ACT instead of SAT for Penn-Wharton, MIT-Engineering, NYU-Stern

Test Preparation
1

Hi all,

It’s been forever since i’ve posted on here–since I was applying to school back in the day (I was accepted and happily graduated from Columbia). These days I’m a PhD student but have a side gig tutoring HS students for entrance exams and preparing them for application season. One of my students grew up in the South and is in boarding school now, applying to engineering & business programs at Penn, MIT, and NYU. Turns out, perhaps because of his background in the South, he’s an ace at the ACT, and scores comparably lower on the SAT. My question is this: do any of you know if programs of this sort (whether generally or these specific programs) have a bias against the ACT, or whether such a possible preference should make a difference as we plan his test schedule? I’m thinking that if he does well enough this year on the ACT (he’s a junior), we’d have an extra year to get his SAT scores up as a possible second index of readiness. Any thoughts?

Thanks all.
Zach

2

more students take the ACT than SAT now.

3

All schools state they accept both tests. The only school that prefers one over the other is in California (and they prefer the ACT!). There is no bias.

4

Thanks, y’all, for this advice.