While it has been written about widely and discussed to the point of frustration, I’d yet to see it tattooed on the faces of students and parents until this fall.

I’ve never seen so many juniors and seniors so stressed about SAT scores – stressed to the point where two really strong students froze on the October SAT.

Both students, who had taken the SAT before and who had done remarkably well, turned into pools of anxiety unable to complete the most basic computations.

While neither student was able to explain the unhinging, both students requested that their tests not be scored. If the SAT is starting to make you nuts, please consider taking the ACT.

The ACT is a lot easier in many ways, and this comes from a guy who spends thousands of hours a year teaching students how to slay the SAT.

For starters, the ACT requires less prep than the SAT.

You’re not penalized for guessing. The ACT does not take off for wrong errors while the SAT does.

There are four answer choices on the ACT as opposed to five answer choices on the SAT.

If you don’t know any of these words (didactic, ephemeral, ineffable, laconic, or phlegmatic) don’t sweat it. There’s no vocabulary on the ACT.

The passages that you are asked to read on the ACT are far easier to understand than the SAT passages you are asked to read. SAT passages are often foggy and purposely non-sequential and confusing.

Besides being a shorter test, the ACT does all of the math in one section and all of the English in another section.

On the SAT, math and reading are broken up into six portions that are not given in back-to-back order. Students who don’t like math or English prefer to see it only once.

Students who like science also like the ACT better, because there’s a science section on the exam. There are 40 questions on the science portion of the exam; 29 correct answers puts a student in the 90^th percentile.

This summer Kathryn Ryan, an ACT expert and fellow tutor, and I decided to create a list of ACT myths. What follows is a sampling:

Myth: You need a full comprehensive review of biology, chemistry, and physics to understand the science passages.

Fact: There’s a decided benefit to knowing the basic principles of these disciplines, but the specific knowledge you need is included in the text.

Myth: If you have not had trigonometry, it will adversely affect your score.

Fact: While there is trig on the ACT, it’s limited to a few introductory topics thatcan be learned in a prep class.

Myth: If you prepped for the SAT, you don’t need to prep for the ACT.

Fact: There are a few math concepts on the ACT that are not covered on the SAT. These are basic logarithm operations and matrixes. Same holds true for grammar, critical reading and essay.

Myth: If you did well on the CAPT, you don’t need to study for the ACT.

Fact: On page 11 of the official ACT guide issued by the makers of the ACT, students are told in no uncertain terms to study. Hey, you’d study for a driver’s exam.

Myth: The SAT is tricked up; The ACT is not tricked up.

Fact: The ACT has its own peculiar proclivities.

Another reason to take the ACT is that some schools count the ACT as SAT IIs. In those instances the ACT counts for three different exams: the SAT, and two SAT IIs.

There are two key determinants that spell success on the ACT, speed and memory. Students who can process material quickly and who have good memories tend to do very well on the ACT.

Another reason to take the ACT is if a student has scored between 350 and 450 on the SAT and would like to score the equivalent of 520. Since the easy questions on the ACT are easier to prepare for than the easy questions on the SAT, the score of 520 is often easier to attain on the ACT.

Again, the big caveat is how quickly a student processes material and how good the short-term memory is. If those two pieces are good, give the ACT a look.

I’d encourage you to go to the ACT’s site at www.act.org to learn more about this test. It could help to reduce the stress and improve your overall scores.