ACT

While both SAT and ACT solve a similar purpose of understanding an undergraduate's readiness for college admissions, both are designed differently and tested differently. Understand the key difference to know which one is easier - SAT or ACT from the section below:

• SAT is a digital exam, whereas ACT is tested on paper plus availability of digital format is meagre.
• SAT is 2 hours 14 minutes, ACT is 2 hours 55 minutes long.
• There are just two sections on SAT - Reading + Writing & Maths, ACT on the other hand has four sections - English, Reading, Science and Maths.
• There is an optional writing paper on ACT, while SAT has scrapped the essay paper.
• There is an inbuilt calculator for Digital SAT, however, there is no such provision on ACT.
• Free prep is available for SAT applicants, but not for ACT applicants.

Thus, it is up to the applicants to choose which one is a more suitable option for them - SAT or ACT and apply and prepare accordingly. For more details check - Which one is easier - SAT or ACT?  

This is an important information that you must consider noting down to avoid any trouble during registration and on your ACT exam day. 

Upon registration, the students are provided with the "test rosters". On the exam day, the examiner checks your "first" and "last" name on the test roster with the valid and acceptable ID you bring to the ACT test centre. If any discrepancy is recorded in both these documents, you won't be allowed to take the test. 

So, here are some acceptable name registration formats as described by ACT:

Source: ACT.org 

In short, you must retain both your first and last name while registering for the ACT exam. 

Yes, ACT exam is generally considered difficult. Here are the reasons for the same:

• ACT tests American English usage and conventions differ from the British English commonly taught in India. Hence, it becomes really difficult for students to follow the same pronunciation and colloquial terms as in the USA. 
• The passages in the Reading section of the ACT test contain references to the US culture, which might not be familiar to Indian students.
• The Science section in the ACT test focuses on data interpretation and graph analysis, rather than pure scientific concepts. This contradicts with the Indian system in where the stress is more on learning scientific concepts rather than data interpretation and graph analysis.
• ACT test offers very little time to perform on each section, which can be challenging for Indian students, especially if English isn't their first language.