<p>My school has compiled a record of all of the students who have gone there in the last 10 years, including test scores. There have been several stellar SAT scorers, but not so many for the ACT. The 2004 valedictorian managed a 1490/1600 SAT, but a 31 ACT. Many people in the 1400s on the SAT had much lower ACT scores by comparison (like 28s and 29s). The trend is still the same for my class. One kid got a 2150 SAT, but a 30 ACT. Another kid got a 2050 SAT, but a 28 ACT. Theere have been quite a few 1500/1600 SAT people, but the highest ACT I've seen in the book is 33, and there is only 1 of them.</p>
<p>My theory for this disparity is the fact that my school is in NYC, which is dominated by the SAT. Almost no one takes the ACT and the people who do don't seem to care about it.</p>
<p>Nobody cares about the ACT where I come from (So-Cal), but it seems to me that people score significantly better on the ACT than on the SAT - with no ACT prep whatsoever and years of SAT prep. I don't know about the entire school, but at least all the people I know who've taken both tests definitely scored higher on the ACT (Me: 2130/35, Friend1: 2270/36, Friend2: 1990/31, there are more... just don't know the exact numbers).</p>
<p>I go to a school in NYC (RCS)- At least three people in my class got 34+ composite scores... last year i know of at least one kid who was perfect.... So, I don't think it is NYC....</p>
<p>My school's big on the ACT. In fact, they don't even offer the SAT or any SATIIs, which really sucks.</p>
<p>Last year, only six people got 30 or higher--the highest was a 35. This year, I think I'm the only person so far to get a 30 or higher. I'm not saying that to brag or anything--just making the point that my school doesn't do stellar on the ACT despite all the attention it gets, which is odd.</p>
<p>At my school everyone only takes the ACT. Everyone wants to get a "30." They act as if a 30 is some type of a magic barrier which will bring them tons of college acceptances. Hah...a 30 is like a 1330 which would not get someone into an Ivy league unless they were an URM. Anyways our school's average is a 23 which is supposed to be decent.</p>
Everyone wants to get a "30." They act as if a 30 is some type of a magic barrier which will bring them tons of college acceptances.
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<p>Haha, it's exactly like that at my school too. However, where I live (Missouri) a 30 gets you a $2,000 annual scholarship called Bright Flight, so I suppose the desire for a 30 is more justified here.</p>
<p>I heard that a 30 ACT is like the 99%. However, accordind to conversion charts, a 30 ACT ~ 2000 SAT. A 2000 SAT is only in the 93%. This doesn't make sense. Shouldn't a 30 ACT = 2200 SAT since that was the cutoff for 99%?</p>
<p>The conversion isn't perfect because the ACT is scored differently, and 30+ is comparable to a 1450+ in terms of showing intellectual ability. 30 or higher is the 99th percentile.</p>
<p>Same in my school as tangytart. We had one person get a 17 (and this person did not put in an effort whatsoever so no accusations of being an intellectual snob. Please). Wow. Some people in my school don't even take standardized tests.</p>
<p>Dartmouth11, if you go to the NYC school that I think you do, the students there are really smart since they have to go through an admission process with essays and interviews. My school has some smart kids, but not in the great volume that your school does. This might explain the high ACT scores at your school. </p>
<p>My school produces many "jockey nerds," students who excel at sports and academics. Just last year, of the 4 kids on my school's All-American 400 meter relay team, 3 went to Ivy league schools. the one kid who didn't is a senior now so we'll just wait and see for him. Those 3 kids also were solid academically, all were in the top 10% of the class and one was #2 in the class. These jockey nerds usually don't get 2200+ SAT scores, but they usually have good enough scores along with athletic ability, so they are accepted into some prestigious colleges.</p>
<p>I still blame the low performance on the ACT at my school on the fact that no one cares about it. It is all SAT all the time. Before my sophomore year, I never even heard of the ACT, but I knew all about the SAT.</p>
<p>As for the 30 ACT being a magic number, everyone at my school has a different opinion. The smartest kids want 2200+ scores. One kid retook a 2190 just to break 2200 (he did break 2200 on his second try). For others, being average is good enough. At my cafeteria table, a 2000 SAT is the magic number since it is a goal that some of my friends and myself had set for ourselves. We all have different opinions for colleges. There is one kid who is the quintessential prestige whore. He is applying to some top colleges (Princeton, Georgetown, Lehigh, BC, etc). Another kid is applying to one school that he knows he can get into but is searching for scholarship $. The 3rd kid wants to go to a party school. I myself am applying to a slew of safeties. NYU is the only school that I think I could be rejected from. Despite all of this college talk, no one has mentioned the ACT at my table. This is because none of us has taken it.</p>
<p>I'm in Colorado, where it's ACT country, but my school still does well in the SATs. There are about 6 or 7 people who got 1500+/1600 in the three rows I sit next to in one of my AP classes.</p>
<p>Well, that might be because different populations took each test, so the percentiles don't correspond exactly. Anyway, the University of California's chart has 30 ACT = 2040-2090 SAT, so the upper bound of the SAT range is just 10 points shy of 2100.</p>