5 ms·

Wow. What is the reasoning behind this? In the US we have two different tests - ACT and SAT - with the latter seen as more rigorous, but many (most?) students

• jiggy2011 12y ago
  I think the reasoning is that we should allow less able students more time to understand the material, there isn't much point teaching calculus if someone struggles with basic algebra.
• hga 12y ago
  The relationship between the ACT and SAT may be changing as the latter is watered down. Or at least MIT has found as of late the ACT is a better test for its purposes.
• maxerickson 12y ago
  It used to be that in the Midwest only a few people took the SAT, people looking to get into schools that required/preferred it or people looking to get a scholarship that used the score. The state schools were all fine with the ACT.
• mynewwork 12y ago
  The SAT is in no way more "rigorous" than the ACT. The theoretical difference between ACT and SAT is a slight shift between "achievement" (ACT) vs "potential" (SAT) although the reality is that this is pretty minimal. That is to say, ACT was supposed to slightly more reflect what you had learned in HS, while SAT was slightly closer to something like an IQ test that changed less by HS education. In practice, the only difference between ACT and SAT for decades has been geographic preference. East&West coast schools primarily use SAT and Midwest/Central schools primarily use ACT.