As of this past June 2026 SAT exam, College Board (the company that creates the SAT) has quietly made adjustments to its exams: they became more difficult. The second modules of each section have become more difficult to solve in the allotted time. I saw something similar happen around 2015, but unlike then, the increased difficulty is apparently the new reality.
This changes things a bit for both students and SAT prep tutors like me. I have already updated my SAT prep program and my students are already underway in this improved system, which will better prepare them for the more difficult test.
On the other hand, the ACT has undergone some positive significant changes since 2025. Years ago, I stopped teaching ACT prep due to several reasons, but I am now recommending all of my students to take it in addition to the SAT exam. The updates to the ACT exam have addressed all of my past gripes with the test:
- Science section now optional (historically the most difficult and annoying section)
- Four answer choices in the Math section instead of 5 (matches the other sections)
- Fewer problems and more time in the Math section (7 more seconds per problem)
- Fewer problems and more time in the Reading section (14 more seconds per problem)
- Shorter passages and more time in the English section (6 more seconds per problem)
The three mandatory sections (English, Math, and Reading) are referred to as ACT Core. I am recommending all of my students to take the ACT Core twice and the SAT twice (I notify my students when I think they should take these exams).
The reason for recommending both exams is simple: some students, for whatever reason, sometimes do significantly better on one exam than the other. Taking both the SAT and the ACT gives each student the best chance to get the highest score possible for college admissions. All U.S. college accept either the SAT or the ACT, so students can submit (either one, but not both) the test (SAT ore ACT) on which they get the highest score.
Just a word about the ACT Science section: there are only a handful of colleges in America that require this section. As of this writing, they are Georgetown, Pomona, East Carolina, Marquette, US Air Force Academy, and US Naval Academy. A few others highly recommend them: Caltech, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, and Duke. More than 90% of U.S. colleges do not require or even recommend the ACT Science section, which is good news for the vast majority of high school students.
My updated “CK SAT/ACT Core Prep” aligns with both the current SAT and the ACT Core exam, so with an almost negligible amount of change in my program, students will be prepped for both exams, giving them the best possibility of getting the highest score possible for college admissions.
To learn more about the “CK SAT/ACT Core Prep” at www.ckeducation.org. Thanks!
Any content, resident submissions, guest columns, advertisements, and advertorials are not necessarily endorsed by or represent the views of Best Version Media LLC (BVM) or any municipality, homeowners associations, businesses, or organizations that this publication serves. BVM is not responsible for the reliability, suitability, or timeliness of any content submitted, inclusive of materials generated or composed through artificial intelligence (AI). All content submitted is done so at the sole discretion of the submitting party.
