<p>sorry, typo, I meant ~1400.</p>
<p>Okay--here's kind of a weird question that fits in with this thread...My son made a 31 on the ACT--not bad for him. But, for whatever reason, he did not sign up to take the writing part ("didn't feel like it"). So when he took the SAT he did take the writing part (maybe it's not optional) and did quite well on it--720 on the writing and 11 on the essay. But he didn't do as well on the other parts (650-reading, 640 math). He is going to be foreign exchange next year (senior year) so I don't know how easy it would be to retake the ACT again to get the writing part in. My question is--if he submitted both tests to colleges who require the writing part--would they accept the essay score from the SAT and the verbal and math scores from ACT since they are higher?</p>
<p>I have posted this nugget of information here before, but not for over a year, so here goes. IMO, there is one gigantic plus for starting your standardized testing with the ACT regardless of where you live. If you play the game correctly, it is purely score choice and no one need ever know if you are not satisfied with your score. To do this, you MUST omit your high school information from the registration. Otherwise, you run the risk of your high school slapping the testing sticker on your transcript and the information becomes available to colleges even though you didn't send scores to them. This does mean that you will have to spend a few extra $$$ to supply scores to schools later. I recommend sending your scores to your high school after the fact if you are satisfied. If they are good, the counselor may be likely to emphasize that in relationship to the rest of the student body, which would be a plus. If you apply to a college that leans towards the SAT and your ACT is higher, I think admissions personnel would be likely to lean toward the higher score and assume the SAT score might have been due to whatever factors lead to lower testing results - illness, personal crisis, whatever.</p>
<p>"My question is--if he submitted both tests to colleges who require the writing part--would they accept the essay score from the SAT and the verbal and math scores from ACT since they are higher?"</p>
<p>That question can only be answered by the various schools to which your son will apply. In general, one would expect schools NOT to mix ACT and SAT scores, but not all schools attach the same importance to the essay portion. A school that does not use the essay for admission purposes will be more prone to accept the hybrid situation.</p>
<p>To add something to Xiggi's point, the ACT seems to have more variability in difficulty from one sitting to the next. DD took the ACT twice, SAT formally once, but used "The Real SAT" book extensively - that was what she noticed as a big difference in the 2. The SAT was more consistent from test to test, ACT was quite different - her scores showed this as well.</p>
<p>2VU0609- I absolutely agree with everything you said. For alot of average/normal kids who expect average/normal scores (950-1100 old scale SAT), the SAT vs. ACT can make a world of difference. I have said many times, my d just struggled with the SAT format and got around 930. She was set to take the ACT after her first SAT but thought the results of the SAT would be so disastorous (and she was right) that she suggested we move the ACT to an earlier testing date in April. With hardly any prep for the ACT except one practice test, she outscored her SAT by 60 points. This took alot of pressure off of her and we decided that she would not take the SAT again and prep more for the October ACT. I have my theories on these tests- ACT is much quicker and alot of kids hate it for that reason- But for my sports kid who has a kinetic learning style, I think this test was much better for her.<br>
I am from Long Island. I have heard of too many kids getting into great schools like Harvard and CMU with so-so SAT scores but with GREAT ACT scores. I believe even the most competitive east coast school now look at the ACT score the same as the SAT. The ACT was a life safer for my d.
Cangel- I know this is all anecdotal- but my d took 3 ACT's- April-June and October. Got the same score on April and June and went up 2 points on the October test. Her subscores were fairly consistent. She wound up scoring about 130 points higher on the ACT exam than the SAT- so it worked for our family.</p>
<p>A friend of mine who is in the educational field recently told me something interesting about that blue book, The REAL SATs. Namely, sitting down for a practice test in that book is not an absolute imitation of a real SAT. The "real" SAT also includes an experimental section, which is not graded and not included in the exams in that blue book. The upshot is that the endurance needed to get through the test is not completely simulated in these practice tests since the real one is that much longer. </p>
<p>I imagine that prepping for either test (ACT or SAT) in addition to the gift of time (another school year or half a school year under their belts) can be responsible for an increase in test score on either test over time. </p>
<p>As far as strategic timing is concerned, it seems to me that you do get score choice as long as you have only taken one SAT along with any number of ACT tests. It's only after you take the second SAT or SAT II that all previous scores are forwarded, correct? So couldn't you also take SAT first followed by ACT with writing in order to get benefit of score choice? It would seem that problems with reporting of that first SAT would only come up if you had to take SAT IIs for a particular school at a later date.</p>
<p>Thanks for the continuing comments on this. They have all been very useful!</p>
<p>Just remember if you put a HS code down the test scores, all of the test scores could show up on the HS transcript that you send to the colleges.</p>
<p>I think it is OK to take a test 1 - 3 times but more than that gets a bit crazy.</p>
<p>In fact, with many colleges combining best scores from multiple test sittings you are almost crazy not to take an SAT or ACt twice. Unless you get a 35 or something like that on the first try.</p>
<p>My son took the ACT twice and got a 32 composite both times. However, with different sub test scores and by combining his best scores some colleges will rank him at a 34.</p>
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However, with different sub test scores and by combining his best scores some colleges will rank him at a 34.
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<p>drizzit- I know of one school that will take the best ACT subscores and recalculate the composite (Trinity U in San Antonio). What other colleges do you know of that will do that?</p>
<p>The University of Colorado Boulder that combines scores</p>
<p>roshke,
I think your idea is fine as regards score choice except for one thing; we were never able to figure out how to omit the high school from the SAT registration process online. I'm not saying it can't be done, just that no one at my house was clever enough to figure it out. Perhaps someone else can share if they we able to block the high school reporting and the dreaded transcript sticker that alerts the world as to your scores!</p>
<p>Wash U. St. Louis combines scores from ACT subtests taken at different sittings.</p>
<p>Just in case you've forgotten: High Standardized Tests are NO guarantee of admission. Case in point at S's HS: Rejected Notre Dame, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Oberlin Admitted State University. ECs lots of leadership, recs great, essays interesting not dull.</p>
<p>Most likely reason: Bright Well Rounded Kid which isn't in fashion this year at a lot of schools once the quota is filled.</p>
<p>forgot to add: 34 on ACT, 1460 on SAT, gpa 3.7</p>
<p>Sigh. Am I the only one who finds this resurrected topic tiresome? Hasn't this horse been beaten until it's dead? Everyone, READ XIGGI's POST!!! 99.9% of colleges DON'T care whether the kid takes the SAT or the ACT...including Princeton (read their admissions website, for Pete's sake). Then, read the post by 2VU0609. This is probably the most important post on this thread.</p>
<p>Have your kid take a timed practice SAT and ACT. Figure out on which test they do better. Have the kid prep using the Xiggi Method if needed (my D did not prep). Take that test. Doesn't matter what part of the country you come from, doesn't matter what part of the country the college is in.*</p>
<p>From the Mom of one of the many kids on this site who are from "SAT-land" (my D was the only one in her class who did not take the SAT), aced the ACT, did not take the SAT at all, and was admitted to both Harvard and Yale.</p>
<p>*There are still a (very) few colleges who will only accept the SAT, so check each colleges website to be sure.</p>
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*There are still a (very) few colleges who will only accept the SAT, so check each colleges website to be sure.
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<p>And some that are ACT-only. BYU for example, plus a number of 2-year schools. There's a thread on this board somewhere that contains a full list of SAT-only and ACT-only schools. ALWAYS check the school's websites, or call the admissions office for current info.</p>
<p>Both of my daughters said the SAT math was much easier than the ACT math. So, the idea that the ACT is for middle Americans who are bad in math is ridiculous.</p>
<p>My daughter also did worse on the ACT math than the SAT math - but her ACT composite was much better than her combined SAT score. I think the difference isn't the section, but on the way scores are calculated and reported. </p>
<p>Also, I find the post about the ACT's varying more between tests very interesting - it explains something: my daughter felt after the first test that she coul raise her science score, so she retook. She did indeed significantly raise the science score on the retest, but her English score and some other sections went down -- so her composite actually went down as well. </p>
<p>She decided to submit both scores to most of the colleges she applied to. </p>
<p>It worked for her, since she got into her most-desired reaches.... but I honestly think in hindsight that all of the strategizing was wasted. She also made a strategic decision not to submit her very poor SAT scores, only to discover after being admitted that the college had them on file -- her g.c. must have sent them with the midyear transcript. So basically, that which she feared - the disclosure of terrible scores -- happened without making much of a difference. </p>
<p>I think that my daughter got into her reach colleges because the ad coms liked the other part of the application (grades, academic background, essay, interview, recs, etc.) and wanted her, and the test scores weren't bad enough to cause them to change their mind. </p>
<p>And I think that the schools that rejected/waitlisted her simply weren't impressed with the rest of the package, and better test scores wouldn't have made a difference. It is possible that the schools that waitlisted her also kind of wanted her, but decided against it because of the test scores. Because that's the one place where I think the scores make a significant difference: when the ad com is unsure about a particular candidate.</p>
<p>quiltguru:</p>
<p>no need to "Sigh"....there are plenty of east coast college counselors who still believe that the SAT is preferred by highly selective colleges. IMO, the OP is just asking a good question for reasurrance.</p>
<p>quiltguru, I know this is a sensitive topic on this board and that's why I titled the thread the way I did. I don't think you can blame me or anyone who would ask this question based on what I read and reprinted in the OP . The source wasn't quoted that long ago, and the dean of admissions at Yale (now Stanford) is a pretty credible individual in the field, to say the least! If someone like Richard Shaw answered that way as recently as he did, I'd be remiss not to ask myself this question and wonder how many other admissions officers feel the same way. </p>
<p>I have zero bias in all this other than helping my own child decide what is in her best interests. As a matter of fact, I'd like nothing better than to find out that you are 100% correct and that it really does make no difference! I don't see how you can say that bringing this up is like kicking a dead horse since this may be an interview that nobody here is aware of.</p>
<p>I generally like to consider the source when I make any kind of judgment on a situation. Anecdotal accounts, while interesting to hear, don't carry much weight, and the admissions reps don't always tell the whole tale either.</p>