<p>Hey guys, I just have a quick question about the ACT. I'm completely unfamiliar with it, so I have no idea which test I should take: the one with writing or the one without it. I've already taken the SAT (2400) so I'm planning to send in both SAT and ACT, and definitely not ACT alone. My reasoning is just because my GPA is completely incongruous with my SAT score, and I want to do well on more standardized tests to prove my intellectual competence. Anyway, if I already have a satisfactory SAT score, should I take writing or no-writing? (If it's important, I'm applying to Stanford, Brown, Dartmouth, and the UCs)</p>
<p>With writing. Absolutely. The writing section does <em>not</em> impact on the composite score. There are very few schools that will take it without writing: Caltech, Uchicago, and a handful of others, but the vast, vast majority of schools require it. </p>
<p>We made the mistake of taking it without, so DS is retaking saturday with writing even though he already got a good score without.</p>
<p>I think that taking the ACT after getting 2400 on the SAT is a waste of time and money. </p>
<p>You still have to take the SAT subject tests for the schools you’re applying to, so you’ve got other required tests to take to demonstrate how smart you are.</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s any school who will look at a bit discrepency between your SAT and and your GPA and assume the high scores are a fluke. They’re going to wonder why such a smart kid got bad grades, and likely look at other parts of your application to figure that out. Another standardized test isn’t going to answer that for them.</p>
<p>If you have a 2400 SAT there is no reason to take ACT and doing so and scoring well is not going to add anything to your application. It is incorrect to believe having both tests with high scores is better than having one test with a high score. If you are going to take it, however, do writing simply because many colleges require the writing section.</p>
<p>Just note before deciding to take ACT that there are now some colleges that require you to submit all scores that you have for both SAT and ACT tests. Don’t know if you are applying to one of those but you need to consider that there is a possiblity you could do poorly on the ACT and still have to send it to a college.</p>
<p>^^Agree with the previous 2 posters.</p>
<p>Regardless of whether previous posters have been sucessful in persuading you not to do it, if you actually do end up doing it then writing is a no brainer. All you’d be losing is some time.</p>
<p>PS: If you really want to prove how competent you are, take as many SAT subject tests as you can fit in one sitting and score well.</p>