intel” below may SOUND reasonable enough, but applicants who heed such advice often find themselves disconsolate when admission decision postings and letters come out… Academic  Standardized Tests Activities Application Writing Miscellaneous Learn about these MYTHS in today’s admissions game and find out who advice DOES work in our Monthly College Admissions Zoom Talks for Parents & Teens…with Dr. Yo We’re here to help! 🤓


A1 Tip for High School Success and College Admissions

If you’ve done any reading at all about writing compelling applications to college, whether on this blog (see, for example, Passion Is No Ordinary Word) or elsewhere, you know that the number one buzz word is passion. People are passionate about millions of things, from ideas and principles to sports and other collaborative activities to music and other performing arts to computers and technology to volunteer work and community service and on and on), but all these varied manifestations of passion share one thing in common: a deep commitment, a visceral inclination, a kind of love. Admissions committees can tell […]


SAT versus ACT, A Side-by-Side Analysis, Part 2 of 3

[To commemorate the second anniversary of the “Redesigned SAT,” this is installment #2 of a three-part article. If you’d like to read the whole article in one shot, simply email your request to DrYo@CollegePrepExpress.com. Dr. Yo would like to express his gratitude to the following students for their valuable input: Yash Nair, Justin and Chritian Andreoli, and Nick and Chris Consoli. You guys rock! Originally posted March, 2018.] What I’ve discovered over the last several years, both from my own careful study of the eight sample tests in The Official SAT Study Guide in an effort to help students raise their scores […]


SAT versus ACT, A Side-by-Side Analysis, Part 3 of 3

SAT-vs-ACT-What's the Difference?[To commemorate the second anniversary of the “Redesigned SAT,” this is installment #3 of a three-part article. Here are Part 1 and Part 2. Dr. Yo would like to express his gratitude to the following students for their valuable input: Yash Nair, Justin and Chritian Andreoli, and Nick and Chris Consoli. You guys rock! Originally posted, March 2018.]

In this third and final installment, I offer a section-by-section analysis of the SAT and ACT, highlighting the main differences and demonstrating my overarching theme that the SAT is more of a reasoning exam and the ACT is more of a knowledge-based exam.

The biggest substantive difference—that is, the biggest difference in terms of actual content—is the ACT contains a Science Test, whereas the SAT does not. The redesigned SAT contains some items that are similar to the ACT Science Test’s questions—which are included in its first two tests, Evidence Based Reading & Writing and Writing & Language—in the form of “infographic” questions.

SAT Info Graphic Item

SAT Info Graphic Item

Here, as in the question at right, students are asked to interpret data, graphs, and charts, and specifically how they support or contradict information presented in the prose parts of the passage. There are only a few of them and they are generally easier than the ACT Science Test’s questions.

Items on the ACT Science Test are more in depth, more sophisticated, and, plain and simply, harder. The biggest challenge on the ACT Science Test for the vast majority of students is time management. Answering 40 items in 35 minutes distributed across six or seven completely different science passages is challenging and underscores the ACT has more questions per time than the SAT and a tester’s pace has to be faster on the ACT than on the SAT. Students must learn to identify quickly what I call the science “buzzwords” in each Science Test question, and then find where that information—those same buzzwords—is presented in the graphs, diagrams, charts, and/or prose text of the passage. Here’s an example:


The science “buzzwords” in this item are “temperature” and “distance.” Note that I need not know the first thing about HCL, what it stands for, or what it’s doing on a swab. All I need to do is identify that the question is asking about a relationship between temperature and distance. The tester might also note that each answer offers a graph showing “temperature” on the x-axis as a function of “distance” on the y-axis. Identifying these two key words, the tester must then scan the given information, looking specifically for where “temperature” and “distance”  appear. That would be in Table 1:

Once we find where the science buzzwords appear in the passage, finding the answer is simple: Scanning down the Temperature column, we notice the temperature is increasing at 10° intervals. Next, scanning the Distance column, we notices that distance pretty much stays the same: 4–>4.1–>4.1–>4.  In other words, as temperature increase the distance remains the same, or flatlines. This is neatly shown in the graph in answer choice D above.

My experience of the vast majority of students who end up taking or counting the ACT, is that there is a learning curve in the Science Test. That is, very few students score their best, or even near their best, on their first try. It absolutely takes some getting used to, so don’t make an SAT versus ACT decision based solely on a single practice ACT Science Test score. My advice is to take a few, timed, practice ACT Science Tests before you rule out the ACT based on Science alone.

The most similar sections on the SAT and ACT are the SAT’s second test, Language & Writing, and the ACT’s first test, English. Substantively, they are both essentially tests of grammar, punctuation, and diction, with only slight differences in emphases. The biggest difference in the two tests, which should come at no surprise at this point, is questions per time. The ACT’s English section is 10 minutes longer than the SAT’s Language & Writing section, but it contains 31 more questions. The SAT asks a tester to answer 44 questions in 35 min, or ~48 seconds per question. The ACT asks a tester to answer 75 questions in 45 min, or 36 seconds per question. Hence, you get 12 more seconds to answer every SAT grammar question than you do for every ACT question. Consequently, a premium on the ACT is placed on knowing the grammar rules tested on the exam so thoroughly that you can answer more questions more quickly.

The other two sections on the ACT and SAT (Reading and Math) neatly correspond and reveal their exam’s fundamental difference, knowledge-based versus reasoning. Both exams test reading comprehension, that is, reading a substantial passage (usually approximately two columns long) and answering 10-ish questions about it (on the ACT it’s always exactly 10 question per passage, while on the SAT is around 10 questions per passage): Section 1 on the SAT is called Evidence Based Reading & Writing, and Section 3 on the ACT is called “Reading.” The SAT’s section is almost twice as long as the ACT’s, 65 min versus 35 min, and it asks questions about five passages (one based on literature, two on history or historical documents, and two on science) versus the ACT’s four passages (one based on literature, one based on social studies—i.e., history—one on humanities, and one on natural science), but again, you get significantly more time per question. Students rarely struggle to complete the entire SAT reading section in time, but they often struggle to complete the ACT reading section: on the SAT’s 52 questions in 65 min, you get 1 min 15 seconds per question; on the ACT’s 40 question in 35 min, you get under a minute each, or 52 seconds per item. Once again, when it comes to Reading, time management is at a premium on the ACT versus the SAT.


The second biggest difference after time between the two Reading tests is whereas the ACT Reading questions focus on factual details, the answers to which can almost always be found somewhere explicitly stated in the passage, the 23 seconds more per question on the SAT account for the fact that their questions often go beyond factual details to focus on which evidence in the passage best supports a given claim, and to ask testers to make inferences about the passage. Typical ACT Reading questions ask, for example, “Which of the following events in the passage occurred first chronologically?” and “According to the passage, which of the following is true of Argentine ants?” Conversely, the SAT questions tends to go beyond what’s printed on the page and ask students to reason, or THINK. For example, “Which choice best describes a major theme of the passage?” A tester will not be able to find the answer to that item printed in the passage, but rather will have to think about the passage as a whole, perhaps having to look back carefully at the intro and conclusion, to infer a major theme.

Here are examples of where the SAT asks testers to go beyond the printed word and to use their reasoning. By far, the most common question TYPE appearing on the SAT Reading Test is the PAIR of questions where the first question is typical of reading comprehension tests in general and the second asks which answer choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the preceding question. For instance,

Students will not find any of the eight adjectives in the four answer choices to question #38 in the relevant part of the passage, here:

However, students do know the best evidence for the answer to question #38 is presented in one of the four excerpts given in question #39. Examining choice B), “And they are very important question and we have very little time in which to answer them,” testers find definitions of “momentous” (very important) and “pressing” (very little time), and therefore can use choice B) in question #39 to find the answer to question #38, which is C). It takes a little longer than typical ACT questions, but these are no more difficult and extra time is built into every passage as indicated above.

Finally, we come to MATH. The most glaring difference is that while the SAT does not allow the use of a calculator for 25 minutes of the 80 total minutes of Math, the ACT allows calculators on all 60 minutes of its Math Test. Aside from this difference in the use of calculators, by far the biggest difference is students must reason, or THINK, a lot more on the SAT than on the ACT. This does NOT mean the SAT Math is harder—in many cases it is MUCH easier—it means the two exams must be approached differently. Again looking at the allotted time per question is revealing: on the ACT testers must answer 60 questions is 60 minutes, or 1 question a minute. on the SAT tests must an answer a total of 58 questions in 80 min, 1 min 23 sec per question, or 23 more seconds for every SAT Math question than every ACT Math question. That time is generally to be spent thinking about the information presented and looking for insights. Here is a classic example of an SAT Math problem that, at first blush, looks mighty scary to even the geekiest of math nerds.

Again, while this is an intimidating-looking problem, a well-coached student will know that since it’s only problem #7 on a 20-question tests, it’s very likely not as hard as it looks. And it’s not. Essentially, while ugly and frightening, the given information presents an equation solved for m in terms of a fraction of P. To find the equation solved for P in terms of m, which is what the question asks, one need only multiply m by the reciprocal (or “refliprocal”) of the fraction being multiplied by P. The answer is, without even putting pencil to paper, (B), which simply presents P equal to the product of the reciprocal of the original ugly fraction and m.

Is that harder or easier than ACT math? Good question, glad you asked. The answer is, as indicated in all three installments of this blog post, it depends on the kind of student, learner, and test taker you are. If, after reading these three posts you remain unsure of which test you’ll get a better score on, I strongly encourage you to invest less than $10 to take our 30-min SAT versus ACT Questionnaire, designed for the express purpose of determining which test is better for which students. We’re here to help! 🙂

~Dr. Yo

See also:

The Redesigned SAT versus the ACT, Two Years Later, Part 1 of 3

The Redesigned SAT versus the ACT, Two Years Later, Part 2 of 3

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Application Packaging: FIVE Helpful Hints in Choosing a Personal Essay Topic

Most of the calls into CPE over the past few weeks have been from increasingly anxious parents and students seeking guidance on college applicants’ personal essays. Am I available to help brainstorm or critique or overhaul or edit or polish? Yes, I am, for all of the above, as are a number of junior tutors/consultants at CPE. 🙂 But to help students get started right here, right now, here are five helpful hints to choosing a topic. 1. Think about your essay topic in the context of the forms leading up to the Writing section of the CommonApp (or any […]


Summer Goals and the College Admissions Game

(Quick note to Moms, Dads, and other primary care givers: I know you’ve said very similar things to your kids. But, of course, they won’t believe it coming from you. So print this out and leave it on their pillows. The third-party approach often works like a charm ;-)) The most important criterion—and the most frequently heard buzz word—in today’s college admissions game is passion. Demonstrable passion. Anyone can CLAIM passion about his or her interests, but picture admissions committee as one giant D.A. from Lily Tomlin and company’s awesome kids’ show The Magic School Bus, running around with a clipboard demanding […]


2 KEYS to Answering to the Most Common Supplement Essay and College Interview Question: Why Do you Want to Attend?

By far the most commonly asked college supplement writing question and one of the most commonly asked college interview questions is, why do you want to attend this particular institution? Why are you interested in Central Connecticut State University? Why are you drawn to the area(s) of study you indicated earlier in this application? Why Tufts? How will you explore your intellectual and academic interests at the University of Pennsylvania? What is it about Yale that has led you to apply? Tell me, why do you want to go here? Whether in the form of a writing prompt or an […]


A Brief History of College Courtship: Interest –> Demonstrated Interest –> Informed Interest

College admissions committees have always been more interested in students who are interested in their schools than those who are simply throwing in another application just to see if they can get in or to use as a safety school. Back in the days before college admissions became more competitive than the Olympics, it was enough for candidates to say (and we were actually coached to say), during interviews for example, “You’re my first choice.” In today’s college admissions game, that no longer flies. You have to PROVE you’re interested (see Summer Goals and the College Admissions Game); you have […]


Taking the ACT Next Weekend? 5 Tips for Cramming

If you’re taking the ACT next weekend, 6/9 or 6/10, and haven’t been able to prepare as thoroughly as you’d like—hey, we understand, final papers, final exams, sports commitments, nice weather, yada yada yada—do not despair. Because there’s no vocabulary on the exam, you don’t need to spend nearly as much time studying as you might think. Except for slow test-takers, who may prefer the SAT because there’s significantly more time per question, the ACT is, in fact, a much more “beatable” exam than the SAT, especially when there’s only a week or two before game day. There are two […]


7 Tips for Writing New Year’s Resolutions in the College Admissions Game

On behalf of everyone at CollegePrepExpress, I wish you a healthy, productive, successful, and HAPPY 2017! I’m a great believer that today is the first day of the rest of your life, that you can choose to wipe the slate clean and start fresh any day you choose. But there are two ideal times for students, in particular, to pause for serious introspection and reassessment and to set new goals: the beginning of the academic year and the beginning of the calendar year. So NOW would be a great time to sit down with paper and pen, or screen and […]


Why CPE’s 4-in-1 Super-Value Math Class Is Right for YOU Right Now

   For further details on the class, visit our 4-in-1 Super Value Math page Dr. Yo’s 4-in-1 Super-Value Math Class is one of those rare classes that makes excellent sense for the vast majority of high school students regardless of their achievement and regardless of the caliber schools they’re considering or hope to consider. The problem is, most students and parents either don’t know that it exists, or they don’t immediately see how it can prove so tremendously beneficial in their particular case. The purpose of this blog post is to redress those unfortuante circumtances. The concept underpinning the class is to offer high […]


Traveling Abroad Revisited – Good for Life, Good for College Admissions

All my CPE students seem to be talking and writing lately about foreign travel in one form or another. From school-sponsored exchange programs to trips with school bands performing on stage or with churches performing community services to family safaris and other individual summer adventures, something’s in the air. Thought it was a propitious time to dust off a piece I wrote almost three years ago to the date (and by dust off I mean change the parts I don’t like): It would be no exaggeration to say that my trip to France in the summer of 1980 changed my life. As a typical angst-ridden […]