<p>does anybody know if colleges prefer one to the other? my dad says that SATs are more standardized, but i just did a practice test for each and i did loads better on the ACT. can you be disadvantaged in admissions if you only submit an ACT score?</p>
<p>Look at the schools' websites. If they say they take either, and don't care, believe them. Why would they lie about it? They could easily say they prefer one over the other.</p>
<p>There are many threads on this topic; search for them and you'll read the stories of kids who got into top schools by sending only the ACT.</p>
<p>almost all schools now don't have a preference. Some top schools, such as Yale, Brown, Duke, and UPenn, even let you omit the SAT II requirements if you send in the ACT.</p>
<p>I don't know what your dad means by the SAT is more standardized. I don't think that's true of either test.</p>
<p>To be blunt, the ACTs are more popular in the West & the SATs are more popular in the East.</p>
<p>If you're from the East coast ... I guess that is what your dad means by standardized?</p>
<p>Like Shobhit2006 said, the ACT sometimes fulfills the SAT I and II requirement..........<3</p>
<p>Agreed, I know a couple schools where the ACT fufills the SAT I and II requirement. Makes it very useful and time/money saving. </p>
<p>My GC explained it to me like this- the ACT is more like what you learned in high school, while the SAT is more like what you learned applied to different kind of problems with more logic. I personally prefered the ACT, and my score comparitively was slightly higher than my SAT score.</p>
<p>@blase
Not necessarily true! I think the ACT used to be popular in the Midwest, and that SAT was popular everywhere else (including the West Coast). So no, the ACT is not more popular in the west and the SAT in the east.</p>
<p>Anyhow, before, many colleges only accepted one of the tests, and this was generally the SAT, which probably brought about the "more standardized" myth. Each test is still more popular in their respective regions (Midwest, Coasts), but now practically every college in America accepts both tests - with, as you guys said, some colleges accepting the ACT to cover both SAT I and II.</p>
<p>An interesting exercise for those of you inclined to follow up.... :cool:</p>
<p>Look up the statistic on the number of applicants submitting
ACT to your #1 preference; Then identify the number admitted
for the ACT submissions Vs SAT submissions.....</p>
<p>curiously enough I found that at some of my favorite schools
(both in CA and in the East coast) ACT submitters seemed to
have statistically fared better;</p>
<p>... in one particular case almost twice as better! I was not even
going to take the ACT until I stumbled on this :confused:</p>
<p>IMHO the SAT scoring errors in recent years have raised concerns of the overall test results. I also feel strongly that students should take BOTH the SAT and the ACT. If a student is stronger in Math and Science, the ACT tends to recognize your strengths. By taking both, college admissions departments have more to evaluate an applicant on.</p>