CLT vs SAT vs ACT

Col­lege admis­sions is a tricky path to tread. Each col­lege has spe­cial­ties and require­ments. One of the most com­mon prac­tices in the past 40 years or so has been to require a col­lege entrance exam to ensure that a stu­dent is ready for the rig­ors of a col­lege edu­ca­tion. The process of com­plet­ing a col­lege entrance exam is not what it used to be. Every few years the SAT is chang­ing, and the ACT becomes more pop­u­lar. In 2015, the CLT (clas­sic learn­ing test) burst on the scene with anoth­er option. How do you know which one to have your child complete?

Because these tests are most­ly mul­ti­ple choice, the choic­es are lim­it­ed and the stu­dent needs to know the mate­r­i­al or be able to use prob­lem solv­ing skills to guess accurately!

We’ve talked about com­plet­ing reg­u­lar tests as a way to pre­pare for such a time as this, but not every col­lege entrance exam is cre­at­ed equal. 

A glimpse of the three main parts of the tests

Lit­er­a­ture:

When it comes to lit­er­a­ture, we have high school stu­dents read­ing every­thing from mod­ern dystopia to Dante. How do you com­pose a mul­ti­ple choice test to cor­rect­ly assess a stu­den­t’s com­pre­hen­sion and think­ing skills? The SAT con­sists of about 40% mod­ern (post 1900) lit­er­a­ture and 30% 1700–1800 with the remain­ing 30% for the 1600s and Renais­sance.  The CLT’s lit­er­a­ture con­tains very few mod­ern lit­er­a­ture pieces, but more clas­sics. These are the texts that our mod­ern soci­ety is built on. The ACT focus­es more on writ­ing and gram­mar in what they call the eng­lish por­tion of the test. The stu­dent shows his com­pre­hen­sion through choos­ing the prop­er mean­ing or word choice for select sec­tions of the text.

Math­e­mat­ics:

Most math­e­mat­ics sec­tions of these tests are sim­i­lar. They all include most­ly alge­bra, geom­e­try, and a few trigonom­e­try ques­tions, which is why more edu­ca­tors rec­om­mend these tests for juniors and seniors.

Writ­ing:

All three exams have the option­al essay writ­ing por­tion. The ACT and SAT require an addi­tion­al fee for the writ­ing por­tion, while the CLT includes the essay in the orig­i­nal cost. Because they all offer essays, they may seem equal, but the essay prompts vary. The ACT essay prompts are look­ing specif­i­cal­ly for a the­sis and the for­mat of a good paper includ­ing the gram­mar, where­as the SAT tends to be a lit­tle more con­tent focused. 

While all three of these test options are devel­oped for stu­dents enter­ing col­lege, all three have their ben­e­fits and drawbacks. 

Sum­ma­ry: 

• • • The CLT is more afford­able, short­er ( 2hrs), online with quick­er results, and more clas­si­cal in its lit­er­a­ture approach. 
    • The SAT is more com­mon and there­fore accept­ed by more colleges. 
    • The ACT is accept­ed by most col­leges, more spe­cial­ized, and includes science. 

As always, we rec­om­mend start­ing your deci­sion on a col­lege entry exam by eval­u­at­ing your stu­den­t’s goals (our roadmap form the tool­box is a great place to start build­ing goals) and research­ing the col­lege entrance require­ments that your stu­den­t’s col­lege of choice has. While we do not offer a spe­cif­ic SAT, CLT, or ACT prep class, we are more than will­ing to help you and your fam­i­ly pre­pare for these stu­dious exams. Let us know what you’d like to see us add to our memberships!