<p>My son is a junior and just got his scores back from PSAT (189 total score). He hasn't decided yet whether to focus on ACT or SAT. I was thinking of having him take SAT in January and ACT in February to see which one he does better on. Onces he decides which test to focus on, take a second test in the spring, and, if necessary, a third in the fall. I don't think he will be applying early anywhere. Or, is this too much testing? I am assuming schools can see how many times you have taken the test, and with all this score choice, superscore, etc., it makes it hard to know what to do. He's visited a few colleges, but it is hard to know which ones to look at when he doesn't yet have any scores! Any suggestions?</p>
<p>A lot of people take the ACT or SAT three or more times, and taking each one to see which one to focus on is a good idea since most colleges say both tests have equal value. I took the SAT once and the ACT three times throughout my sophomore and junior years combined, and I felt that it was a good idea. Also, colleges can’t tell how many times you take the test unless that college superscores and you combine scores from multiple tests. That being said, the real reason to stop taking the tests is when the student doesn’t put the neccessary effort into studying and is burned out on the whole thing.</p>
<p>There is no need to take the actual ACT or SAT to figure out which is the better choice. Take practice tests from previous exams. Time the tests properly and score them rigorously. Assume 8-9 score for the essay. You’ll have an accurate sense of how you’ll do.</p>
<p>You can repeat this cycle multiple times, or identify the preferred test type, and study & practice some more.</p>
<p>Avoid taking the actual tests as practice tests. Take them when you’ve ready.</p>
<p>Some colleges ask you to submit all scores to all tests so apart from the expense and time for multiple test sittings you may be obliged to send some poor early scores.</p>
<p>I had my son take the ACT(Sept) and the SAT (Oct) of his junior year to see where he was. He went in cold no studying. Based on his scores ACT 31 & SAT 2100. I figured he could get in most places he was interested in (no Ivy’s of course ) however I had him retake them his senior year because once you get to a certain score you can get merit aid. I wanted him to study but honestly he never seemed to have the time. However he did end up with a ACT 34 and 2150 SAT. So it worked out for us. I plan on having my 2 younger sons do the samething when they get to be Juniors. If one of them really needs help I will then have plenty of time to spend a ton of money on one of those prep courses. However if they have good enough scores they can relax and not stress about the tests and instead spend their time doing fun kid stuff instead.:)</p>
<p>Note, 189 is a good score for the PSAT and it tells you where he is at for the SAT. Some kids like my son do better on the ACT. If you don’t want your son to take both tests, I would have him take the ACT to see where he is.</p>