Should students take the SAT or ACT?
If you'd like to learn more about the SAT and ACT, click on the links below.
The Duke University Talent Identification Program does not recommend one test over the other. Both tests are acceptable for purposes of the Talent Search. Some considerations for parents may be testing dates and the location of test centers.
Comparison between the SAT and ACT(pdf version).(Acrobat Reader needed to view this file.)
The New SAT
In March 2005, The College Board launched a new version of the SAT Reasoning Test. The biggest change with the new version is the addition of a Writing section. This section includes a student-written essay and multiple-choice questions covering grammar, usage and word choice. There were also content changes in the other sections. The Verbal section, now called Critical Reading, covers reading comprehension, sentence completion and paragraph-length critical reading. Analogies have been eliminated. The Math section covers number and operations; algebra and functions; geometry; statistics, probability and data analysis. The test will take 3 hours and 45 minutes to complete not including breaks. Check out The College Board's SAT Reasoning Test Web site for more complete information about the changes.
With the launch of this new version of the SAT Reasoning Test, The College Board increased their test registration fee for the test. Duke TIP, in turn, increased its fee for SAT testers accordingly, since the test registration fee is included in the Talent Search fee. See the Enrollment Process and Fees page for more information.
Duke TIP Ideology Concerning Preparation Courses
Duke TIP does not recommend that students take part in excessive test preparation. Talent Search testing is diagnostic in nature; unnecessary anxiety is often the only obvious result from some preparation programs. It is sufficient to be familiar with the structure of the test and guessing strategies as they are presented and to complete the practice test provided.