<p>Hi,
My HS jr son took the SAT a few months ago (2110) & the ACT a few weeks ago (34). He now does not want to re-take the SAT--feels that both are not necessary & that colleges ONLY want one or the other (feeling happy about the ACT score, I guess).</p>
<p>I told him that a useful plan was to take both tests (he tests pretty well) in order to bulk up his college applications. This was to compensate for somewhat low gpa in 9th/10th grade (& his refusal to do almost any ECs [except a little volunteering and the musical instrument he enjoys]).</p>
<p>I'm hoping I can make a good argument for this (since we already paid for the college board online review course).</p>
<p>If anyone had some support for this position (or correct me if I'm wrong) I'd much appreciate it.</p>
<p>Your son's 34 is excellent and I shouldn't think it necessary to retake the SAT. Do any of the colleges in which he is interested require SAT Subject Tests?</p>
<p>most schools do say that they require only one. the sat and act are different and some kids really prefer one to another -- your son may honestly feel that additional prep will not help him on the sat -- and if he does worse (which some kids do a second time around) the college sees ALL his scores if you send sat scores. </p>
<p>personally, i'd vote for not forcing your son to go thru the additional stress and prep for another attempt at the sat -- i would think he could better use that time working on his college essays or some other goal that would be more productive.</p>
<p>but, you have to look at the schools he is applying to and see where his scores fall. but whatever you do -- do not second guess your son after the fact -- if he applies to highly selective schools where even his very high test scores don't guarantee anything more than a serious consideration and is rejected, PLEASE do not think that retaking the sat would have made a difference.</p>
<p>Jolynne -- your son's ACT score of 34 is excellent. He SHOULD feel happy with that score! It's hard to make an argument to try again on the SAT with an ACT score like that. Also, at some point students get burned out with prepping for these tests. It's a huge relief for them to be done. If he's happy with his score, then what's the point? The only reason my son retook his SAT score of 2210 was that he was convinced he could get a higher score in Math -- and he did by 40 points. He had planned on taking the ACT if he wasn't happy with his SAT results, and he chose not to take the ACT. It was such a relief to move on to the next step in this process! Best of luck to you and your son.</p>
<p>Colleges really do mean it when they say they want ACT OR SAT I scores, not both. Posters have correctly pointed out that according to the concordance chart, your son's 34 (an excellent score) is higher than his 2210. There is no reason for him to retake the SAT. If he thinks he can improve on the 34 and is inclined to retake, that's the one I'd encourage him to retake. But really, a 34 makes him competitive virtually everywhere. The only reason to retake the SAT I is if your son is homeschooled; two sets of scores give colleges more context within which to evaluate a homeschooled applicant.</p>
<p>Your son's ACT score is excellent. If he had an equally excellent SAt score, I would see no reason not to send both (though it is unlikely this would make any difference in admissions). However, in your son's case, it will really be a waste of time to do the prep course and retake SAT.</p>
<p>If you feel that his applications will be lacking in other areas, that's what he should spend his time on (GPA, and anything extra-curricular that he enjoys and is good at). Another high score will do nothing to improve his chances.</p>
<p>I have noticed on the posts on who was admitted to ivy league and top tier schools, that those who were accepted and submitted ACT scores typically submitted SAT scores too. The schools counted whichever was higher, the ACT or the SAT. The only instances where I saw students accepted with only one score, ie a very high ACT score, was where the student was from a state were most students typically took only the ACT, ie. the midwest and certain southern states, where the student was a recruited athlete, or a legacy. In the case of the student athlete or legacy, typically the student may not have done as well on the SAT, but was told that if they received an ACT score in a certain range they would be accepted.
While the ivy league and top tier schools say they treat the ACT and the SAT the same, I do not believe they do this if one comes from the northeast. If one comes from the northeast and other areas where the SAT is the test of choice, then I believe that admission officers when comparing two applicants, one who hast lets say a 1480 and no ACT score, with one who has a high ACT score and no SAT scores, they may wonder if the student who had the high ACT score and no SAT score actually took the SAT and did not do as well. I say this because when one goes to cc's ivy league discussion sites and reads the posts as to who was accepted and the stats they list, there is a lack of those who were accepted who list only the ACT. Most if not all I have seen have lived in states such as Wyoming ect, or were recruited athletes or legacies.
Where one is applying to a top southern school like Duke, irregardless of where they live, the ACT will be viewed very favorably since many of the applicants apply from the south and submit it. However if one were to apply to Princeton for example and live in Connecticut and submit just the ACT, I do believe that an applicant from Connecticut who submits just the SAT and subject tests with similar high comparable scores will have an advantage.
When applying to ivy league and top tier schools in the northeast, if one has a very high ACT score that is higher than their SAT score, assuming the SAT scores is still a competitive score, they should submit both. College admission officers will feel they were upfront about their testing. The school will take the ACT score and convert it to a SAT score and then look at their highest SAT score from each sitting, and if the ACT score is higher than that, they will convert the ACT score to that higher score and mark it on the outside of their folder. The applicant will find that the converted ACT score will count, but I believe that it will not hurt them that they included their lower SAT score. I believe it will only help them</p>
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I have noticed on the posts on who was admitted to ivy league and top tier schools, that those who were accepted and submitted ACT scores typically submitted SAT scores too.
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That is because thouse schools require SAT II scores, and by the time students took SAT IIs, they've already taken SAT I, and so it got submitted, like it or not.</p>
<p>collegebound5,
your assumptions are purely speculative, and IMHO completely baseless. A few years ago, colleges that wanted SAT scores said so. Now almost all the colleges are happy with either SAT or ACT scores, and claim to treat them equally - no reason not to believe them. In fact, some very top east cost schools (like Brown) will take ACT to replace both SAT I and SAT II tests.</p>
<p>I am only basing my speculation on the posts I have read on cc where students have posted their scores and admission decisions.
There are some applicants who probably took the SAT I and SAT II subject tests and did not do well on the SAT II subject tests and did well on the SAT I but better overall on the ACT and submitted just that and did not submit any subject tests. There are some who took the SAT perhaps twice and did not do well but did extremely well on the ACT and submitted just that. There are some who submitted both the SAT and ACT because they did better on the ACT then the SAT I but did extremely well on the subject tests and submitted both.
Most schools today inclluding many of the ivy league will take the ACT without subject tests.
Yes, all schools say they treat the two tests equally. However, look at the postings for the ivy league on cc. Very few were accepted with the ACT alone if they were not recruited athletes, legacies or from a state that did not have a lot of applicants applying or where the ACT was the test of choice.
CC is just a sampling of who was accepted.
I am just going on that</p>
<p>The 34 is excellent, as noted, and trumps the SAT by quite a bit. Did the ACT test include writing? (Is that still a choice, or is that automatic now?) Were there any notable outliers among the subject scores?</p>
<p>The SAT I score will be reported if your son takes and submits the results of SATII subject tests.</p>
<p>I think that, given that all colleges now accept the ACT, and it appears that institutional prejudice against the ACT has ended, there's no real reason for a student who gets an excellent score on the ACT to sit for the SAT I as well. I do think, however, that for the super selective schools, even those that officially accept the ACT in lieu of both SAT I and SAT II , it’s still a good idea to submit SAT IIs in addition to ACT.</p>
<p>Jolynn:
Sorry to disagree, but I don't believe that a string of standardized test scores will serve to "bulk up" an application. It is really more like a slot that the admissions team fills in. The EC's go into another category.</p>
<p>I think your son should close the book on his SAT and ACT testing. He is in the 99% and that is good enough for any school. He should spend his time and energy pursuing other ways to be a welcome addition to the college of his choice. Good luck!</p>
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He is in the 99% and that is good enough for any school.
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<p>While it's true that the OP's son has a great score, it's not true that the 99th percentile is "good enough for any school." Candidates are evaluated in the context of the pool of test takers at each school to which they apply, not in the context of the national pool of test takers.</p>
<p>the great act score does not guarantee admission anywhere -- but neither does an equally great sat score. but they certainly put him the pool of candidates worthy of serious consideration at just about every school (unless of course his gpa doesn't measure up).</p>
<p>test scores are just a piece of the application process. your s has done very well on that piece. its now time to focus on some other pieces -- a killer essay, lining up great recommendations, making sure his ec's demonstrate who he is. its even time for enjoying the rest of hs!</p>
<p>these standardized tests can be enormously stressful for the students as it is -- add to that telling a student that he is working to improve on an already great score (and if you look at his score report i think it should tell you what percentage of students improve on such a score and by how much) -- why do that? </p>
<p>if your son's gpa is good, he will have many wonderful schools to choose from. let him now focus on coming up with a balanced list of schools that will ensure he has wonderful schools to choose from a year from now -- rather than stressing about trying to squeeze out a few more sat points to supposedly improve chances at schools that (a) his act already puts him in the running for and (b) will in any event never be a sure thing.</p>