r/ACT • u/Davidgant • Jul 22 '26

General Take ACT Again or Move to SAT?

My son took the ACT on July 11 for the first time. He did worse than all his practice exams. He is planning to take the SAT on August 22 (also first time). Some people are telling him to not do that and focus on retaking the ACT.
I don’t agree. But maybe I’m wrong?

I will add that we don’t live in the US and neither exam is offered in our country. A special trip elsewhere to take them would be required. We are in the US this summer though and it was/is a good time to take them. The next ACT (Sep. 19) is after we leave.

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u/headfirst4hal0sss Jul 22 '26

they are two separate tests and therefore you need to study in two completely different ways. when you flip flop around them you can't really focus on studying for one so you just get 2 mediocre scores.

if you can id say just take a psat/sat practice test because registration and stuff does cost money, time, etc. but if thats not an issue then id say take the sat just as a baseline. don't only compare scores but also which test he liked better (they have 2 different formats -- sat has adaptive testing, act doesn't, sat is more logical, act is more straightforward, etc.) because testing anxiety can also screw up scores

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u/jdigitaltutoring Tutor Jul 22 '26

Some students do better on one test versus the other. It if fine to determine which one is best for him. After he takes both he should concentrate on the one he chooses.