<p>Heyyy</p>
<p>I am a junior this year and I don't know if I should take the ACT...I have been preparing for the SAT since a while ago, but have never thought about the ACT till last month....Do colleges prefer you to have both? Does taking both ACT and SAT makes college admission a little easier??</p>
<p>pleasseee tell me what you think :D</p>
<p>p.s. what books do you use to prepare for the ACT's?</p>
<p>try the act because you might do better on it than the sat.</p>
<p>I would try the ACT.
for prep books start with the Real ACTs, so you get an accurate idea of the test.</p>
<p>ahhhh Thankss guys!</p>
<p>I did better on the PLAN ( prep test for ACT) than I did on the PSAT...my tutor kept telling me that I shouldn't waste time preparing for ACT coz Top 20 colleges don't even look at it....but my conselor said that I should try it....i don't know who to listen to lol</p>
<p>Your tutor is wrong about the "Top 20"s not looking at the ACT. You might as well try it if you think you can prepare for it (and you have a year, so...)</p>
<p>most colleges, if not all, will take the ACT w/ writing in substitution to the SAT reasoning test</p>
<p>Definetly take both. Not everyone is made for the SAT. The ACT is a bit different and you may find yourself scoring MUCH higher on the ACT than the SAT.</p>
<p>^^^agreed</p>
<p>my SAT score (based on ACT conversion) is a 2360, whereas my actual score (which I took a year ago) was a 2100...BIG DIFFERENCE....or it could have been that i got better at reasoning in a year..dunno</p>
<p>I'm only taking the ACT (since I did crap on my PSAT), and I'm applying to all top 20 colleges, so your tutor is definitely wrong.</p>
<p>I thought the Princeton Review ACT book was REALLY good at preparing me for the ACT because there are examples for every single question type that will show up on the test in the PR review book and the authors thoroughly explain how to tackle each question type (with lots of examples!), so I definitely recommend it.</p>
<p>My ACT scores were way higher than my SAT scores, so you should definitely give the ACT a try. It's much easier to study for the ACT since the test is very straightforward and less about learning tricks (the ACT actually tests you on the concepts you learn in school) than the SAT.</p>
<p>Well...In a way, yes the tutor is wrong. In a way, no he/she is not. Since you live in New York, the Ivies are going to EXPECT you, maybe subconsciously, to take the SAT. It's the prominent test in the region. If you ONLY take the ACT, they look at it and wonder why you didn't take the SAT. If you take both, that is perfectly FINE (I just took the ACT and did better on it than SATs and I live in NJ), send both scores though. They tend to think something is up if you're from the Northeast and only took the ACT. In a weird kind of way. Not that there's anything wrong with the ACT. But as you can see, most people seem to score better on it than on SATs.
Good luck with both at any rate! You've got plenty of time to work it all out. Just don't wait until the last second to take all of your tests (I found myself testing one month for 3 out of the 4 Saturdays, it was KILLER).
:)</p>
<p>Shobhit2006 - Similar situation here. My SAT score (First time I've taken it; still waiting for my other test score to come in...) is a 2100 (1370 on old scale). My ACT equivalent to the old scale is a 1470 (Got a 33). Still waiting for my essay score to come in :)</p>
<p>wow...thanks for all of your replies!!! it really helped a lot!!
I do want to take the ACT because I am just not an SAT type of student, I learn better in school, and ACT is more based on what u've learned...which might help me to bring out my advantage in a way.</p>
<p>so the PR book huh? coooolio :D</p>
<p>Make sure get the Official ACT book as well. It's the only one that has real ACT exams for the practice exams, which is VERY useful for familiarizing yourself with the test.</p>
<p>Also, in my experiences at least, time is a bigger factor with the ACTs than with the SATs, but the questions are usually somewhat easier.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Since you live in New York, the Ivies are going to EXPECT you, maybe subconsciously, to take the SAT. It's the prominent test in the region. If you ONLY take the ACT, they look at it and wonder why you didn't take the SAT.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The subject of institutional bias against the ACT has been discussed quite a bit on the parents’ board. Even a year or two ago, the general view was that if you live in a part of the country where the ACT is not commonly taken (either coast), admissions officers may speculate about your SAT scores if you submit only your ACT. But as the ACT becomes more popular – I recently read that it was taken over 1.2 million times last year vs. about 1.5 million for the SATs – colleges have started to abandon the notion that applicants from non-ACT states who submit only the ACT may be trying to game the system.</p>
<p>what's a pretty good score on ACT for Ivy League schools and some other top 30 colleges?? around 29-ish?</p>
<p>for ivys (although no set score of course), I would say around a 32</p>
<p>for other top 30s, at least a 30 on ACT</p>