<p>I am a junior from Michigan and I really want to go to an Ivy or somewhere close to it. I took the ACT and got a 31, not bad. However I took the SAT and got an 1800, not so good. I sent both of these scores into my top schools (Princeton, UChicago, Stanford, U of M). From an earlier post, I learned that even though I sent my awful SAT score, colleges would only consider my ACT score. First of all, I would like some confirmation on this. Second, if they only do look at my ACT score, should I even consider retaking the SAT? I am confident that I could get at least a 33 if I retake the ACT but a great score on the SAT seems much harder to obtain. I would love to only have to worry about studying for one test rather than both. Any input would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Only one is required, so there is really no purpose of taking both. However, because you have already taken the SAT and scored an 1800, that will show in their records and it could be detrimental to your chances of admission into the schools who received those scores.</p>
<p>I would recommend picking the test you’re most comfortable with and attacking it with a vengeance. There’s not really a point to studying for both tests if you know you can do better on one than the other.</p>
<p>I think your past scores won’t matter much. As long as you can score high enough to be competitive, I think you’ll be fine. Schools like Stanford see so many great scores that even a perfect ACT/SAT score is no guarantee for admission. I think the other factors of you application will be far more important.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I think this serves as a great example of why one shouldn’t automatically use the free score reporting when registering for a test. It is better to see your scores and then make a decision on what scores to send, even if you have to spend some money to do it.</p>
<p>^^ Yes I completely agree. I was always told to just send my scores in and it wouldn’t hurt but now I realize how stupid that was, lol. Say I get a 33 on the the next ACT and study all summer for the SAT, what kind of score would I need to somewhat balance out my awful previous score? That is, good enough to get into the schools I mentioned before. My guess would be a score that would cause admission officers to just glance over it and move on to my ACT score. I don’t know if this is how it would work, but it would sure be nice.</p>
<p>^ Yea</p>
<p>Definitely picking the ACT over the SAT is a good choice. Anyways, since u tend to do better on the ACT, y not retake it to try and get a higher score, it will definitely boost ur score if u focus more on that like u said, a 33 is obtainabel if u work hard on it rather then prepare for the SAT, the ACT is generally toe easier test to take</p>
<p>I personally prefer the ACT, but you can’t go wrong with both unless you only need one.</p>