PSAT/SAT/ACT

Students in grades 9-11 will take the PSAT each fall. The PSAT focuses on the skills and knowledge students learned in high school and what they need to succeed in college. The best way students can prepare for the test is to take challenging courses, do their homework, prepare for their tests and quizzes, and ask and answer a lot of questions.

The tests serves as practice for students in grades 9 and 10. However, for Juniors their scores are used by scholarship programs, including the National Merit Scholarship Program to look for eligible students.

For students who want additional practice, College Board provides FREE practice tests for students that can be downloaded from their website. Khan Academy also offers FREE SAT practice as well.

Once students receive their scores, they may need help understanding them. College Board has videos to help students with this.

Students can also link their score report with their Khan Academy Account. The benefit to this is students will be able to get help in the areas that they need it most. Follow the steps in this video to link your accounts.

It is recommended that students who plan to take the SAT or ACT (or bot) should first do so in the SPRING of their Junior year.  Then, they should plan to retake the test they performed better on in the FALL of their Senior year.

However, first students should determine:

1. which test is best for them (the SAT or ACT) or
2. is it recommended they take both.

Kaptest.com has a handy questionnaire for students to help them determine which test is best for them to take. They also breakdown the differences between two tests (content being tested on, scoring, length of time for the test, etc.). Most colleges accept scores from either the SAT or ACT exam.

Students can compare their SAT score to how they would perform if they took the ACT or vice versa using the ACT/SAT Concordance Table. This assists students to get a better idea of how they might perform on the other test.

Students should look at the college(s) they plan to apply to be sure those colleges are requesting these tests to be taken. Some schools are TEST OPTIONAL. What this mean is some colleges and universities don't require students to take the SAT or ACT for admission. Check out the list of the best test optional schools in Pennsylvania.

What does SUPER SCORE mean? It's when colleges and universities take your best scores from the sections on the SAT or ACT to calculate a super score based on these scores. Read more about super scoring and which schools take super scores.

The SAT and ACT exams are offered at Sun Valley High School multiple times each year.  See the Events and Important Dates section on our Counseling Department's webpage for the upcoming test dates for these exams.

To sign up for the SAT exam, you will need to do so through the College Board website.
 
To sign up for the ACT exam, you will need to do so through the ACT website.

Please note that the Counseling Department has no access to students College Board or ACT accounts. Any difficulties with logging in or registration issues need to resolved by contacting College Board or ACT directly.