<p>I got a 1500 on my SAT and was horribly mortified because I was planning on going to a UC school, but that is very unlikely with such a low SAT score. I have a 4.0 weighted gpa and a 3.8 unweighted so that shows you i'm not totally dumb. I was planning on taking the ACT in September, but I was just wondering if anyone else is in s similar situation or if you did better in the ACT than the SAT. I looked though some of the practice for the math portion of the ACT and it looked much much easier but then again who know if that's just how much the practice section on the ACT website is like the actual test? Some in a simpler version (sorry i'm new to asking questions on this site and tend to ramble) here are my questions.
1. Are there any other people out there who did really bad on the sat but had great gpa's?
2.If you did really bad on the SAT did any of you do really well on the ACT?
3.How similar is the practice on the ACT website from the actual ACT?
-Thanks for reading! (:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Tons of people. always happens and they retake it all the time</p></li>
<li><p>Usually people get great scores on the ACT, I know a lot of people who screwed up on the SATs but got great ACT scores. Most of them said it is a lot easier than the SATs</p></li>
<li><p>I’m going to say that comparing the two is useless, but if you do well online, you will do ok, but you can’t get super confident unless you perfect a bunch of different variations of it (that’s how I see it most of the time with APs, SATs, etc.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>However, let me warn you:
Even with a great GPA, I would definitely retake the SATs and aim for at least a 1750. Colleges care about SATs because they want their numbers to look good, it’s like bragging in a sense. I was rejected from some of my favorite college choices because of my “low” SAT. Even though the SATs do not measure how smart you are, getting a high score can help you more than it can hurt</p>
<p>If you wanted to know my GPA and SAT, it was 3.3 and 1550</p>
<p>Btw a1500 is not a low score, it’s just the competition from the application process makes it look petty since people get 2100+. Don’t stress out over test scores, it is not worth it.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>My SAT scores were decent (2070: 610 R, 800 M, 660 W) but my reading/writing scores were far below MIT’s average (~10-20%ile). GPA was around 4.4…valedictorian at my HS.</p></li>
<li><p>Strangely, my ACT score was a 32 composite (31 R, 36 M, 30 W, 30 S). A 31 on the reading is like a 700 on SAT reading.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t know, didn’t really prepare for the ACT.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I didn’t do terrible on the SAT, but I would like to have done better for the colleges I plan to apply to. It took me three times to get an 1860 on the SAT while it only took me one time to get a 27 on the ACT, which converts to 1860-1910 on the SAT. I am ranked pretty high in my class and I plan to retake the ACT to strengthen my college applications.</p>
<p>I would recommend that you take the ACT. I found it easier because the questions are more straightforward. The ACT is designed to test what you have learned in high school as opposed to the SAT, which is more of an aptitude test.</p>
<p>The practice questions on the ACT website would be very similar to the test because the website is the official site of the ACT. The questions are probably designed by the test-takers so they are very accurate.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all of your replies. I’m much more confident now that I still have a shot at a UC school. I just gotta study and work my butt of for the ACT lol.</p>
<p>1500 is the nations average, don’t be too hard on yourself.</p>
<p>My SAT score was fine, but not great or anything (and this was with a prep class). I took the ACT with absolutely NO prep and got a 33. So yeah, some people do better on the ACT. You should definitely take it and see how you score :)</p>
<p>@anon4321</p>
<p>My understanding is that prep classes don’t really matter for students who are intelligent enough (or, to phrase it more objectively, good enough at ACT material) to do very well on the ACT. My father phrased it best, “It [the class] is teaching them to get a 25.” It’s likely that a prep class wouldn’t have improved your score, at least not by more than a point or so. This is not to say that you couldn’t get a 36, but only that a class wouldn’t really help you do so.</p>
<p>The prep classes will help with managing your time better. My daughter is taking prep classes because when she took the ACT she ran out of time and had to leave a lot blank. She said if she had enough time she would have got a near perfect score. She didn’t find it hard. She just ran out of time. So the prep classes will help with that.</p>
<p>My SAT score… at my school 48th percentile in writing and 67th percentile in reading.</p>
<p>GPA 4.51 --straight A’s in ridiculous amounts of AP/honors classes except for all the English classes have B’s.</p>
<p>I’m just the math/science person and in college the only English class I’ll ever have to take is College Composition II (Soph English) in order to get my BS/MS and less than 15 other units that might involve English skills. </p>
<p>I have yet to find a comparable college applicant that is good at many things including meaningful EC’s / leadership experience but lacks the aspects of English (Essays, SAT, grades). ~~If we’re going to be an engineer, we should be tested on Math/Science Aptitude.</p>
<p>I’m also in your situation, I’m simply shooting for an average score at the moment</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/1387252-just-average-student-just-1900-a.html#post14809842[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/1387252-just-average-student-just-1900-a.html#post14809842</a></p>
<p>check out my thread?</p>
<p>My second time taking the SATs, i only got a 1660 and my GPA is like a 3.8. I’m probably in a situation like you. I’m going to retake the SAT one more time just to score higher on my CR. Honestly, i find the ACT math and writing harder than the SAT math and writing.</p>
<p>If your unweighted is 3.8 and weighted is 4.0, you probably aren’t taking that many challenging classes. That might be the main reason you didn’t do so well on your SAT.</p>
<p>The mean SAT score of kids with averages between 97 and 100 is right at 1800, which is about 80th percentile. This is why the SAT will not be going away any time soon.</p>
<p>Sumobats, you’re definitely right on target.
4.0 Unweighted GPA is not too hard to get in most public schools and in some private schools. Honestly it is public education -it aims on setting the standards to the nation’s average students. If you aspire to stand out, you need to challenge yourself. And that’s why some students take many challenging class -I’ve seen someone with a 3.9 UW and about 4.7 weighted, with about 15 APs -all 5s- taken throughout the High school year.</p>
<p>In my case, I have 3.69 UW GPA -due to my screwed up Freshman grades… Haven’t calculated the weighted yet, but I have 2240 SAT for my 1st try, and I’m aiming for 2300 minimum this coming October.</p>
<p>Sounds just like me… I was planning on taking the ACT, but the main problem with standardized tests for me is the time limit (I took a practice SAT with no time limit and scored a 2100) and I found out that the ACT has less time, so I decided to just dedicate myself to studying for the SAT instead. My first SAT score in May was a 1660, and I’m going to take it again in October after taking all the practice tests in the SAT Blue Book (I’ve taken 4/10 so far, lol).
My school doesn’t weight grades, so my high school GPA is a 3.9 UW with 5 AP classes and 8 Honors classes (by the time I graduate).</p>
<p>I am in a similar situation. I have over a 4. weighted GPA but I did really badly on my SAT so decided to take the ACT instead. I used a few different ACT prep books to take practice tests and ended up getting a 34 on the ACT! So, I wouldn’t worry about the bad SAT score but take a lot of practice ACT tests to get the timing down.</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat. </p>
<p>I have a 3.7 UW GPA, but a 4.6 W GPA. I’m 10th in my class out of 193 kids, but my SAT scores are bad. I have an 1140 combined R and M. I’m really freaking out because I’m trying to get into NC State’s Engineering program, but I feel like I won’t get in because of my SAT Scores.</p>
<p>REMEMBER, there is a strategy to these tests. It is probably 80% what you know and 20% knowing how to show what you know. This includes very specific strategies around the essay. There are great videos on YT, watch them. If you are smart, doing well on the ACT, then it is probably a little bit that you are “built” to test better on the ACT and probably much more likely you haven’t learned the strategy behind the test. Good luck!</p>
I understand you. Same with me. I have over a 4.0 weighted gpa. I scored a 1640 on the first sat and I just retook know now in May. I also got a 24 on the act which is not good either. I want to go to either uf or fsu and I need better scores.