<p>" If I do take it I am pretty sure I can get a 35 or 36…"</p>
<p>Wow, this is a strong statement. I am sure you will do fine but not too many kids get 35 or 36 on ACT.</p>
<p>Lots of kids from my child’s HS got into ivies with ACT + SAT II combinations.</p>
<p>A 2250 never looks bad. Don’t bother wasting your money to take the ACT…but if you really want to boost your ego (if you really believe that you can get a 35-36 on the ACT) go ahead and give it a shot. The SAT and ACT are different tests…you can’t really call one easier over the other. Quite a few of my friends did comparatively better on the SAT than on the ACT, mainly because the SAT gives more time for responses while the ACT is more of a speed-test. Plus on the ACT many people’s scores get hurt by the science section (more of a logic/graph-reading section than actual science), something that the SAT does not have at all.</p>
<p>In the East people take the ACT only if they don’t do as well as they’d like on the SAT; in that part of the country there’s often an anti-ACT bias among HS students. In the Midwest everyone takes the ACT and only a small handful take the SAT. But the Midwesterners who take the SAT are not, by and large, people who didn’t do well on the ACT; instead, they’re mostly high-achieving kids planning to apply to elite colleges that list their median SAT scores more prominently, and the Midwestern kids want to see how they stack up. In the Midwest, HS students don’t have the same kind of anti-ACT bias that exists in the East; nor, as far as I can tell, do they have an anti-SAT bias, because it’s students from the high end of the spectrum who are taking that test. </p>
<p>Every college in the country now accepts both the SAT and the ACT, and they all say they have no preference as between the two. They have absolutely no reason to lie to applicants about that; you should just take them at their word.</p>
<p>As for which test is “easier,” that depends. They’re different tests, and they fit different people’s learning styles and intellectual gifts differently. Some people find the SAT easier, some find the ACT easier, some find them both easy, some find them both difficult. (My D, for one, always did better on the SAT than on the ACT; she got very good scores on both tests, but her SAT score was consistently 50-70 SAT points higher than her equivalent ACT score). </p>
<p>A 2250 on the SAT is a great score. But there’s just no question that a 35 or 36 on the ACT is a slightly better score. Every college admissions officer in the country would tell you that. Both the people who administer the SAT and the people who administer the ACT would tell you that. If you’re satisfied with your 2250 SAT—and you might be, because it’s a score that will help you at most colleges—then don’t bother with the ACT. If you want to see if you can get an even better score on the ACT, then take that test. It’s as simple as that. But don’t waste other people’s time disparaging the test, because the stuff your friends are telling you just isn’t true.</p>
<p>Every place we have heard from says they take whichever score is “better”, without regard to the other one. They don’t “look down” on either test, and of course 2250 would not look bad to anyone.</p>
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<p>Yes. This. Read this and commit it to memory.</p>
<p>Both scores are excellent. What is more important to look at is the subscores (SAT-M,CR,W…ACT-E,M,R,S E/W). As both scores are equally good, I would look for the test that has the subscores that are more equally matched. If you have one that has a substantially lower section, I would avoid that. Even if they seem fairly even, match your subscores against the most current common data set for your target schools. Send the scores that most closely match your target schools. One thing to note, the ACT must include the written portion. If the scores are relatively even, and fall equally within the common data set, send both.</p>
<p>Just my two cents.</p>
<p>Between the two, I would probably pick the ACT score in this case.</p>
<p>35/36 on ACT. definitely. </p>
<p>2250 is a fine score. theres no need to try for the ACT.</p>