<p>OK, so I didn't do very well on the SAT. I am taking the ACT in June. Do the ivies, Yale included, really take the ACT? Being from NY I just don't have a feel for the ACT. Is a 34 good enough or do you really have to get a 35 or 36? Reading the CC ACT forum it seems like the ACT is so much easier so why doesn't everyone just take the ACT? Would Yale really count those SAT scores over the ACT? - they will see them when they get the Subject test scores. Thanks for any input. (Damn, I really thought I did well on the May SAT - I was shocked by the scores.)</p>
<ol>
<li> Many Y students are admitted with ACT only.</li>
<li> If you take the ACT, you don't need any SAT IIs, so they won't see your SAT scores.</li>
</ol>
<p>Virtually all colleges, including Yale, accept either the SAT (and the SAT subject tests for more competitive schools) OR the ACT. The ACT is not necessarily any easier than the SAT and you should not underestimate it. It tests more advanced material than the SAT in certain areas (e.g., math), it tests material that the SAT doesn't test at all (e.g., science reasoning), the time pressure on the ACT is brutal, and the curve is harsh. A composite score at or above 32 on the ACT will put you in the 99th percentile, so no, you don't need to have a 35 or a 36 to be competitive for Yale admissions. Very, very few students score that well anyway. Keep in mind, however, that Yale is one of those schools where SAT/ACT scores are just a small part of the equation. Lots of would be Yalies get rejected with near perfect GPAs and test scores. This isn't meant to discourage you, just to let you know that no combination of GPA and test score will guarantee your admission to Yale. Best of luck.</p>
<p>So, why doesn't everyone just take the ACT? That seems much easier than taking the SAT I and IIs.
Also, if my SAT II scores are really good should I send them anyway?</p>
<p>Probably because many applicants don't realize that the ACT is an acceptable substitute for the SAT AND the SAT subject tests. In addition, the SAT tends to get a lot more emphasis on the coasts, whereas the ACT gets the emphasis in the West, Midwest and South. Yes, if your SAT II scores are strong, I would send them.</p>
<p>i studied for the ACT for 3 days and got a 35.</p>
<p>I studied for the SAT for 4 months and got a 2350.</p>
<p>Go figure. Submitted both, going to Columbia.</p>
<p>Since colleges know that a perfect score at ACT is easier to attain than the elusive 2400 at SAT, are you sure that they deem them equal? Say for example, that there were two applicants, and it all boiled down to their ACT and SAT in terms of acceptance, and the one had only ACT (36) and the other one only SAT(750-800 everywhere), what would the case be then?</p>
<p>*SAT is more predominant in the south as well-just a side note from a South Carolina resident.</p>
<p>I never knew that you could bypass the SAT subject tests entirely by taking the ACT. I would have thought they at least required those.</p>
<p>"Since colleges know that a perfect score at ACT is easier to attain than the elusive 2400 at SAT . . . "</p>
<p>debate_addict,</p>
<p>Where did you get this information? The latest figures that are available from the ACT (2006) indicate that approximately 1 student in every 5,555 gets a perfect composite score of 36. Those are pretty long odds, don't you think? I don't believe that score distribution figures are yet available for the first full year of the new SAT. I'm not saying that the new SAT doesn't have a high ceiling in terms of getting a perfect score, but I certainly wouldn't characterize getting a perfect score on the ACT as easy by way of comparison.</p>
<p>pagEL60,</p>
<p>Re no SAT IIs required if ACT taken, from the Yale admissions website:</p>
<p>Standardized Testing
Yale requires submission of the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT I) and any two SAT II Subject Tests, or the American College Test (ACT).</p>
<p>I still don't undersrand why Yale would not require SAT IIs in either case. I looked at the science section of the ACT and you cannot compare that to the physics, chemistry or biology SAT II.</p>
<p>From Yale undergraduate admissions:</p>
<p>Standardized Testing
Yale requires submission of the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT I) and ANY two SAT II Subject Tests, OR the American College Test (ACT). Note that Yale no longer accepts the "old" SAT I and, if you will take the ACT, understand that Yale is one of the schools that require the ACT Writing Test wherever that option is available. </p>
<p>homers, note that Yale (like most schools) doesn't require you to take SAT IIs in specific subjects. The reason that most schools will accept the ACT in lieu of the SAT I and the SAT II subject tests is that the ACT, like the SAT IIs, tests what you have actually learned in high school in a number of subject areas. I would imagine, although I'm not sure, that there are some schools that do require the SAT IIs for specifc programs (e.g., engineering programs that may require SAT IIs in calculus or physics, etc.), but Yale evidently does not.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"Since colleges know that a perfect score at ACT is easier to attain than the elusive 2400 at SAT . . . "</p>
<p>debate_addict,</p>
<p>Where did you get this information? The latest figures that are available from the ACT (2006) indicate that approximately 1 student in every 5,555 gets a perfect composite score of 36. Those are pretty long odds, don't you think? I don't believe that score distribution figures are yet available for the first full year of the new SAT. I'm not saying that the new SAT doesn't have a high ceiling in terms of getting a perfect score, but I certainly wouldn't characterize getting a perfect score on the ACT as easy by way of comparison.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I got that from the post above me, and the fact that no Subject Tests are required. The work required for SAT reasoning + SAT subject tests is by far more strenuous than ACT alone, IMO.</p>
<p>Lastly, I meant that a perfect score is easier to attain because the ACT overall score is not the cumulative score of all of your tests; it's the average, and therefore on that rationale alone, ACT is easier than SAT in terms of perfect score.</p>
<p>When I'm applying to schools, I am going to submit ACT scores, but my GC insists that if you apply to schools on the east coast or west coast, you should take the SAT. I don't understand why she tells us this, since coastal schools accept the ACT.</p>
<p>"I got that from the post above me, and the fact that no Subject Tests are required. The work required for SAT reasoning + SAT subject tests is by far more strenuous than ACT alone, IMO.</p>
<p>Lastly, I meant that a perfect score is easier to attain because the ACT overall score is not the cumulative score of all of your tests; it's the average, and therefore on that rationale alone, ACT is easier than SAT in terms of perfect score."</p>
<p>^ No disrespect intended, but this rationale doesn't make much sense. I'm sure you can find people on CC that have studied more for the ACT, less for the SAT, and scored better on the SAT. If you want to get a more accurate idea of the comparative difficulty of scoring perfectly on both tests, then divide the number of perfect scorers for each test by the number of students who took the test during a given year. According to the ACT, in the 2006 administration, 216 students scored a perfect composite score of 36 out of 1,206,455 test takers. How that translates to "easy" is beyond me. I don't know if the College Board has released similar figures for the SAT.</p>
<p>"So, why doesn't everyone just take the ACT?"</p>
<p>Some people find the SAT easier, some find the ACT easier. It's best to take both and figure out which one is right for you.</p>
<p>What I meant is that the way of getting a perfect score for the ACT is easier than a perfect score in SAT. If you get all 36 and a 34, you can still get a 36. But if you get 800, 800 and 750, that's a 2350. Not a 2400. I agree with all that you said about the relative level of each test, but I was just making a point based on numbers...that's all.</p>
<p>Point understood.</p>