45 minutes
In particular, the best time to take the SAT or ACT is after you've taken Geometry and Algebra II in school. Both tests heavily feature algebra and geometry, and if you've never encountered these subjects, your knowledge foundation will be weak and you'll do poorly on the math section. This can make a big difference in your final test scores. 4) Prep Time For most students, we recommend you try to study at least 40 hours for the SAT or ACT to see a big score improvement. If you can study more than this - 80, 120 hours-you'll be rewarded with higher test scores. Some students end up scoring substantially higher on the SAT; others do better on the ACT. In lieu of a crystal ball, we created The Princeton Review Assessment (PRA) designed to help you determine which test is better fit with your abilities. See New SAT Prep Options. The ACT has a Science section, while the SAT does not. You don't need to know anything about amoebas or chemical reactions for the ACT Science section. It is meant to test your reading and reasoning skills based upon a given set of facts. But if you're a true science-phobe, the SAT might be a better fit Generally, if you take the ACT or SAT and score well, you will probably score about as well on the other test. While both tests cover many of the same subject areas, like reading comprehension and math, the ACT often requires more knowledge of the material you learn in high school than the SAT does. When deciding when to take the ACT, you need to think about your academic and extracurricular schedule, as well as how prepared you will be before the test. You should find out the preferred test dates for the ACT from the schools you’re applying to. On the ACT English test, you must answer 75 questions in 45 minutes. That means, that you have 36 seconds or less to spend on each question; that's it. If you answered the questions in 45 seconds, you'd need roughly 56 minutes to take the entire test, which is about 11 extra minutes. You're not going to get that time.  You'll earn one ACT score (1 to 36) on each test (English, Math, Reading and Science) and a composite ACT score, which is an average of these four tests. Usually, when people ask about your score, they're referring to your composite ACT score. The composite score falls between 1 and 36. The national average is about 21. If, for example, you scored 31 on the English, 30 on the Math, 29 on the Reading and 30 on the Science, your composite ACT score would be 30. You'll receive subscores in English, Math and Reading that range between 1 and 18. The ACT includes an optional essay, known as the writing test. If you take the writing test, you will receive a writing test subscore and a combined English/writing score. + More. When taking the SAT or ACT, manage the clock and remember that the goal is to get your best possible score, not a perfect score. With enough practice and time, students can work through every question on the SAT or ACT. In fact, time management is often the major difference between a good test score and an excellent test score.  This is problematic, because certain students are practically built to take the ACT, and will find themselves struggling with the SAT – and vice versa. Therefore, one of the first things I do when advising my clients is figure out which test they should be taking in the first place. Section Summary: Neither the SAT nor the ACT is harder than the other – but each test benefits a different type of student. It’s essential that you figure out which test is best suited for you, so that you can achieve the highest scores possible. First, the College Board and the ACT do not curve the test on a test by test basis, but rather on a year-by-year or even decade by decade basis. The mission of the College Board and ACT is to provide a test score that can be compared to test scores from any other test date, on an equal basis. This can make a big difference in your final test scores. 4) Prep Time For most students, we recommend you try to study at least 40 hours for the SAT or ACT to see a big score improvement. If you can study more than this - 80, 120 hours-you'll be rewarded with higher test scores.
http://blog.prepscholar.com/when-should-you-take-the-sat-or-act-best-test-dates http://www.princetonreview.com/college/sat-act http://www.collegecountdown.com/test-prep/act-practice/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-act.html http://testprep.about.com/od/actenglish/tp/Improve_ACT_English_Score.htm http://www.princetonreview.com/college/act-information http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-admissions-playbook/2013/11/18/avoid-running-out-of-time-on-the-sat-act https://greentestprep.com/resources/sat-prep/act-vs-sat/ http://blog.prepscholar.com/when-should-you-take-the-sat-or-act-best-test-dates
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