On Wednesday March 2, Hayes juniors will take the SAT while the rest of the school has a remote learning day.
In some states, students must take the ACT to graduate while other states require the SAT, however, Ohio allows students to choose either.
Although Hayes has offered the ACT for several years, it recently switched to the SAT.
For some students, like junior Erin Madden, this switch was surprising, but not necessarily bad.
“I was surprised by the sudden change, but not too disappointed,” Madden said. “I had taken the ACT twice before, and was already satisfied with my score. I would rather try my hand on the SAT than take the ACT again at this point.”
Though the SAT and ACT are both intended to measure college readiness, they have several differences.
The SAT and ACT both include sections on English, reading and math, however, the SAT does not include a science section.
Instead, the SAT math section is broken into a 25 minute no calculator portion and a 55 minute portion which allows a calculator. While the SAT focuses more on algebra and data analysis, the ACT covers a wider range of math topics, but math makes up half of the composite SAT score whereas it only accounts for a quarter of the composite ACT score.
For junior Maezhen Clark, she says she’s anticipating some challenges on the math section.
“I forget a lot of the simple stuff, and I’m worried I’m going to have a lot of anxiety on the test day,” Clark said.
Madden is expecting the math section to be one of her biggest challenges as well.
“It’s been years since I’ve done geometry and general algebra,” Madden said. “It may also be difficult to become accustomed to the fast pace of the test.”
Both tests last approximately three hours, but the duration of each section is different for the respective tests. Although students actually have several more seconds per question on the SAT in comparison to the ACT, the logical thinking required for SAT questions necessitates the extra time.
“I think the most challenging part of the SAT will be budgeting my time for each question,” junior Natalie Hohman said. “Having a short, limited amount of time to take such an important test can be stressful.”
In order to prepare for the SAT, some students have found it helpful to take the practice SAT (or PSAT) in order to determine what areas they need to focus on.
“I took the PSAT freshman year and then this year,” Clark said. “I’ve been going through the questions I missed on it, and I’ve been practicing more, and I also compared my score on the PSAT on a scale of what I would get on the SAT to see where I’m headed towards and how I can improve.”
Hohman, who has also taken the PSAT, says she’s been using Khan Academy to help study for the SAT.  “I synced my PSAT results with Khan Academy, which created customized practice sessions for me to complete…” Hohman said. “I have been doing the Khan Academy practice sessions multiple times a week. I plan on taking a few practice tests from Khan Academy.”
Although some colleges are still test optional for admissions, SAT or ACT scores can put students in contention for merit-based financial aid.
“The SAT is important because it is an opportunity to show my strengths to colleges,” Hohman said. “I want to do well on the SAT because it will help me to get into good college programs and get scholarships.”
For this reason, studying for the SAT is particularly important since it can help students perform better and in turn, open the door for various academic opportunities that can help shape their careers.
“You have to study on your own a lot of the time…Try to motivate yourself; everyone has goals for their future and future jobs,” Clark said. “You don’t realize in high school how important your test scores can be, even though there might be more weight on them than there should be, but you just have to realize the weight and importance of the tests.”