Upon hearing my phone ring, if I were a betting woman and were to put money on what the unknown caller on the other end of the phone could be calling about, I would definitely choose the following: A parent asking whether his/her child should take the SAT or the ACT?

Sadly, the NYC schools simply do not provide parents with enough information to evaluate the differences between the two exams so that they can make an educated decision about which exam suits their child’s needs.

Your child has the option to take whichever exam he/she chooses. The exam your child decides to take will have no effect on his/her application to colleges, but the score, obviously, will. So it is in your child’s best interest to figure out which exam he/she can score better on. And, it is in your child’s best interest for you to figure this out as early in the process as possible. A good target date to determine which exam is appropriate is the middle of sophomore year.

Historically, the SAT was the test to take if you wanted to go to school on either the east or west coast, and the ACT was the test to take if you wanted to go to school in the midwest. Therefore, the east and west coast high schools would offer students an opportunity to become familiar with the SAT by giving them a practice version, the PSAT. Likewise, the midwest high schools would offer students an opportunity to become familiar with the ACT by giving them a practice version, the PLAN.

Now that changes have been implemented and every college eagerly accepts scores from either exam, you would think that the NYC schools would change their policies and offer students the opportunity to experience both exams. But that isn’t the case. Most schools still require students to take the PSAT during their junior year (and often sophomore year, too) but never expose them to the ACT. This puts students at a disadvantage because they can’t make an educated decision. I applaud the NYC schools that offer students the opportunity to try out both the ACT and the SAT.

My advice: during your child’s sophomore year, promptly after the PSAT is given, seek out a tutoring company that offers proctored exams every weekend. Register your child for a PSAT (or SAT) and/or PLAN (or ACT), whichever exam(s) aren’t being offered at school. Then compare the results and find out which form your child felt more confident about and comfortable with.

One additional note: For students who qualify for extra time, the application process for being granted extended time on standardized tests is different for the ACT and the SAT. I’ve seen students denied extended time on one exam while granted extended time on the other exam (ridiculous, but true!) So, again, it is in your best interest to do your research early or to contact someone who is very knowledgable about both the  SAT and ACT.