Are You Better at the ACT or SAT Find Out For Sure!

Are You Better at the ACT or SAT Find Out For Sure! SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Because colleges accept both the ACT and SAT, it can be had to figure out which test to take. The changes to the SAT in 2016 made the two tests more similar than ever, although there are still some significant differences in content and format between the two tests. So how can you tell if you'll do better on the SAT or ACT? Drawing on my experience as a 99 percentile scorer on both the SAT and ACT, I'll give you a surefire way to figure out which test will result in the best outcome for you. The Gold Standard of Deciding Between the ACT and SAT There are enough differences between the ACT and the SAT that, empirically, it is difficult to predict beforehand if you'll be better at one than the other. The method I'm going to describe is the best way to be sure of seeing how you'll do on the SAT or ACT. You can use this information in many ways: to figure out what test to study, to see which scholarships you should apply to, and so forth. Once you've used this method, you don't have to guess. What's the method? It's to take both a real practice SAT and a real practice ACT. Who Should Use This Method? Taking practice tests is called the gold standard for a reason - it gives super precise information about which test you'll perform better on. However, taking two full-length practice tests is also time consuming. You should definitely use this method if one of the following applies to you: #1: You're Studying for 40+ Hours If you're going to focus on studying seriously, especially for more than 40 hours, it make sense to make sure you're spending it studying for the right test. Conversely, if you have fewer than 40 hours left (for example, only 20 hours), you should probably not spend 8 hours figuring out what test to take. #2: You're Willing to Invest Time and Energy in Studying If you care about your scores and are generally willing to invest the effort to get the best score, then taking a realistic practice SAT and a realistic practice ACT is a must. This method is not only good for telling if you're better at the ACT or SAT, but is also good practice in and of itself. If you're serious about the SAT or ACT, it would be a mistake not to do this. How Do I Find Out Whether I'm Better at the ACT or SAT? Step 1: Take a Full Practice SAT and a Full Practice ACT Get a real ACT practice test and a real SAT practice test (you can click on the links to get three of each for free). Make sure to choose one that you have not already used. Also, ideally, you should create a realistic testing environment with a timer, calculator, watch, and a quiet room. Now schedule four hours on two separate days to take the practice tests. You want to take them on separate days so that you're not more rested for one than the other. Most important of all, make sure your testing environment is similar on both days. The comparisons will not be valid if you take one at 10AM in a quiet library with plenty of sleep, and another at 8PM in a noisy house after eating a heavy meal. Step 2: Convert Your ACT Score to an SAT Score Now that you have both scores, use our ACT to SAT score conversion tools and tables to convert your ACT score to its SAT equivalent. Example: Mary got a 29 on her practice ACT. She uses the table linked above to convert this to1340. Mary got a 1200 out of 1600 on her SAT. Step 3: Compare Your Scores and Make the Call If your score difference ismore than 100 pointsin either direction, then you have a clear winner. You have done substantially better on one test than the other. You know which one you are better at! Moreover, a 100-point difference is substantial, and colleges will reward you for the better score. Continuing from the example above, Mary's ACT score is equivalent to a 1340 SAT score, while her SAT score is 1200. This means her ACT score is 140 points better than her SAT. She is definitely better at the ACT. If your score difference isless than 100 points, then you don't have a natural disadvantage on either test. The point difference is likely due to chance, and you could study for and score equally well on either test. Now you know how to precisely figure out whether you are better at the SAT or ACT! What’s Next? Get free offical practice SATs and official practice ACTs from us. Download and save them now and use them whenever! Don't have time to use the gold standard? Use our quick method to find out if you're better at the SAT or ACT. Read about the nitty gritty technical details about differences between the SAT and ACT. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

How Systematic Random Sampling Work

How Systematic Random Sampling Work Systematic sampling is a technique for creating a random probability sample in which each piece of data is chosen at a fixed interval for inclusion in the sample. For example, if a researcher wanted to create a systematic sample of 1,000 students at a university with an enrolled population of 10,000, he or she would choose every tenth person from a list of all students. How to Create a Systematic Sample Creating a systematic sample is rather easy. The researcher must first decide how many people out of the total population to include in the sample, keeping in mind that the larger the sample size, the more accurate, valid, and applicable the results will be. Then, the researcher will decide what the interval for sampling is, which will be the standard distance between each sampled element. This should be decided by dividing the total population by the desired sample size. In the example given above, the sampling interval is 10 because it is the result of dividing 10,000 (the total population) by 1,000 (the desired sample size). Finally, the researcher chooses an element from the list that falls below the interval, which in this case would be one of the first 10 elements within the sample, and then proceeds to select every tenth element. Advantages of Systematic Sampling Researchers like systematic sampling because it is a simple and easy technique that produces a random sample that is free from bias. It can happen that, with simple random sampling, the sample population may have clusters of elements that create bias. Systematic sampling eliminates this possibility because it ensures that each sampled element is a fixed distance apart from those that surround it. Disadvantages of Systematic Sampling When creating a systematic sample, the researcher must take care to ensure that the interval of selection does not create bias by selecting elements that share a trait. For example, it could be possible that every tenth person in a racially diverse population could be Hispanic. In such a case, the systematic sample would be biased because it would be composed of mostly (or all) Hispanic people, rather than reflecting the racial diversity of the total population. Applying Systematic Sampling Say you want to create a systematic random sample of 1,000 people from a population of 10,000. Using a list of the total population, number each person from 1 to 10,000. Then, randomly choose a number, like 4, as the number to start with. This means that the person numbered 4 would be your first selection, and then every tenth person from then on would be included in your sample. Your sample, then, would be composed of persons numbered 14, 24, 34, 44, 54, and so on down the line until you reach the person numbered 9,994. Updated by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.