<p>Hey everyone, I'm new here and would really appreciate some help :)</p>
<p>I recently took the SAT and the ACT</p>
<p>ACT comp: 35
SAT comp: 2150</p>
<p>I would much rather submit my ACT score to colleges because it is comparatively much higher. I plan on applying to top-tier and Ivy league schools. Do schools like these look down upon the ACT? I know that most will ACCEPT either score, but would they rather see SAT scores? Do they get "suspicious" if I only send ACT scores? I've heard that both are viewed equally...but is this actually true?</p>
<p>My D had almost identical scores and decided to use just the ACT rather than retake the SAT. She ended up being accepted ED at a great LAC. I’ve followed this ACT vs. SAT discussion for a couple years on CC, and am comfortable saying that kids have great success with the ACT at Ivies and top LACs. </p>
<p>Use the ACT, but be sure to check each college you’re interested in to see their policies on score choice and SATII requirements. And congrats on that great score!</p>
<p>mom2collegekids: I don’t have the link to the quote, but quite a few people on the Princeton forum cite an admission officer’s response several years back as evidence. A quick look at this forum, though, reveals that plenty of high-performing ACT kids get accepted to Princeton each year, so ACT-reliant kids are not getting the short end of the stick.</p>
<p>I can confirm IvanKaramozov’s claim about Princeton. I too dont have the link though I can clarify the statemet a bit. I think up till 2007, Princeton openly stated that they didn’t want your ACT scores unless you could provide proof that one of the schools you were applying to required only ACT (it was really strange requirement…I know). Though, they have ended this policy. Yet, I still kind of wonder if there is still this bias for the SAT at pton…it was created there and their admissions rate for ACT-only senders is much lower. Though, we obviously dont know for sure what is going on down in New Jersey = D.</p>
<p>If that were true, a majority of kids would score higher on the ACT, yet they don’t. </p>
<p>Whose “general rule” is that? LOL</p>
<p>A quick look at this forum, though, reveals that plenty of high-performing ACT kids get accepted to Princeton each year, so ACT-reliant kids are not getting the short end of the stick.</p>
<p>The SAT does have a higher ceiling, though: even with the fact that hundreds of thousands of students take the ACT because of state mandates who otherwise would not, a perfect SAT score is of a significantly higher percentile than is a perfect ACT composite score. However, this fact probably does not justify the claim that the ACT is generally easier.</p>
<p>“General rule” = my personal observations. Lol. Hardly compelling evidence, but I have noticed a definite trend. It seems like Princeton has as well.</p>
<p>honestly, i think the ACT is “easier” than the SAT because you arent really competing with the test, but the test-takers. Both tests are setup on a scale, so your score is dependant on how well others do on the test. The SAT is most prevalent on the coasts which typically have the highest-performing high schools, so you are likely competing with a “smarter” population. The ACT however, is most popular in the middle of the country which typically has lower-performing high schools and therefore a “less smart” testing population.</p>
<p>a perfect SAT score is of a significantly higher percentile than is a perfect ACT composite score.</p>
<p>Uh…what???</p>
<p>A perfect SAT is deep within 99th percentile. A perfect ACT is also deep within 99th percentile. They are both at about the 99.98 percentile.</p>
<p>2160 SAT is just at the 99th percentile. And a 32 ACT is just at the 99th percentile.</p>
<p>Roughly 24 states have the ACT as the preferred exam. Since ivies and elites want kids from all 50 states, they really can’t have a “preferred” test.</p>
<p>The class of 2009 had 1,480,469 students who took the ACT. Five states require that the ACT be taken by every public high school junior, which inflates the number of test-takers but likely makes only a negligible contribution to the number of perfect scorers. Let’s assume that 300,000 people take the test who would not do so if it weren’t required. </p>
<p>Also relevant is the fact that traditionally ACT-focused states generally do worse on the PSAT, which is likely only partially attributable to their being focused on the ACT. Moreover, students in non-ACT-focused states who take the ACT do so largely because they were dissatisfied with their SAT scores, which further lessens the quality of the ACT-test-taking population; few students who are happy with their SAT score will bother with the ACT. Let us subtract an additional 150,000 in a crude attempt to account for these factors.</p>
<p>After making those adjustments, a perfect SAT score is approximately 3.4 times rarer than a perfect ACT score. </p>
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<p>Actually, it’s at the 97.2th percentile even without making the above adjustments.</p>
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<p>Not only ostensibly: they do in reality as well.</p>
<p>I always feel like adding the rather pointless fact that despite having grown up in an ACT-dominant state, I greatly prefer the SAT and perform much better on it. The difference between my top scores amounts to over 300 SAT points. (I have no idea what that translates to in ACT points.)</p>