Should You Guess on the SAT or ACT? - The Olive Book Blog (2023)

FAQs

Should I guess on SAT or ACT? ›

You should guess when you don't know the answer, when you're running out of time, or when the question is going to take way more time than it's worth. We're going to help you guess strategically so that you can maximize your points—even when you don't have all the answers.

There is no penalty for guessing on the ACT. Never, ever, ever, leave any answers blank. You have a 25% chance of getting the question right if you guess. So at the very least, always guess!

If you've ever taken a standardized test—like the SAT, ACT, or PSAT—you've probably encountered some questions that you didn't know how to answer. When this happens, you should always guess, even if you have no idea which choice is correct.

Because there is now no guessing penalty, it's always in your best interest to guess. Remember, a blank answer is always “wrong," but a guessed answer always has a chance to be correct. Some people may believe that guessing on the SAT shows a student's lack of preparation or strategy or that they've given up.

Both ACT and SAT scores are used for college admissions decisions and awarding merit-based scholarships. Most colleges do not prefer one test over the other.

Every answer choice on the SAT will have a statistically even distribution of 1 in 4 for each answer choice letter, A, B, C, or D. In other words? There is no most common answer on the SAT. Ultimately, guessing C (or any letter!) will give you the correct answer only a statistical 25% of the time.

Some scholarships don't even require one specific score, but rather one within a given range. At a minimum, an ACT score of 25 should qualify you for lower-level scholarship money. However, as the amount increases, scholarships become more competitive and the score ranges increase.

Eliminate the highest and lowest options. Certain questions have answers that are closely related or almost identical, except for one detail. This should be your clue to choose one of the two similar answers. The similar choices cannot both be correct, but either of them may be the correct answer.

Guessing Strategies

Try to make an educated guess. Always use the process of elimination as a first step. Use the wording of the question or answer as a clue to eliminate possibilities. Choose the most precise answer.

Remember, the expected likelihood of each option being correct is 25%. And on tests with five choices (say, A, B, C, D, and E), E was the most commonly correct answer (23%). C was the least (17%).

Does retaking the ACT improve your score? ›

As referenced earlier, retesting at least once is associated with increases in average Composite scores when comparing first and second test instances.

You may be happy to learn that wrong answers won't count against you on either the ACT or SAT. Students will be awarded points for each correct answer with no points taken away for any incorrect ones. This is why never leaving an answer blank on your test is so important.

Most people (and tutors) tell students that, if they have no idea on a question, to just guess answer choice “C” — the middle answer on most multiple choice tests.

You can find official SAT practice tests and their scoring tables at the College Board. As you can see with the above SAT scoring chart, it's possible to get some questions wrong and still earn the max SAT score. Generally speaking, you can miss 1-2 questions on each section and still get a perfect 1600.

In a word, no. Colleges say that they do not act preferentially to those who took the ACT versus the SAT. Those interviewed for the NY Times spread said that both tests are good predictors of college performance.

SAT scores help colleges compare students from different high schools. Your scores show your strengths and readiness for college work. But remember standardized test scores are just one part of your college application, along with grades, course rigor, and recommendations.

The short answer: No. All colleges that consider test scores in 2023 accept both the ACT and SAT for admissions and don't discriminate based on which test applicants take. The biggest reason why you might think a college prefers one test is that a college typically receives more of one test than the other.

Some find the math portion much harder than the writing or reading portions, and vice versa. The hardest part to improve upon is probably the Critical Reading section, only because it involves more deeply ingrained, long-term bad habits that need to be broken before you can excel.

Myth: The March SAT® is the easiest SAT test date. Fact: There's no such thing as “the easiest SAT test date.” While it's true that some versions of the SAT are easier than others, it's false that some test dates are predictably easier than others.

What ACT score gives you a full ride? ›

Overall, my research so far has been surprising in that there are a few schools that will offer full-tuition scholarships starting in the 22 – 25 ACT range, but most full-ride scholarships require a 28 ACT or higher.

A 28 ACT score makes you eligible for merit scholarships, as well as merit aid from potential colleges and universities. Make sure to also apply for scholarships based on your location, extracurriculars, life circumstances, passions, future majors, and more!

So you're probably wondering, What's a good SAT score for scholarships, and how can I find them? The short answer is that you should aim for an SAT score between 1200 and 1600 if you want to secure some scholarships based on merit–and the higher within that range you score the more money you're looking at.

The idea that C is the best answer to choose when guess-answering a question on a multiple choice test rests on the premise that ACT answer choices are not truly randomized. In other words, the implication is that answer choice C is correct more often than any other answer choice.

For those guessing on only a few of the last ten questions, A/F would be the better option. The Safe Bet: Answer choice E/K is the safest choice because it, so far, has always had one correct answer. In fact, E/K has met or exceeded the expected average 82% of the time, making it the most consistent answer choice.

The basic idea behind this advice was that if you left a question blank then you had no chance of getting the question right. However, if you made a guess then you had a 25% chance of answering the question correctly.

How Many People Get a 36 on the ACT? Getting a perfect ACT score is a pretty rare feat. The number of students in 2020 who scored a full 36 was 5,579 out of over 1.6 million — or about 0.33% of test-takers.

Objective exams encourage guessing more so than essay exams. ?

On multiple choice tests, why is it always encouraged to choose option "C" if you don't know the answer? Tests are often constructed so that one option is more attractive to someone who doesn't know the answer but guesses.

Should I retake ACT with a 27? ›

Should I Retake the ACT with a 27 Score? Since your ACT score is in tip-top shape to be competitive at most colleges you'd apply to, it may be more beneficial to focus on the other aspects of your college application, such as your GPA, extracurriculars, and personal statement, rather than retaking the ACT.

Should I Retake the ACT with a 34 Score? There's no need to retake the ACT with a score of 34. A 34 makes you eligible and competitive for all colleges and universities, which is the goal! For juniors, remember that most colleges weigh ACT scores and GPA about equally.

There's no pressing need to retake the ACT with a score of 29, unless your ideal school would like to see a higher score. The only schools that require a score higher than 29 are typically very competitive, making them difficult to gain admittance to, even for qualified students.

The SAT does not place any limits on how many times a student can sit for the exam and students can superscore their best sections or choose which test scores to include in college applications, so there are many benefits to taking the SAT multiple times if needed.

For Evidence-Based Reading and Writing, you can skip/answer incorrectly on average 9 questions on the writing portion and 12 questions on the reading portion. For Math, you can skip/answer incorrectly on average 17 questions between the calculator and no-calculator sections.

Don't Retake the SAT More Than 3 Times

Take the test more than 3 times and admissions officers will start to think twice about your abilities. Even if you do well, some will view you as a score-obsessed student with nothing better to do.

Sometimes it seems like “C”—or its equivalent, “H”—is the most common answer choice, but this is merely a myth. In fact, the answer choice orders on the ACT and SAT are generated by a computer and are entirely random.

Look for patterns in true or false questions, and go with false if a question includes absolutes, such as "all" or "none." When guessing on multiple choice questions, use processes of elimination, look for grammatical clues and, when in doubt, go with the most detailed choice.

We recommend you spend 6–20 hours preparing for your first SAT. Make sure you reserve enough time to take at least one full-length practice test (about 4 hours if you practice the essay as well), and give yourself time to review the concepts you're struggling with.

The best way to improve your score is to use Official SAT Practice, offered through a partnership between College Board and Khan Academy. Official SAT Practice makes your practice time more efficient by giving you personalized, targeted practice based on your SAT score report.

How Do I Stop overthinking on the SAT? ›

In addition, if you start to get anxious during the test, simply stop and take ONE DEEP BREATH while grounding your feet. Over time, this simple practice will become your automatic "reset" button for dissolving anxiety and thinking clearly, calmly, and accurately.

In the eyes of an admissions committee, a 1560, 1570, 1580, 1590 and 1600 are the same thing. They indicate an excellent student who can perform well on the SAT.

A 1600 is only achieved by around 300 test takers per year and makes you eligible and highly competitive for admission at every college. Looking at this from another angle, a 1600 SAT score is in the 99nth percentile, which means you scored higher than 99% of all other 2 million+ test takers.

Utilizing a scoring scale of 400 to 1600, the SAT's best possible result is a 1600. A score of 1200 demonstrates an above average performance and shows that you answered a majority of the questions on the standardized test correctly.

Section Summary: Neither the SAT nor the ACT is harder than the other – but each test benefits a different type of student. It's essential that you figure out which test is best suited for you, so that you can achieve the highest scores possible.

Remember, the expected likelihood of each option being correct is 25%. And on tests with five choices (say, A, B, C, D, and E), E was the most commonly correct answer (23%). C was the least (17%).

Most of the questions are multiple choice, though some of the math questions ask you to write in the answer rather than select it. On all questions, there's no penalty for guessing: if you're not sure of the answer, it's better to guess than leave the response blank.

A 1600 is only achieved by around 300 test takers per year and makes you eligible and highly competitive for admission at every college. Looking at this from another angle, a 1600 SAT score is in the 99nth percentile, which means you scored higher than 99% of all other 2 million+ test takers.

The middle 50% of Harvard's class of 2025 earned SAT scores of 1480-1580 and ACT scores of 33-36. Any score in the middle 50% is good, however, the higher in the range you score, the better your odds of admission are.

Kaitlyn Younger, 18, has been an academic standout since she started studying algebra in third grade. She scored 1550 on her SATs as a junior and will graduate this spring with an unweighted 3.95 grade-point average and as the founder of her school's accounting club.

What are the chances of getting a 36 on the ACT by guessing? ›