The ACT has 4 sections: English, Math, Reading and Science Reasoning with an optional essay
Lasts 2 hours 55 minutes with out the essay (add 45 minutes with)
You can use a calculator for the whole math section
No math formulas are given
Scored on a scale of 1-36, with 36 being a perfect score
Registration is required 5 weeks before the test
The SAT has 3 sections: Reading, Writing & Language and Math with an optional essay
Lasts 3 hours with out the essay (add 50 minutes with)
You cannot use a calculator for both math sections. Only during one are you permitted a calculator.
Some math formulas provided
Scored on a scale of 400-1600, with 1600 being a perfect score
Registration is required 4 weeks before the test
But there are a number of things that are the same, like neither one docs you points for guessing. Also in terms of the context of the actual tests, the reading and writing sections are testing relatively the same skills and look fairly similar.
As you read above there is an essay portion in both tests, that you can choose to take or not. Additionally, if you were to take either the SAT or the ACT, and chose to take multiple tests, you can choose which test is given to post secondary institutions. Both are accepted nearly everywhere in the states and you can get fee wavers (if eligible) for either test. As you can see there are a lot more similarities between the two tests than you probably imagined.
When are the next opportunities I can take the test?
The upcoming dates for the ACT are... June 13 and July 18 2020
The locations near us that you can take the ACT at are Carroll Community High School, Denison Community High School, Storm Lake Senior High School or at BVU.
Upcoming dates for the SAT are... June 6 2020
The only location near us that you can take the SAT at is Fort Dodge Senior High School.
The next round of test dates come out during the summer so keep a look out to find out when the next tests are.
A Note from the Iowa Department of Education
"As CDC and local guidelines for safety allow, ACT’s flexible scheduling offered throughout the months of June and July will provide students with reschedule options— without change fees—for June 13 to June 20 and for July 18 to July 25. Students may also make free test date changes from the June to the July national test date. In addition to three previously planned fall/winter 2020 national test dates in September, October and December, ACT will also offer a remote proctoring option for the ACT test, allowing students to take the test at their home on a computer. ACT will launch the test-at-home option in late fall/early winter 2020 as part of its national testing program."
Resources to help you prepare
There are a lot of resources to help you prepare for taking entrance exams for post secondary education. Just a few of those are...
Practice exams in the high school library
Check out both the SAT and the ACT websites for online practice exams
Get flashcards of vocabulary words that are commonly used
Read! Seriously though, the more you read the better
Try out an app, there are applications made by ACT and SAT to help students study (and often these are free)