ACT vs.SAT: Which should I take?

Greg is interested in taking the ACT test. So far I've taken the uninformed position of "why in the heck would you want to go through the pain and agony of preparing for and sitting through yet another standardized test?" Plus, don't most colleges prefer the SAT anyway?

This logic hasn't disuaded him so I figured I should become a bit more informed before the last ACT deadlines come and go.

What have I learned? First, selective' colleges (at least the 10 we've visited) don't seem to have a preference between the two tests. Most tell you to take whichever you prefer and submit the best score -- regardless of the test. In fact Georgia Tech will even take your best sub score from each to come up with a 'super score' combined from both tests. Historically the SAT has been more popular with East and West coast and more selective (read: the ivies) schools. The ACT has been more popular in the middle of the country. I still think there may be an SAT-bias among the elite schools on the coasts but I haven't found any data to support that. In fact the ACT has been growing rapidly in recent years, so it probably does come down to which test you do better on.

On that dimension the common wisdom is that 'test takers' will do better on the reasoning-oriented SAT, while kids that do well in the classroom will do better on the curriculum-oriented ACT. Accoding to this Inside Higher Ed article (8/13/08), "Many college counselors say that students who do well in high school courses but who don’t “test well” tend to do better on the ACT than on the SAT." This NY Times article takes on this question from a few other dimensions, like boy vs. girl, format, and length of the test. This Kaplan article takes a question and answer approach to helping students and parents decide between the two different tests. Finally, here's another Kaplan article that presents a factual comparison between the two tests, including links to both test services where you can register for them.

So, now that I'm more informed, what do I think? Greg does well in school and is strong in science (included in the ACT but not the SAT). So there's a chance he could do better on the ACT, even without additional preparation. So if he's willing to give up a Saturday morning, it may be a good idea to try out the ACT.