<p>I've taken the ACT and got a 34. I'm from the midwest, and the ACT is much more dominant than the SAT here. But most of my friends who are also aiming for more competitive colleges on the east/west coast have taken or are planning to take the SAT as well. Is taking the SAT worth the extra preparation?</p>
<p>Some people say adcoms like SATs better since they most likely took it themselves and are more familiar with it. But I think it’s all the same. It isn’t necessary to take the SAT, but many students find that they do better on the SAT than the ACT or vice versa. One of the main differences is that the SAT has no science portion so if that brought your ACT composite down, then you may want to consider SAT.</p>
<p>Most schools require either the SAT or ACT. If you are planning on applying to a very selective school, it might be in your best interest to take the SAT (or at least, subject tests). If you got a 34 on the ACT, you probably won’t need to do a whole lot of extra preparation.</p>
<p>You will be fine with an ACT score, just take subject tests</p>
<p>Also, if you scored well on the PSAT and make Natl Merit Semifinalist (it is announced in late Aug-early Sept), then you MUST take the SAT if you want to try for Natl Merit Finalist. I think the deadline for taking the SAT is November of senior year, although I don’t remember exactly (ie deadline for National Merit).</p>
<p>Colleges accept either ACT or SAT without preference. There is to my knowledge only one set of colleges that state a preference for one test over the other and that is the Cal Poly’s which are in a state where the SAT is the test taken by most high school students; about four years ago, they decided to state a preference for the ACT. Moreover, a number of those eastern, elitist, high ranked colleges accept the ACT in lieu of both the SAT and SAT IIs, among them Yale, Brown, Penn, and Columbia. The only reason you have to take the SAT is if you took the PSAT and now need the SAT to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses! Rspense and goldmind, I actually have taken subject tests. I got an 800 on math II and 790 on chem. I don’t think I will take the SAT after all. I might retake the ACT, but I also might not even do that. Frankly, I hate standardized tests and don’t really want to waste time I could spend doing something cooler on studying for them.</p>