Q: Could you explain how ACT and SAT test scores compare with each other? For example, if I get a 25 on the ACT, what is that on the SAT?

A: Much like some of the questions on the ACTs and SATs, the answer to your question isn’t that easy.

The College Board, which is the organization behind the SAT, explains on its Web site that there was a change in the tests in 2005. That year, a writing test was added to the SAT and an optional writing test was added to the ACT.

With that in mind, there are two tables that ACT and SAT officials use to compare the scores.

The first table looks at the ACT composite score and the sums of the SAT critical reading and math scores, according to the college board. These tests have a maximum score of 36 for the ACT and 1,600 for the SAT, so, naturally, a 36 on the ACT is equal to a 1,600 on the SAT.

Another way of looking at it is a 36 on the ACT is waaay higher than the score I made on the test in high school. But enough about that.

Here’s the rest of that table, with ACT scores first and the SAT scores that equals them second (for example, 36/1,600 means a 36 on the ACT is the same as a 1,600 on the SAT): 35/1,560; 34/1,510; 33/1,460; 32/1,420; 31/1,380; 30/1,340; 29/1,300; 28/1,260; 27/1,220; 26/1,190; 25/1,150; 24/1,110; 23/1,070; 22/1,030; 21/990; 20/950; 19/910; 18/870; 1 7/830; 16/790; 15/740; 14/690; 13/640; 12/590; 11/530.

Now for the comparison between ACT combined English/writing scores and SAT writing scores. In this table, a perfect score on the ACT is 36 and SAT is 800: 36/800; 3 5/800; 34/770; 33/740; 32/720; 31/690; 30/670; 29/650; 28/630; 27/610; 26/590; 25/570; 24/550; 23/530; 22/510; 2 1/490; 20/470; 19/450; 18/430; 17/420; 16/400; 15/380; 14/360; 13/340; 1 2/330; 1 1/310.

Now that you’ve seen that, there is an important point the College Board mentions.

It states that, since the SAT scale involves more points than the ACT’s, an ACT score actually represents a range of SAT scores.

For example, in the first table, an ACT score of 34 is listed as equaling an SAT score of 1,510. The 34, however, is equal to an SAT range of 1,490 to 1,530.