<p>Hey all. I'm curious about how many times, and when, I should take the SAT and ACT. As of now, these are the months I'm considering for only this coming junior year:</p>
<p>ACT: September, December, June
SAT: October, June
Along with that, perhaps I'll take two more ACTs and one more SAT in senior year.</p>
<p>The reason I chose these dates are as follows:
For the SAT I, I finish my summer SAT I course right before the October test date. I thought it would be best to take it then so I could retain all the info. I also plan to take it in June since it would be the end of the year, and hopefully throughout the school year my brain would have gotten smarter :P. The senior year-planned SAT (if necessary) would be in October after summer practice.</p>
<p>For the ACT, I chose September since I would be doing extra practice for the ACT throughout my summer schedule. I'm undecided as to whether or not I should take it in December, but I found no detrimental sides of taking it then. Taking it in June was for the same reason as taking the June SAT. For Senior year, I would take it in September and October after summer practice.</p>
<p>Will I be taking these two tests too many times (i.e. will there be no significant changes in scores on my ACT from Sept-Dec?)? Does it really matter how many times I take it? Will it affect my application? I will be applying to some UCs, USC, and maybe some other schools in CA, if that makes a difference.</p>
<p>You are able to take the SAT and ACT as many times as you want. In fact, most people take them twice, in order to better their scores the second time. </p>
<p>However, taking either one of those tests more than twice is really pushing it. Taking them several times can make you look desperate when it comes time to apply to colleges.</p>
<p>Take the Sep ACT and Oct SAT as you planned, see what scores you get, then figure out what you should do next. Maybe you will score high enough that you are done :)</p>
<p>Don’t forget that you need 2 subject tests for UCs. And if you have any APs, the tests are all in May. Also you gpa is very important so you got to work hard on that.</p>
<p>Planning to take the ACT and SAT so many times might not be the best. Good luck.</p>
<p>I would take the SAT more than the ACT, since it is the test with largest market share, so to speak, and it also lends itself better to superscoring. So I would add maybe a Jan SAT, and maybe drop one ACT. I also assume you are taking the PSAT in October. In some ways, it is the most important of them because it is the only one you only get one shot at. At some schools there is not much aid $ tied to NMF (which is based on the PSAT score), but at others it is huge. June dates are tough because you may be tired after taking AP tests, and not have the energy for more focused study. No SAT subject tests on tap for you?</p>
<p>Oh, I already have my subject tests and AP tests planned out. I’m currently planning my SAT/ACT route, that’s why I discussed only the SAT I and ACT. Thanks for the concern, though.</p>
<p>So far, I’m taking it that I should probably take maybe two less ACTs, and stay to taking 3 SATs?</p>
<p>EDIT: To add on to what I just said, perhaps this schedule might be better?</p>
<p>ACTs in September, June, and September senior year
SAT Is in October, June, October next year</p>
<p>Better, yes? or no? BTW, I forgot to mention that I took an ACT test just last weekend since I’ve been preparing for it for about a month. However, I don’t feel too confident about my score since there were some unexpected conditions I didn’t prep for (i.e. I didn’t know that my watch which beeps once to start the timer wasn’t allowed and I had been practicing all tests with my watch).</p>
<p>If any of you can add some extra input, what’s a good SAT/ACT score for top UCs / USC?</p>
<p>For UCs, go to the following page, [University</a> of California - Admissions](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/selecting/camp_profiles.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/selecting/camp_profiles.html)</p>
<p>Click on the campus you are interested in under freshman admission profiles on the left, on the campus page, click on download detail admin RATE chart, you can see ranges and averages on gpa and test scores for 2009.</p>
<p>Here is the 2009 USC freshman profile
<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/0910/FreshmanProfile2009.pdf[/url]”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/0910/FreshmanProfile2009.pdf</a></p>
<p>2010 is not availabile yet.</p>
<p>Thank you for that information</p>