Patrick O'Connor, Associate Dean of College Counseling at Cranbrook-Kingswood School, adds healthy doses of both sanity and perspective to his college admissions articles on the Huffington Post like Testing, Testing: Some Ground Rules About the ACT and SAT.
I would, however, offer different advice than that of O'Connor when asked, “Which test should I take – ACT or SAT?”
O’Connor says:
“You
want to take the test that will best show your academic ability, and
the only way to do that is to take each test once, review the scores,
and think about the amount of stress you felt when taking each test.”
McMullin says:
To
take both exams means you’ll have to log 8 hours of standardized
testing just to decide which test to prepare for and take again.
Instead, call The Princeton Review at 888-955-4600 and ask if they are
administering any free PRA
(Princeton Review Assessment) exams in your area. If they’re not, look
up the number for your local office, call, and ask really nicely if
they’d be willing to mail you one.
The PRA is like a hybrid of the SAT and ACT and was designed to help you decide which test suits you best. And it takes just 3 ½ hours to complete.