<p>Does anyone know how exactly colleges look at the ACT with writing scores? As I understand, colleges will get your composite score, your writing score and a english/writing combined score. You always hear about needing a composite score of X to get into college Y. What about these other two numbers? Any information explaining how these are used would be appreciated.</p>
<p>^ Just the writing score is viewed. I don’t know any colleges that use the Combined English/Writing score other than the UC’s, where a Combined English/Writing score of 30+ excuses you from a writing requirement (not used in admissions.) </p>
<p>The writing score itself is seen, but more emphasis is placed on your composite score.</p>
<p>Thank you. I find this all very confusing. I am used to the old SAT structure of exams. DD has taken first round of SAT, Bio 2 years ago and then Chem last weekend. She took the ACT yesterday just as an experiment. She came out feeling very good about the exam. Now should her results match how she felt, we have to figure out the value of her score. </p>
<p>Do schools truly consider the SAT and ACT equally? If so, then why do colleges publish ranges for all three components of the SAT( therefore writing) and for the ACT only the composite? </p>
<p>What constitutes a top score? She is looking only in the northeast and include some of the highly selective schools there. What would she need to get in?</p>
<p>What happens if you send both your SAT and ACT scores to a college? If the value of her ACT score ends up higher than her SAT score then will the presence of the SAT score bring her down? She has a very nice 780 on her Biology M. Would it’s visibility help?</p>
<p>Thanks for any insights.</p>
<p>32 and above is top 1%, we too are trying to gauge the policy of submitting only ACT. Some schools say they accept ACT in place of subject tests as well.</p>
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Colleges all say very strongly that, yes, they consider them equally. We can either believe them or not.
My D got 34 on ACT and got into 3 of her 5 top schools, including Ivy. But it’s a toss-up, as you most likely know. Kids are rejected with higher scores, and accepted with lower scores.
Also my D. She took SAT I twice, and took three SAT IIs, in addition to the ACT twice. Also took 4 APs (that’s all the school offered)-- 2 junior year and 2 senior year. Sent all scores except the senior year AP scores. That was exhausting just listing them all, let alone her taking them all!! So, it couldn’t hurt, if the scores are all around the same level. It’s such a gamble though. If everything is very good, as it already sounds, then go for it. Good luck!</p>
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<p>the reason they never list the ACT writing i would think is because they rarely have to turn to it. most students submit both the SAT and ACT, so they just turn to the writing score of the SAT because it’s in the context of the 200-800 scale whereas the ACT has an entirely separate score and scale.</p>
<p>however, i believe most if not all schools take no preference and are fine if the applicant only submits an ACT score if it includes writing.</p>
<p>personally, i find that i can do better on the SAT’s essay than the ACT’s because a) the SAT essay is at the very beginning so i’ve mentally prepped myself completely for it by the time i start it whereas the ACT i just finished doing four sections (namely that blasted science section) and b) the SAT’s writing topic generally seems to be a lot broader than the ACT’s.</p>
<p>The Writing section only important aspect is the essay. I would suggest that if you want to get into a top college a 32 or higher is almost a perquisite.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. You all got me doing some thinking and some research.</p>
<p>Atrophicwhisper - You got me to look at the UC’s for shakes (DD is only looking at northeast). It was interesting to see what they did with the ACT data. In their software that check’s if you are eligible to apply they asked for the combined english/writing as their 4th number in the calculation. This is the first time that I have found a clear reference to using that number in the selection process.</p>
<p>4Giggles and others - You all prompted me to actually look at the college sites to check on the policy of SAT Subject tests if the ACT was submitted. It never occurred to me that any schools required the SAT subject tests if the ACT was submitted. I am so glad that you all caused us to look into that. We ran the risk of messing up. Previously I had only seen schools like Tufts where it is SAT with subjects tests OR ACT. Apparently other schools like Harvard it is SAT with subject tests OR ACT with subject tests. Good to be informed.</p>
<p>As for an acceptable score, I found a few different charts on the web that translate to equivalent SAT. My two favorites are:</p>
<p>This one gives ACT to old SAT and new SAT conversions which makes it easier for me to understand:
[SAT-ACT</a> Conversion chart](<a href=“http://www.spartanburg6.k12.sc.us/dhs/Guidance%20website/SAT-ACT%20Conversion%20chart.html]SAT-ACT”>http://www.spartanburg6.k12.sc.us/dhs/Guidance%20website/SAT-ACT%20Conversion%20chart.html)</p>
<p>This one is only new SAT but assigns slightly higher values:
<a href=“http://www.eurekareview.com/pdfs/presentations/SAT_ACT_conversion_chart.pdf[/url]”>http://www.eurekareview.com/pdfs/presentations/SAT_ACT_conversion_chart.pdf</a></p>
<p>Then as for colleges that use the writing portion, I found a link that discusses how different schools are using the new writing portion of the SAT. Maybe it is safe to then extrapolate these policies to the writing portion of the ACT’s. The link is:
[SAT</a> Scoring Policies from Top Schools | Admission Sync](<a href=“http://admissionsync.com/2007/07/18/new-sat-scoring-policies-from-374-top-schools/]SAT”>http://admissionsync.com/2007/07/18/new-sat-scoring-policies-from-374-top-schools/)</p>