Just ACT?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>I know that Yale requires either the SAT and three SAT II's or just the ACT, but I can't decide whether i should send ONLY my ACT, or also send my SAT scores (which are all sent, of course) to give them more information about me.</p>

<p>My standardized test stats:</p>

<p>SAT: 720 cr, 710 w, 700 m
SAT II: 750 lit, 720 latin, 690 us history (I'm ashamed of my history score, and I'm taking the math 2 in october, but will that be early enough for SCEA?)</p>

<p>ACT
composite: 33
reading: 34
english: 32
math: 31
science: 35</p>

<p>so.. just the ACT.. or should I send it all?</p>

2

<p>I would recommend only sending your ACT. These scores are much better than the SAT and SAT II scores you note. Yes, the Math II will be early enough for SCEA.</p>

3

<p>Even if I'm not from the Midwest? Would they think it was odd that I didn't send my SAT scores as a student from Seattle, where everyone takes the SAT? Or would they just ignore that and focus on the good ACT score?</p>

4

<p>No, they will not view this as peculiar. My daughter submitted ACT (did not take the SAT at all) despite being from a high school that is usually SAT only and was accepted. She happened to take the ACT first, was surprised at her excellent scores, so didn't take the SAT at all.</p>

5

<p>I'd send in both.</p>

<p>They're good scores.</p>

6

<p>Hmm... Well, it's nice to hear ACT success stories... I was planning to set up an appointment with a college counselor this summer to help make my final list of schools to apply to and ask any final questions, so I think I'll ask about this. Also, would it be worth re-taking the ACT? My score isn't bad, but I did much better on a timed practice test I took at home a few months before I took the actual test (35 composite, 36 science, 35 reading, 34 english and math).</p>

7

<p>33's good.</p>

<p>If you know for sure you can raise it, then take it again.</p>

<p>And why not... you seem like you've prepared everything else.</p>

8

<p>hey nice score
kinda off a tangent: i'm taking the ACTs in September and I'm hoping to raise my 31-->33. Do you have any tips bluestissues? I have similar SAT scores as you.</p>

9

<p>well, i took a practice test for the ACT and that helped me get a sense of what kind of questions were on the test, and also alert me of easy mistakes i could make (for example, not noticing the bolded words NOT or EXCEPT in questions on the reading and/or english sections). the ACT just seems to work better for me... i don't have to second guess myself very much.</p>

<p>which areas do you need to improve the most? these are my strategies for each section:</p>

<p>reading: i read the entire passage all the way through before answering questions, but then referred back to the exact place in the text each questions was asking for. this method works for me, but i'm sure it varies from person to person. anyway, i tried to look for key words in the passages that would lead me to the correct answer to the harder questions.. the more critical reading type questions... (i don't know if these tips are helping you at all, but i'll still give them!)</p>

<p>math: i basically solved them all the way i knew best, and if i was really unsure about one i would do it the long way on my calculator, if time permitted. i got carried away on a trig question, second guessing myself a lot, and ended up paying for it by being forced to bubble in the last five answers without reading the questions. i'm sure you know this from taking it, but the ACT is more speed based than the SAT (or at least it was for me).</p>

<p>science: science has always been my academic strength.. so that may have helped me the most.. but i can tell you what i did. basically, i read through each data set and tried to make sense of the experiment in my mind.. why each test worked out how it did, what each piece of data meant.. that made answering the questions go by really quickly. i focused pretty much all of my time on completely understanding the data.</p>

<p>english: most of this was intuition for me. i read a fair amount so i notice grammatical errors pretty easily. the things that did get me were the differences between colons and semi colons and all that stuff. maybe go through a practice test and if you see a specific type of question that you're struggling with, brush up on a little basic grammar in that area to boost your confidence on those questions.</p>

<p>basically, take at least one practice test to figure out what you need to work on. i also went to the act website (act.org or something like that) and took a few questions of their practice tests a day, just to have more experience with the types of questions they ask.</p>

<p>i hope this helps!</p>

10

<p>hey thanx blueissues.
wow, u actually read the science experiments? and finished in time?</p>

11

<p>ohh just barely, i finished the last question thirty seconds before time ran out. i really think i only managed so well because science is my strength.</p>

<p>good luck on the test in september!</p>