My daughter is an excellent test taker. I think she will likely score above 1550 on the SAT. I think if she tried the ACT she would also score very very well. Is there ever a reason to take both? I think the ACT has a science section and she does not have any science AP exams, so maybe that would show aptitude in that area? Her school also does not give grades, so she only has test scores and AP exam scores to show schools.
The experience in our family – which a friend who runs a test-taking outfit has confirmed to me – is that many students will do better on either the SAT or the ACT.
Having written that, a 1550 SAT is quite good; according to the concordance tables, that is equivalent to a 35 ACT. So unless your daughter can get a 36 ACT, I don’t know that there would be much advantage to taking the ACT because there is not a lot of potential upside.
Are there any scholarships that are only based on ACT? (like national merit is for SAT?)
There appears to be more students who score 36 on the ACT vs. 1600 on the SAT. So, some might choose the ACT for that reason.
We’re outside the US and my D22 only took the SAT, which helped her with the PSAT (she took the two close together, with the SAT occurring first).
I can’t think of any scholarships that are based solely on ACT.
My daughter took both since the school offered ACT to all students at no cost. Her SAT score was relatively higher o she concentrated on that and took a second SAT. She only submitted the SAT to schools. They weren’t that far off, and both were excellent, but we didn’t see any point in trying to bring the ACT up since the SAT was already good. If she really scores > 1500 on the SAT I would not bother with the ACT at all.
A 1550 is phenomenal….if she really gets that. That’s the 99% so I would never assume vs hope. No doubt she’s capable but it’s still…well higher than 99% so I would personally never assume.
But if she’s amazing enough to score there, I would not have my child take the ACT or not prep for it anyway because In almost all cases there’s zero extra benefit. However there are some cases where a 36 could get you more $$ than a 1550. I’m 99.9% sure you are seeking a far more select school but just as an example here is a case where perfect beats near perfect (for auto merit).
If she gets a 1550 on the SAT, no reason to take the ACT. Likewise, if she gets a 35 on the ACT, no reason to take the SAT.
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My DS took both. However, this was back when you needed the SAT for a conforming score for NMF. His school also used the ACT to fulfill a state graduation requirement. He did submit both scores to schools, did it help? Nobody knows.
I’m not aware of any scholarships that are solely tied to either SAT or ACT (maybe some local ones?).
Students earn National Merit Finalists by taking the PSAT (generally junior year), which must be confirmed by a qualifying score from either an SAT or ACT. There are also alternative NMF qualification pathways if one misses the PSAT. Actual scholarship $ for NMFs are becoming less common and worth less $.
https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/interior.aspx?sid=1758&gid=2&pgid=424
Same here. My D got a 35 on the ACT but had to take the SAT to get a conforming score. Otherwise she would not have. As @Mwfan1921 wrote, that is no longer necessary.
I’m a test prep tutor. Many of my students take both. Pre covid, this was the norm. Less so now, and this season, most kids are taking the SAT. I find that often, everyone wants to do the SAT/ACT because that’s what their friends are doing, then the pendulum swings the other way.
It really depends on what test works best for your child. Your kid can try a practice of each test, easily available online, to see if she performs better on one than the other.
As far as taking both, one of my kids only took the SAT. My other kid took both. He got a near perfect score on SAT math, and perfect scores in Reading and Science on the ACT, so he submitted both of his test scores. So, yes, there can be reasons to take both. In general, I think students who are likely to do well on these tests benefit most from taking both. They are more likely to end up with a score situation such as the one my DS had. Or more likely to just get that bit higher score on one of them that makes it worth submitting over the other.
To give more context, my general advice is that students overall are able to get a slightly better score on the SAT than the ACT. This is due to a number of factors.
- The ACT is super fast paced. So many kids simply can’t get through it in time and either leave blank answers or rush like crazy and get loads wrong.
- ACT math is more difficult, albeit more straightforward. It goes to a higher level than SAT math.
- The ACT science section throws many kids off kilter. They are perplexed by it, their brains are fried at that point in the test, and they simply run out of time.
However, neither test is easier than the other. The SAT is much more generous with time, but the reading section is fiendishly difficult. Most often, that is where students are likely to have the lowest score. I often suggest students try the ACT just because SAT Reading is so hard.
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I think it’s preferable to take practice tests of both to determine which best fits you as a student and then focus in that one test. Test question type and timings vary between the two - some prefer one, some prefer the other. Many find neither preferable.
If you’ve already taken one and determine it’s not the better test for you, then it would make sense to switch and end up taking both.
Unlike what some students seem to believe, there is no “bonus” to sending a “back up” score from another test type to “prove” your score is legitimate.
Sending a 1550 SAT and 35 ACT will not be better than just sending a 1550 SAT.
The ACT Science section is mostly about data analysis and interpretation. It will not be treated as a substitute for an AP science course/exam.
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In your opinion, can ACT pacing be effectively tutored? D23 scored equally on the PSAT and a practice ACT, but did not finish a single ACT section (6-10 questions blank / guessed).
The ACT science section is not about science. It is about data interpretation. It’s relatively easy for a bright, motivated kid who can concentrate to do well on it - they just need to do a bunch of ACT science sections for practice, so that they are familiar with all the ways that data can be presented on the test.
I suspect that it is easier to get a 36 on the ACT than to get a 1600 on the SAT. I also have heard that the English/Reading section of the ACT is easier than the English SAT section, so the ACT might be better for a non-native speaker of English.
Only reason to do both is if student is trying to figure out which one they can perform better on. Otherwise, a good score on either is enough.
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Yes, certainly.
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Completely agree! Our school gives “customized” advice and one kid was told just SAT, because got 99th on that in 10th(97th on pre-ACT unprepped as all 10th scores are, but didn’t come close to finishing–major timing issues) and she took the advice: did SAT only because it was a better fit “naturally” and there are some schools that either require or “encourage” ALL scores to be sent (even in the new “Test Optional” era). Winging it is not a good plan. Second kid had higher and more closely correlated scores (99+ on both) in 10th, was advised to do both early in junior yr, and she will likely submit both because one test has a perfect math and one has a perfect reading(and almost- perfect on rest). It really is dependent on the student!
There are some based on SAT or ACT and GPA.
One apparent forum favorite school is apparently that way because of such scholarships: https://scholarships.ua.edu/freshman/out-of-state/
SAT scores have finer granularity than ACT scores. Each ACT score is concordant with three or four SAT scores. For example, a 36 ACT is concordant with 1570, 1580, 1590, 1600 SAT. So if a student does equally well on the ACT and SAT, and the student is in the 36 ACT range, then the student needs to be in the top end of that range to get a 1600 SAT.
In addition, the ACT composite is an average of section scores, while the SAT total is the sum. This means that the ACT test taker need not get the top score on each section (e.g. 36,36,35,35 → 36 composite) to get a 36 composite, while an SAT test taker needs top scores in each section (800,800 → 1600) to get a 1600 total.
But unless the student is trying for something like University of Alabama’s Presidential Elite scholarship (4.0 GPA with either 36 ACT or 1600 SAT), these differences at the top of the range are unlikely to matter.
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