<p>My daughter got a 30 composite on her first ACT (no prep). According to College Board's SAT-ACT comparisons, to be in line with her SAT of 1420 - (CR 700, M 720) she should have scored more like a 32. Is there any reason for her to retake the ACT? She plans to retake the SAT, this time with some prep, and remembering to take her calculator :)</p>
<p>If I were here, I wouldn't retake the ACT. Her ACT and SAT scores are pretty close, in my opinion. I remember when the Washington University admissions officer visited our school, one person asked about what they thought about the SAT and ACT. He replied, "Just do your best. I just don't understand those people who take the SAT and the ACT! It's like you're just torturing yourself twice as much! Why do people do it? Just take the one you're better at and get done with it."</p>
<p>That's good advice. I would have advised your daughter to take a practice ACT and a practice SAT, see which one she did better on, and then prepare for that test rather than both.</p>
<p>Many people do much better on one test than another. If she's going to retake the SAT (which I don't think she really needs to do anyway), there's little reason to retake the ACT. The scores correspond with each other quite well, even though they really don't need to.</p>
<p>thanks - good advice about taking a practice test of each first. both of my Ds had the opprotunity to take the ACT and SAT in middle school courtesy of Midwest Talent Search. D1 took only the SAT, so now as a junior, she's tried both. D2 is in 8th grade and has taken both tests this year, so we know which one will be best for her come high school.</p>
<p>You are basing possible decisions on assumptions that are likely incorrect. The CB concordance table (and all others you find on-line which are based on it) is not reliable for determining equivalency that may actually be used by any particular college today. You need to read the footnotes to the CB's table which inform you that (a) it is better to rely on an equivalency table that a college actually uses and publishes (most do not actually publish theirs); (b) the CB's table is outdated because it is based on test scores from over 12 years ago.</p>
<p>As to reasons to retake any test, the only two I can think of are that a higher test score is needed to be in the range that is usually accepted by a college that the person definitely wants to apply to (but then you have to ask the question whether you believe you can score higher) or you are focusing on a scholarship that requires a higher score.</p>