"Both the SAT and the ACT have significantly increased the level of difficulty of their respective math sections. Also, since the recent changes in the SAT, most of the substantial content differences between the tests, especially those in math, have been eliminated.
However, the ACT has recently further upped the ante in math. It now includes more tricky questions, more geometric reasoning questions and an occasional statistics, matrix or sequence question at or above the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) level." …
Good summary.
http://www.salemnews.com/news/lifestyles/upping-the-content-difficulty-on-college-admissions-tests/article_4672d815-14af-5145-b1ca-5168989a3ae5.html
From the linked article: “The content changes in SAT math have been quite substantial. The old SAT (circa 2015) tested questions only through algebra I. Math on the new SAT now includes questions through precalculus. Thus, in terms of math content, the SAT is now quite close to parity with the old ACT (circa 2010) and not far behind the current ACT.”
Can anyone comment on whether any of the new SAT administrations have included precalc topics? Would it be better to wait until a student has finished precalc before taking the new SAT?
Agreed. This is a very well-written article. As to the question, I don’t think you need to wait until you are done with a certain level of math in order to take the test. Since most pre-calc students are juniors, this would significantly limit the number of times that student could take the test. While these topics are on the tests from time to time, they are not on every test, and most ACT/SAT Math questions are from the easier topics. In other words, a student can still make a 30-31 on Math and not know every detail of every one of these topics.