The state of Illinois signed a contract with the College Board in December of 2015 stating that the SAT will be replacing the ACT as Illinois' official college exam in 2016. Students have been taking the ACT for 15 years, and some were confused about the switch and what it means.

So what does it mean?

As far as differences between the two tests, the SAT has three sections: math, reading and writing/language. The ACT has four: math, English, reading and science. Also, the SAT is graded on a scale of 400 to 1600, and the ACT is graded from 1 to 36.

Currently there is no state funding for the SAT, so some schools are still offering the ACT for their students to take for free in 2016.

However, if a school offers a free SAT, a student can pay a fee and take the ACT elsewhere, and vice versa.

Jake Mills, a junior at Geneva High School, explained what some students are doing this year:

"You can still take the SAT and the ACT both... switching to the SAT isn't really that big of a deal, it's just what the schools are doing right now, so that's what you have to do. But you can still take the ACT on your own."

Whether or not a student takes the SAT versus the ACT will not effect which college(s) they should or want to apply to; all universities accept both exams for admission.