The SAT is, in theory, an “aptitude” test. It tests critical reading, math, and writing—to get a better idea of what each section covers, check out College Board: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/prep_one/prep_one.html . A significant portion of the CR section is straight vocabulary, which is something a lot of older students get stuck on. But the SAT is all about a certain type of critical thinking—doing well on the SAT is about thinking the specific way the SAT wants you to think. Have your son take a practice SAT (there’s one on College Board’s website) to see how he does with it. Make sure he’s familiar with the way they ask the questions, especially in the math section.

The ACT is considered more of an “achievement” test. The questions are much, much more straightforward, but it covers more breadth in subject matter than the SAT. Sections: English, Math, Reading, Science reasoning—the Writing section is still optional, so I don’t know if your son would have to take it. The English is mostly straight grammar, with a few vocabulary-type questions (“which word would NOT work as a replacement for the underlined word”) and a few analysis/critical-thinking type questions. The Reading has longer passages than the critical reading passages of the SAT, and seems to be a test of speed more than anything else. The Math covers a bit more than the math on the SAT, including more trigonometry, but again the questions are more straightforward. The Science reasoning isn’t technically a test of actual knowledge—they give brief explanations of experiments and ask “reasoning” questions based on the data (charts and graphs) given. http://www.actstudent.org/

I would probably recommend the ACT for a 7th grader—I took the ACT in 7th grade myself. The SAT is… “an acquired taste” is the phrase that keeps coming to my mind. 🙂 I took the ACT way too many times and the SAT once a year in high school. Though I wouldn’t go so far as to call the ACT easier (most people consider it easier) I did do better on the ACT than I ever did on the SAT. Like I’ve said, it’s just more straightforward—I never quite got the math on the SAT down. 🙂 Then again, if your son is strong on the Language skills, he might do well overall on the SAT… proportionally, two thirds of the SAT is English… I don’t know.

Have him take a few practice tests to see which he does better at. There are some practice questions on act.org (http://www.actstudent.org/sampletest/index.html ) but I don’t know if you could find a free practice test for it like you can for the SAT on College Board—try your local library, they might have a variety of practice/prep books that you could use practice tests out of, or failing that a bookstore will most likely have one.

Regards,

Pual.

In my opinion thought I would go to one of those review centers for example “Princeton Review” and ask them.