SAT vs. ACT: Most Families Are Preparing for the Wrong Test

Nik was stuck.

His SAT score wouldn't budge no matter how much he practiced. He'd work through prep materials, take practice tests, review his mistakes. Nothing moved the needle.

Then we switched him to the ACT. Within weeks, he went from a 24 to a 31.

Same student. Same work ethic. Completely different result.

The question isn't which test is "better"—it's which test you can actually improve on. And after teaching both the SAT and ACT for five years, I can tell you those are very different questions with very different answers.

The Conventional Wisdom Is Dead Wrong

Here's what every college counselor will tell you: colleges treat the SAT and ACT identically.

They're right. Every college has a conversion chart. They punch in your score, whether it's SAT or ACT, and evaluate all students on equal footing. There's zero preference for one test over the other.

But that truth creates a dangerous assumption—that both tests are equally easy to prepare for.

They're not. Not even close.

I taught both tests for five years. I watched students struggle with both. I tracked which students saw improvement and which stayed stuck.

When the SAT went digital and adaptive in 2024, everything changed.

Old practice materials became worthless overnight. Students who'd been preparing for months suddenly had nothing that resembled the real test. We started hearing the same complaint from families: "The test looked nothing like the practice materials."

That's when Boosted Brains made a call. Two years ago, we stopped teaching the SAT entirely.

Not because we couldn't. Because we watched what actually produced results in 2024 and beyond. The ACT is coachable. The SAT isn't—not anymore.

The SAT's Fatal Flaw: Complicated by Design

The SAT has always used what I call "Shakespearean English."

You know the language our founding fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence in? That's the reading level of SAT passages and questions. Long, complicated sentence structures designed to trip students up before they even get to the actual content.

Then in 2024, they made three massive changes.

First, they killed the paper version entirely. Now it's digital-only. If your student likes showing work on paper, circling key words, marking up passages—too bad. The SAT forces everyone onto a computer.

Second, they shortened the test from three hours to about two hours and 15 minutes. This sounds great in marketing materials. In reality, it's just the College Board trying to compete with the ACT by making their test seem more appealing.

Third, and this is the kicker—they made it adaptive.

No two students take the same test anymore.

If you get questions right early, the test gives you harder questions later. Get questions wrong early, and you get easier ones. The College Board sells this as cutting-edge technology.

What it actually does is push most students toward mediocre scores.

Here's the impact you should actually care about: all those practice materials families had been using? Completely useless.

The format changed. The question styles changed. The adaptive algorithm means practice tests can't even simulate what your student will see on test day.

We've had families spend hundreds of dollars on SAT prep books from 2023 only to have their students walk out of the testing center saying the real test looked nothing like what they'd practiced.

Math got even messier.

The SAT has always had wild variance in difficulty. Some questions are ridiculously basic—solve for x in a simple equation. Other questions dig deep into theoretical quadratic formulas with multiple variables. Your student needs to be prepared for everything from basic algebra to concepts they might not even have covered in school yet.

Is it fair? No. But it's reality.

Why the ACT Builds Muscle Memory

Nik played basketball. Competitive level. He understood training.

So when I asked him what prepping for the SAT felt like, he gave me an analogy I still use today.

He said prepping for the SAT was like taking random practice shots. One three-pointer. Then a layup. Then a half-court heave. No consistency. You're practicing different distances, different scenarios, but you never build the automatic response your body needs in a real game.

The ACT? That's like shooting free throws.

Same distance every time. Same conditions. No defense in your face. No variables. If you practice your free throw motion a thousand times, you don't think on game day. You just shoot.

Your body knows exactly what to do.

That's the difference between these tests. The ACT stayed consistent while the SAT went adaptive and unpredictable.

Nik's SAT score was stagnant. He'd put in the work, but nothing moved. When we switched him to the ACT and he started with a 24, I told him we were going to drill specific question types until recognition became automatic.

English grammar questions? Same patterns every time. Math word problems? Same approach works every single test. Reading comprehension? Same question types appear in the same order.

We built drills targeting his weak spots. Subject-verb agreement. Long word problems. Inference questions. He practiced these question types until his brain recognized them halfway through reading the question.

Within weeks, he hit a 31.

Not because he got smarter. Because the test was predictable enough to train for.

The ACT didn't change its format. You can still take it on paper if you want—I recommend it because students can show work, circle key words, mark up passages with strategies. The questions are more straightforward. Less Shakespearean English, more direct phrasing.

And the practice materials actually match the real test.

My coaches and I still take the ACT regularly. We sit in real testing centers to stay current. The test stays consistent enough that when we drill our students on specific question types, those exact patterns show up on test day.

You can't do that with the SAT anymore. The adaptive format means your practice experience won't match test day reality.

The Biggest Mistake: Hedging Your Bets

Most families think they're being smart by prepping for both tests.

"We'll try both and see which one he scores better on."

Sounds reasonable. It's actually the worst strategy possible.

Here's why: colleges convert scores anyway.

If your student shows up with a 1350 SAT and a 30 ACT, colleges don't think "wow, two good scores." They convert both to the same scale and pick the higher one. Which means the second score was a complete waste of time.

Now compare that to the student who went all-in on the ACT and hit a 35.

That 35 student blows the 1350 SAT + 30 ACT student out of the water. The all-in student focused all their practice on one set of patterns. Built real muscle memory instead of scattered exposure to two different test formats.

For the last two years, Boosted Brains has been ACT-only.

Not because I'm biased. Because after teaching both for five years, I watched what actually produces results after the 2024 SAT changes.

One great score beats two mediocre scores. Every single time.

What Makes a Test Coachable

When I say the ACT is "coachable," here's what that means.

A coachable test has consistent patterns you can drill until automatic.

That's our entire methodology at Boosted Brains. Start with a diagnostic test to see exactly where the gaps are. Not vague "needs to work on math"—specific question types. Long word problems. SOHCAHTOA. Grammar comma rules. Whatever your student is missing.

Then we build drills targeting those exact weaknesses.

Our student Sarah came to us with a 25. Top grades, excellent student, but couldn't crack the ACT alone. We gave her structure—a specific plan telling her exactly what to work on each day. Six weeks later, she hit a 33. Three points above her original goal of 30.

Mary Adelaide tried traditional tutors first. Stayed stuck at 24 despite months of generic instruction. We paired her with Alina C, our math specialist, who built customized drills around Mary's specific geometry gaps. She jumped to a 30.

This only works when the test is predictable.

When question types stay consistent. When practice materials match test day reality. When recognition can become automatic through repetition.

I still take the ACT myself. My entire coaching team takes it regularly. We sit in real testing centers to stay current with what's actually showing up.

The ACT stays consistent enough that our targeted approach works. We catch subtle shifts—like when subject-verb agreement questions tripled on the English section—early enough to drill our students before their tests.

We can't do that with the SAT. The adaptive format and constantly changing question styles make systematic preparation nearly impossible.

Which Test Should YOUR Student Take

Let's get practical.

If your student just needs to clear a basic threshold—say, a 22 ACT or 1100 SAT for automatic admission somewhere—the SAT's adaptive format might bump them into that mediocre range pretty easily.

But that's not why you're reading this.

You're reading this because your student has potential. They're aiming for scholarship money. Competitive schools. Programs that require top scores.

For that? You need the ACT.

Are there exceptions? Sure. Maybe one in fifty students naturally excels with the SAT's complexity. If your student is a Shakespeare-reading prodigy who loves theoretical math, the SAT might work.

For everyone else? The ACT is the clear choice.

Pick one test. Go all-in on it. Don't spread yourself thin trying to prepare for two different formats when colleges are just going to convert them to the same scale anyway.

Start with a diagnostic. Identify the highest-priority weaknesses. Build drills targeting those specific question types. Practice until recognition becomes automatic.

That's how Nik went from stagnant on the SAT to 31 on the ACT. That's how our students average over 5 points of improvement when they commit to this systematic approach.

The test choice isn't a coin flip. It's a strategic decision based on which test you can actually prepare for systematically.

The Bottom Line

Both tests are equal for college admissions.

They're not equal for improvement.

The 2024 SAT changes—digital-only, adaptive format, practice materials rendered useless—made this choice clearer than ever. The ACT stayed predictable. Stayed coachable. Stayed consistent enough to train for with targeted drills.

Don't let your student spend months on the wrong test.

For most families, that means focusing entirely on the ACT. Building a systematic plan. Drilling specific weaknesses until recognition becomes automatic.

That's the approach that gets results.

Want to see exactly how our systematic ACT approach works?

Download our free ACT Planning Guide. Answer five quick questions about your student's situation, and we'll send you a personalized timeline showing exactly when to start prep, which test dates make sense, and what scores are realistic based on where your student is right now:

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— Carson