The SAT and ACT college entrance exams each report the number of students taking their test this month is up sharply from a year ago, a likely sign more students are trying both exams to boost their admission chances.
About 520,000 students have registered for the Oct. 28 sitting of the ACT, a 17 percent increase from last year, according to the latest figures. The number of students who took Saturday’s SAT was about 660,000, compared with 570,000 last October.
The increases may partly reflect interest from more students in attending college.
And one likely factor is more college-bound students are trying to get their testing out of the way earlier in the year. Both tests report early registration figures for their later test dates are running no higher than last year.
But much of the ACT increase, at least, appears to come from students switching exams or trying both of them. About half the increase in ACT-takers is on the East Coast, where most students have historically taken the SAT.
ACT registration is nearly two-thirds higher than a year ago in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and about 50 percent higher in New York, Connecticut, Georgia and Florida.
The number of high school seniors overall is up slightly from last year, but not enough to account for the increase.
“I just wanted to broaden my chances of getting into colleges by taking as many tests as I can,” said Alex Simon, a senior in Daytona Beach, Fla., who has taken the SAT once but will take the ACT later this year.
Most colleges accept either exam. Among the high school class that graduated this spring, more than 1.4 million took the SAT, while just over 1.2 million took the ACT.
But the number of SAT test-takers dipped slightly last year, while ACT’s numbers were up.
Historically, the ACT has been more popular in the center of the country and the South, and the SAT on the coasts.
The tests are broadly comparable, but the ACT calls itself an “achievement” test and is focused on material students cover in high school classes, including science. The SAT calls itself a “reasoning” test and is more focused on asking students to take basic skills and apply them.
