<p>okay, here is my problem. I took the SAT and I got kind of a low score on it (1900-ish) but when I took the ACT I got a 33. I am from the midwest, but I am really interested in going to college on the east coast at a selective school. </p>
<p>Should I just use my ACT score (which is equivalent to about 2200 on the SAT) or should I try to take the SAT again to get a better score?</p>
<p>Need help here!</p>
<p>Just send your ACT score; colleges don't care which test you take as long as you do well.</p>
<p>We live in SAT country but my daughter did better on the ACT in practice tests, so she went with that. She's now in an Ivy. People will say there is a preference for the SAT but I don't think it is true anymore. They deny having a preference (for the most part) and they have no reason to lie.</p>
<p>The only reason I can see to retake the SAT is if you have your heard set on Princeton, Wake Forest, or Randolph Macon. These are the only schools I've ever seen identified that today only want the SAT or express an preference for it.</p>
<p>Ah, more proof the ACT is easier. I have yet to see "I did worse on the ACT than the SAT"</p>
<p>Look around CC. I've seen several people say they did better on the SAT and post their respective scores. (Then again, I've been spending too much time here recently :) )</p>
<p>Some people do the same on both tests. Others do better on one than the other.</p>
<p>It is statistically impossible for everyone to do better on the ACT. It is a normed test. For instance, the 97th percentile of test takers are going to be given a 30. If more people answer more questions correctly, the grading scale will just get tougher.</p>
<p>No. Statistically, the vast majority does better on the SAT. Go check it out, the fact it follows a similar curve says nothing about actual difficulty.</p>
<p>Caltech also prefers the SAT. Perhaps strongly so.</p>
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Statistically, the vast majority does better on the SAT. Go check it out...
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</p>
<p>Well, you are the one making the statistical claim. Where is your proof? I would be glad to go check something out if I had the slightest idea where I could find such information. All I can go on is the anecdotal reports I've heard for years. If you can show me a "vast majority" statistic, I will change my mind.</p>
<p>All I have found are comments like the following, from the Kaplan test prep company: "The SAT and ACT are significantly different tests, and in many ways, they measure different skills. So depending on your particular strengths and weaknesses, you may perform much better on one test than the other." <a href="http://www.math.com/students/kaplan/satoract.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.math.com/students/kaplan/satoract.html</a></p>
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the fact it follows a similar curve says nothing about actual difficulty.
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</p>
<p>Actually, it does. Only one percent of test takers can score at the 99th percentile, for instance. Only ten percent can score at the 90th percentile or higher. You have similar sets of test takers for each test. So I fail to see how it can be easier -- for a "vast majority" -- to score at a higher percentile on one test. This makes no sense statistically. You will have the same normal distribution of scores for each test; that is the way the tests are scored. You will have one percent of all test takers at each percentile.</p>
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Caltech also prefers the SAT. Perhaps strongly so.
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</p>
<p>Their web site does not say this. Why would Cal Tech lie? It can have a preference if it wants one. Your basis for saying it has this perhaps strong preference?</p>
<p>I did a little research and found this comment by bluebayou about the study which established the conversion chart used by colleges for equating SAT and ACT scores:</p>
<p>btw: the concordance study was a joint study between the CB and ACT corp -- they compared several years of data of students who took both tests. The study has been replicated by several Universities, including the UC system and the UT system, both of which conducted their own analysis and concurred with the CB-ACT results.</p>
<p>I did a bit better on the SAT (2280 vs. 33). For me, it's an easier test.</p>