Why Good Students Sometimes Do Badly on the SAT & ACT

A lot of parents and students mistakenly believe that the SAT and ACT are very similar to tests students take in school.  While it is true that many of the same content areas are covered, the truth is that they are covered very differently.

I’ve heard a lot of confused parents express something like this:

“Sarah is a great student.  She’s always gotten A’s, and she’s in advanced math at school.  I just don’t understand why she is doing so poorly on the SAT.”

Sarah might be great at math in high school, but high school math is very different than standardized test math.  For starters, most high school math requires a knowledge of formulas coupled with an ability to input the right numbers into the right places.  Follow the steps, and presto: the answer pops out.  The SAT and (to a slightly lesser extent) ACT require students to utilize a greater amount of critical thinking while doing math.  A student can’t simply memorize formulas and remember how to use them.

Here’s an analogy that I think helps: Imagine you are asked to build a big, ornate bookcase with complex doors and trim work.  To help you get started, you are given detailed step-by-step instructions and a sheet that identifies every needed part and where it should go.  The job might still be tough, but it is tough because of the overall complexity and difficulty of the thing being built.  Now, imagine instead that you are asked to build any type of bookshelf that will hold at least 300 books of varying sizes.  Instead of an instruction sheet, you are given a hammer, some nails and a bunch of wood.  This job might be difficult as well, but it is difficult in a very different way.  You are no longer simply following steps.  Rather, you are required to figure out how you can get from point A to point B with the resources and information you already have.

High school math is a lot like building the fancy bookshelf while following detailed instructions.  Students end up doing much harder problems, possibly including Calculus by the end of high school.  However, that doesn’t necessarily leave a student prepared to tackle SAT and ACT math, which is much more like building the basic bookshelf with limited information and resources.

Getting better at the SAT and ACT usually doesn’t require learning more steps.  Sometimes that’s a small part of the picture, but the biggest improvements typically come from a student improving his or her ability to take a given set of information and using it to work toward a solution.  This requires creativity, critical thinking and logical deduction.  Luckily, like any skill, these abilities can be improved upon.  With a little guided instruction and the correct targeted practice, students often see major gains in this area, drastically improving their scores!