<p>I know you guys probably heard of this a lot, but do colleges prefer the ACT or SAT or does it not matter at all? I've heard that the east coast likes SAT and the midwest and south like ACT but is that really true or just a myth? And also would having a bad SAT but a good ACT affect your chances at admission?</p>
<p>Does not matter. If you have a good ACT, send that one so there is no doubt about what the school considers.</p>
<p>There are a lot threads on this site about that issue. Bottom-line: the colleges say that they accept both, neither is preferred over the other, and if you send both they will use the one they believe is higher for admission. (There are some exceptions – amazingly enough the Cal Poly’s, in a state where the SAT predominates, actually say they prefer the ACT, a shock to many from the east and west coast.) Despite that, many on this board who are from the east or west coast (where the SAT is the test taken by most) believe the colleges in the east and west are lying and really prefer SAT and many from the middle of the country (where the ACT is taken by most) believe the colleges in the middle of the country are lying and really prefer ACT. You can also find threads with hundreds of responses arguing about whether a 2400 SAT is better than (or worse than) a 36 ACT which becomes a Nietzsche-like discussion that evaluates whether perfection is really imperfection.</p>
<p>I hope it is all a myth cuz I’m getting way higher ACT scores than SAT scores and am applying to east coast schools</p>