Is it worth taking the ACT test again or the SAT?

Parents Forum
1

<p>My son did well on the PSAT and scored an average of 35 on the ACT with a 10 in writing. Is it worth taking it again? (I know this is a good score but based upon PSAT a 36 was a possibility--and his goal is one of the Ivies) Risk is that he could do worse on a repeat.</p>

2

<p>The difference between a 35 and a 36 is negligible. I don’t think it would matter. Congratulate him on his great score and then move on with your lives</p>

3

<p>To be a NMSF he’ll need to take the SAT to get a “confirming” score. I’d have him do that, and then move on.</p>

4

<p>He has met the threshold for Ivies with a 35 ACT. A retake would appear desperate. As advised above, go with the SAT.</p>

5

<p>Agree with above posters.</p>

<p>Since the ACT is not “superscored” in same manner as SAT, I think the risk to do lower far outweighs the benefit of the negligible difference if he received a 36 on re-take or the dif between 10 to 12 on writing.</p>

<p>Have him take SAT if National Merit is possible. And be aware, the SAT score required for National Merit is fairly low for someone who scored 35 ACT – I believe 2000 is the norm to make the cut, although technically it is “SAT score that confirm your PSAT performance.”</p>

6

<p>I don’t see a risk in taking the ACT a second time. Every college I’ve looked at says they consider your highest scores. If you take 6 standardized tests, that looks desperate, but many people do better the second time they take a particular test. Also, colleges realize that anyone can feel sick or otherwise have a bad test day - so even if one score is lower, so what?</p>