Bias Toward the SAT?

<p>^^That cite is not to the Princeton website; that cite is to a private admission consultant. The Princeton website is not consistent with that cite. [Princeton</a> University | Standardized Testing](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/standardized_testing/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/standardized_testing/)</p>

<p>I assume the information was copied from Princeton website years ago.</p>

<p>@stemit I didn’t say that the cite was to the Princeton website; I said I read that Princeton prefers the SAT on their website. It was on the actual school website a while ago.</p>

<p>I took the sat and never touched the ACT. I called princeton a couple years back about this. They said that the SAT saves you guap when you apply. </p>

<p>–YungGuap</p>

<p>I’m going to try this again and try not to offend anyone. Years ago, I believe that certain schools may have preferred the SAT over the ACT. For example, here’s a link to Reed College’s 2008-2009 common data set, in which it says it prefers the SAT [Reed</a> College 2008-09 Common Data Set SecC](<a href=“http://web.reed.edu/ir/cds/cds0809/cdssecc200809.html]Reed”>Reed College 2008-09 Common Data Set SecC - Institutional Research - Reed College)</p>

<p>However, any such preference is a thing of the past. Moreover, I cannot find such a preference anywhere on Princeton’s common data set. In fact, going back to the 2001-2002 Princeton common data set, it was clearly marked that Princeton had no preference as to which test was taken. <a href=“http://registrar.princeton.edu/university_enrollment_sta/common_cds2001.pdf[/url]”>http://registrar.princeton.edu/university_enrollment_sta/common_cds2001.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>As others have mentioned, the website stating that Princeton prefers the SAT is that of a private college consultant and I have no idea where it got its information. However, this is not Princeton’s policy, nor has it been its policy (at least not for the last 10 years).</p>

<p>But the evident preference Princeton has for the SAT is not something I have deduced to exist by any statement on their website. It can be inferred from their superscoring policy, as I have already explained. My point is that regardless of what Princeton and other schools say about their preference for one test or the other, the truth lies in the actual way they interpret the tests’ scores, and since such interpretations are uneven, one test must inherently be favored. In this case, it’s the SAT.</p>

<p>Nerd, I’m not swayed by your logic. Your argument is premised on the assumption that superscored SATs and straight ACTs are compared via a concordance table, then ranked, and that this becomes a determinative admissions rubric. If these assumptions were true, you’d have a point.</p>

<p>More likely, though, ACTs and SATs are not directly compared and are not determinative anyway.</p>

<p>That said, I understand your personal frustration with the ACT nonsuperscoring policy. Try to take solace in the fact that your 33.75 is rounded to a 34. Imagine your frustration if you had a 34.25.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>I got a 33.25 -.-</p>

<p>CDS 2001 has “SAT I or ACT–SAT I preferred” with a X in the require C8 section.</p>

<p>according to my hs teachers and gc, ACT is more math-science heavy while the SAT tests more reading/writing skills. Since the SAT math is pretty easy, I think this difference causes higher scores on the ACT than on the SAT since bigger portion of the ACT consists of the easy math/science freebies.
But I’ve never even looked at one ACT so I’m just a bluffing CCer.</p>

<p>But there’s more gradation on SAT than ACT-for example, an ACT of 35 corresponds to SAT of 2330-2490 or so (idk)-so perhaps ACT is seen as “less” by some schools because it doesn’t differentiate as much as SAT between the upper and lower levels in a range.</p>

<p>Sorry to add fuel to the fire but Princeton definitely said the SAT is strongly preferred on their website. I had heard this after my kid scored a 36 on the ACT and so I decided to check for myself. Sure enough it was there in black and white (maybe orange). This was over a year ago so I don’t know why and when they changed their policy but they did.</p>

<p>Sorry, falcon, but you’re wrong. It wasn’t on Princeton’s website. It was on the website of a private admissions consultant. It is still there, but it isn’t correct.[Princeton</a> University | Admissions Facts and Statistics](<a href=“http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/college/princeton.asp]Princeton”>http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/college/princeton.asp) THIS WEBSITE IS PUTTING OUT INCORRECT INFORMATION.</p>

<p>Princeton’s website <a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/standardized_testing/[/url]”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/standardized_testing/&lt;/a&gt; does not indicate a preference although, as nerdoldnerdith points out, they superscore the SAT but not the ACT.

</p>

<p>I knew about the admission consultant’s claim so, as I said earlier, because I didn’t think the information was accurate I specifically went on Princeton’s site to verify it. To my surprise, it was their stated position. I also know it is not there now. However, since you are so certain that this was never their policy, I will defer to you. In the scheme of things it really doesn’t matter now anyway.</p>

<p>I tried to find out if Princeton ever favored the SAT over the ACT and most of the posts I found said they did up until 2006. Therefore, I stand corrected. I must have “misremembered” to quote a famous baseball player.</p>

<p>@Falcon1</p>

<p>Why do I get a suspicion that you were just using that post to flaunt your son’s ACT score?</p>

<p>Wow, that is certainly way off base. I was just trying to explain why Princeton favoring the SAT vs. the ACT was particularly important to us. If I had wanted to “flaunt” one data point, I would have done it a year and a half ago. Other parents freely post stats about their kids, especially what college they got into and I don’t consider that flaunting or bragging. I have never even mentioned where my daughter (not son) is attending.</p>

<p>BTW, nerdoldnerdith, you recently turned 17 and this is how you talk to adults? Good luck with getting into your top college choices. Ironically, I may end being a professor of yours if you do. I sincerely hope you learn a little more respect before then.</p>

<p>I think this thread should end here.</p>