<p>My son, a junior, has taken the ACT (got a 35) and SAT subject tests (taking this weekend). He's looking at some Ivy leagues (for pre med/engineering) Cornell, Penn, also at Stanford, Duke, Univ of Virginia. When looking at their websites, they all list either ACT or SAT - yet it seems like a lot of students are still taking the SAT. Will my son hurt his chances of acceptance if he doesn't take the SAT?</p>
<p>The SAT and ACT are equally acceptable these days. There is need to take both.</p>
<p>^ Agreed. SAT tends to be an east/west coast test while ACT generally is used in the midwest.</p>
<p>My D is a senior (we live on the east coast) and I was really surprised at how many people chose to prepare for and take the ACT over the SAT. I noticed a big difference from even a few years ago when my older child applied to college and almost everyone seemed to take the SATs. I think that ACT has become much more popular out east. Many of my D’s friends seemed to try both exams and then picked the one that suited them best. Some students also now choose to take the ACT because for some colleges it eliminates the need to take SATIIs.</p>
<p>In our area, area, kids often take both if they aren’t satisfied with their scores on one of the tests. In addition, kids who get extra time on their tests as an accomodation are generally directed to take the ACT since time pressure apparently is greater on that test and when it’s eliminated, their scores go up more than on the SAT.</p>
<p>My child took both SAT and SAT subject tests and the ACT 3 times, it didn’t hurt! Colleges would prefer both but if you choose to submit the ACT it has to be ACT plus writing, I know UPenn does.
We sent all scores and it didn’t hurt either! :-)</p>
<p>…I meant colleges would accept either/ or!</p>
<p>Are you sure?? I kind of wish we hadn’t done the SAT. My son scored a 34 on the ACT. I decided we needed to take the SAT. He only got a 1990. We are just sticking with his ACT score, but I’m wishing we hadn’t automatically sent his SAT score. He isn’t retaking. So with a 35, I would say he is done unless you have a school that REALLY wants it. Well… or if he has a chance to be a semifinalist. Mine just scored a 209 on the PSAT, but if my some huge miracle he makes it into semifinalist, then I guess we will have him retake it to get it a little higher.</p>
<p>Momknows, I agree only bother with the SAT if you need to affirm a PSAT score for NMSF.</p>
<p>When my D looked at schools a year or so ago, every top college we visited said that they treat SATs and ACTs equally.</p>
<p>A problem with retaking the ACT (or taking the SAT) when you already have a 35 is that statistically, there is a reasonable chance that the new score will not be as good as the existing score. Though many schools superscore, some specifically say they want to see everything.</p>
<p>My view as a parent – our kids are under so much college pressure these days, unless you have a specific reason to take the SAT (NMS requirement could be such a reason), if you have a 34 or 35 ACT, the time that would be spent prepping for the SAT could be more profitably spent by going to the beach or hanging at the mall. (I’m dead serious here – everyone gets so caught up in the process, and we have to remember that our kids need time to be kids).</p>
<p>momknowsbest3—
I meant it didn’t hurt that my child took those exams 3x each 'coz it was just a way of practice on exams, we didn’t send the scores on the free option but we sent all of them to specific college applications. They can compare anyways and go for the higher score. Accordingly though scores doesn’t make any much difference if you take it more than once.
Your son’s ACT is very good compared to my childs and so is your child’s SAT, depending on what the college requires you can choose which one to send (SAT or ACT) and that’s one reason why we decided not to go for the free option.
UC Berkeley for example only requires SAT or ACT + writing.</p>
<p>Also we are from overseas and this is a requirement as an international student.
best wishes to your child!</p>