Are test score submissions mandatory?

<p>If I got a horrible score on my SAT and a good score on my ACT can i give the college only my ACT and not my ACT. Or do I have to get a really good score on both to be accepted?</p>

<p>You need to consider two separate and independent rules. First, most colleges require you to submit either an SAT or an ACT to determine admission; both are not needed for that purpose.</p>

<p>It is the second rule where colleges vary greatly. Majority allow you to submit whatever tests you want to submit and withhold others. However, a very large minority have an “all scores” rule, meaning they require you to submit scores from all tests you have taken. However, even that rule varies among colleges. Many apply that to only SAT scores if you submit an SAT and thus you can submit the ACT without submitting any SAT scores. In a like category are those that require either all SAT scores if you submit an SAT or all ACT scores if you submit an ACT but you don’t have to submit both. However, there are some, such as Stanford, which require you to provide both all SAT and all ACT scores. In other words if you are considering withholding a test score you must check the rules of each college to which you are applying.</p>

<p>Many high schools now report all test scores on the transcripts they send with college applications. If that is the case at your school and if you want to suppress a score (and if sending less than all scores is permitted by the schools where you will apply), there may be a process available at your school to have the score removed from your college app transcripts.</p>

<p>We submitted only ACT to each college and my son was accepted 9/10; waitlisted one. His SAT was good; his ACT was much better. None of his 10 schools required both.</p>