<p>Son just got the ACT score, much better than anticipated.........wondering whether some colleges will now consider him given his GPA is a bit below what could have put him in the top quartile. He goes to an international school, tough rigor - His SAT's are good too, just that the ACT equivalent has come in much higher.</p>
<p>What about UC's? He will be applying to some of them esp the 2nd tiers and we haven't sent the SAT scores in yet.</p>
<p>My son scored significantly better on the ACT (95% percentile) than the SAT. We are only sending the ACT (except for our state U which requires all test scores for all tests taken). Most schools we’ve looked at will accept either the SAT or the ACT. Don’t know about the UCs, though.</p>
<p>If you’re asking will a high test score offset a lower GPA - I think the consensus is probably not. However, being just below the top quartile isn’t too shabby and a lot of colleges take the rigor of high school into consideration when looking at GPAs.</p>
<p>I found that midwestern universities and colleges accept the ACT over the SAT and East coast prefers the SAT. Just generally speaking.</p>
<p>Would have to send the SAT 2 scores anyways, so I guess we don’t have a choice but to send both SAT and ACT now.</p>
<p>The UCs say they’ll take the highest score from a single sitting from either the SAT or the ACT equivalent and use that as the score they evaluate for admissions. Because they take the highest it doesn’t matter if they’re sent the SATs as well - if the ACT is higher then that’s what they’ll use. Ditto with multiple scores of the SAT - they’ll use only the higherst from a single sitting - i.e. they don’t ‘superscore’. </p>
<p>Congrats to your S for doing well on the ACT - it should help him out.</p>
<p>Thank you…it was a huge surprise for us because he did not even look at the book I had borrowed for him. This is how he is, but I still manage to freak out every time, thought he would get in the lower 30’s.</p>
<p>What I meant about the SAT’s is that the UC’s will want the subject tests and so I will have to pay CB as well as the ACT people. But it is worth it.</p>
<p>I was under the impression that all schools now accepted either ACT or SAT. It seems that some super selective schools will even accept the ACT instead of SAT with subject tests.
The question of whether all schools put equal weight on the tests is an interesting one, especially if traditionally they are an “SAT” school.</p>
<p>The GPA is a separate issue, I think. If it is only slightly low, a higher test score may offset that, but many schools will state that GPA outweighs test scores in their decisions.</p>
<p>Are UCs still requiring subject tests? I was helping a friend of my daughter’s a couple of years ago with a UC application, and she was scrambling to take those subject tests,since most other schools took the ACT in lieu of those tests since the ACT is more “subject” based anyway.</p>
<p>UCs prohibit you from exercising score choice on SATs and since you must send SAT IIs you will have to send all SAT scores (I and II) but if you submit ACT, and if considered higher than SAT, it will be used for admission decision. </p>
<p>And to Q above, yes, SAT IIs are still required by UCs. That requirement will end with entry class of 2012 at which time it will become a recommendation not a requirement.</p>
<p>For almost all colleges there is no preference between SAT and ACT. There are a few exceptions; for example, the Cal Poly’s, which are in a state where students traditonally take the SAT, state a preference for the ACT (go figure).</p>
<p>Like yours, our son did much better on ACT. He was applying to many top schools and, where it was possible, only sent the ACT. Our counselor affirmed to us that if the school says it accepts either the ACT or SAT to take them at their word, even when it came to SAT II tests. Son was accepted at every school where he sent his ACTs.</p>
<p>^ We have already sent out the SAT scores to all the colleges except the UC’s.</p>
<p>Since this is our first child, we are learning as we go along…I guess now will have to send the ACT scores as well. I did not know that the science section on the ACT will make do for the SAT 2 sciences? I don’t think it does.</p>
<p>pixel – It depends on the school. The webpage that lists admission requirements will say something like “we require the SAT and two subject tests OR the ACT”, and then you know it does indeed replace the need for the subject tests, whether science or not.</p>
<p>Yes, the “OR” is an important differential. However, I strongly suggest sending the ACT if you haven’t already done so. Schools will then use your highest scores. It is not in their interest to dismiss the higher scores.</p>
<p>^^ Thanks so much.</p>
<p>I agreed with Modadunn. Our D has the similar like the OP’s S. She did much better in the ACT. However, she sent in all her scores, since the colleges she is applying stated that they will consider the highest scores. These two standardize tests have different style of testing and all colleges know that. IMO, I would think it helps more than it hurts if you send in all scores.</p>
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<p>No, they accept both. Historically, taking the ACT was more common in the midwest (some states require it for all hs juniors) and the SAT more common in the east. But that doesn’t mean one is “preferred” over the other.</p>
<p>^^Correct. Colleges do not “prefer” one test over the other. And to underscore the point, there is no remaining institutional bias against the ACT, even at highly selective Northeastern schools.</p>
<p>^agree. Our counselor specifically said that the evidence as collected by our midwest school does not support any kind of east coast bias and to take colleges at their word what they will accept. As a point of reference, almost every school our son applied to was in the northeast, all were pretty much top 20. I believe ALL the NESCAC schools had an either/or policy for submitted testing. As a point of further insight, the option to submit SAT AND SAT IIs OR just the ACT suggests the ACT is a more comprehensive test on its own. </p>
<p>As I said, our experience with submitting just the ACT turned out great. Also, not to contradict, but our counselor also suggested NOT sending his SAT’s (which were barely 700 vs a very high ACT comp) to those schools he didn’t have to send. So not sure I agree with “the more tests sent the better” theory.</p>
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<p>Only if “all scores” are about the college’s mean. Otherwise they will not help, particularly if one is much higher than the other. </p>
<p>It’s the psychology of human nature, a 2000 SAT WILL be noticed sitting next to a 32 ACT. Whether that matters much is up to the app reader. But why take the chance?</p>
<p>More is not better. Check the concordance charts and send the ACT or SAT I that puts the student in the best light. (At a non-Score Choice school, cherry-picking the single best ACT or SAT I score may not be possible, but even then, you can choose to send no SATs or no ACTs – unless you need SAT IIs, in which case the SAT Is will go to colleges as well.)</p>
<p>Sent all scores with good results. ACT significantly higher for DS, too, without prep (endless SAT prep), but SATII’s fine and required many places. We just sent it all out, let the chips fall where they may.</p>
<p>We also sent all AP scores, even the downright awful 2 in AP Latin. We thought it would look weirder to withhold it.</p>
<p>Again, results were good. He did not get in everywhere, but since acceptances included an Ivy, an elite LAC and U of Chicago, he had excellent choices.</p>
<p>I will say, that the schools he was accepted at were all better “fits” than the ones he was rejected from, and that was good to know, too.</p>