I have a 1510 old SAT (780 M, 730 V) plus a 790 writing score. Unfortunately, some of the colleges I want to go to “strongly recommended” I take the new SAT (or ACT with writing). So I took the ACT. Anyways, I am a reallllllyyyyy slooooooooow test taker. I could not for the life of me finish the reading or science sections (did anyone else find the time limit on the ACT much less forgiving than on the SAT?) Anyways, I got my (entirely predictable) scores back. 35 english, 31 math, 34 english/writing with a writing subscore of 11 out of 12. Unmentionable scores on the reading and science portions.
I’m perfectly strong in reading and science, but I only finished a bit over half on each section. As a result, I scored a 27 and a 25, making my composite score a 30, plus my writing subscore of 11. It saaaays 97th percentile, but I don’t know.
Anyways, Brown, for instance, told me that if I don’t submit a new SAT or ACT plus writing, it could be held against me. However, I feel that submitting a 30 ACT in addition to a 2300 (old SAT + writing SAT II) would detract from the solid SAT scores.
Haverford, on the other hand, REQUIRES the new SAT/ACT, so I either must submit this or can’t apply. Don’t know if it’s worth it, either.
I have absolutely no desire/chance/plans to retake.
<p>ohh I totally totally understand you! I'm in the exact same boat as you!! (haven't gotten back my ACT results though) I felt I did great for English and Math (I consistently get 30+s on the past ACT tests), but I didn't finish BOTH Reading and Science sections too. Like you, I AM strong in those aspects, but I just can't seem to beat the time.</p>
<p>I totally guessed everything for the last passage of the Reading section (ie. bubbled A for everything), and the same goes for my Science section (about 10 questions+++). I was trying to calculate my scores for Science+Reading though, and so far I've estimated a 20 each. LOL. Anyway, after reading your post, and seeing that you got a 27 and a 25 respectively (hey, that ain't too shabby!), my hopes are now up!! =P</p>
<p>So I was just wondering... exactly how many questions did you not do? Did you like just skim thru' the whole paper and make informed guesses? Or did you purely guess for some?</p>
<p>OK, now to answer your question ;-). I think that maybe you should take the new SAT? Your old SAT scores rock, so perhaps you're more suited for the SAT! =) Let us know what you decide! =P</p>
<p>I purely guessed on the last 8 or so questions in the science section without even reading the problems. I just filled in circles randomly after the one minute warning. I guessed on about 6 or 7 for the reading section. I also skimmed really fast on the questions before those last ones in both sections. The time limit was so ****ing harsh. :-/</p>
<p>I bet you would be more suited for the SAT, too.</p>
<p>I won't have the opportunity to retake the SAT, because I'll be doing things overseas in the fall and not really have the chance and I don't want to, either. :-/</p>
<p>i had a similar time issue. i finished 5 minutes early on each SAT section and ran out of time on all the ACT sections, but i ended up doing much better than expeceted (33- yay!). but a 30 is by no means a bad score, even though it's comparatively lower than your SAT score. if the ACT score is important in admissions at colleges you're looking at, i'd submit it.</p>
<p>I had a lot of time leftover on the SAT, too. I thought the ACT was much more difficult because of the time limit, though. Hey, 33 is an awesome score, too, congratulations! </p>
<p>I don't know if I should submit these scores, though. Maybe submit it to the less selective schools but not to schools like Yale and such that said the old SAT would be fine? :-/</p>
<p>hahaha. Brings back memories of how I totally freaked out when I heard the warning. oh well</p>
<p>Yeah I totally sympathize with your not wanting to retake the (new) SAT. Especially since you'd scored so high on the old SAT already. Like Emily said, I think you should submit the ACT (since the college already stated that it would be held against you). Submit your old SAT too though! Maybe they'll just look at the writing scores on the ACT to gauge your writing standard, which you did great on! =D</p>
<p>Oh, and yeah.. don't include the ACT for schools which accept the old SAT. I believe most of the Ivy Leagues don't require the new SAT until 2008(?)</p>
<p>Brown said that they would take the old SAT, as long as I wrote a cover letter explaining why I couldn't take the new one. I think I'll just write a cover letter explaining that I am spending this fall overseas and will not have the opportunity, and that I hope this won't be held against me. The only school that flat out told me they absolutely required it was Haverford, and I'm not even sure I want to go there, so I guess I'll just not submit it unless there is some safety type school whose ACT average is below mine but wants a submission of one of the new tests, anyways? </p>
<p>I hope colleges that don't explicitly require the new SAT/ACT won't hold it against me if I only submit my old scores.</p>
<p>dude chill ppl. For the ACT, jsut move on... dont stop. I had that problem once and got a 29. Next time, 2 months later, I told myself to move on. Use the 2 pass system Go thru the test once, dong all the questions u can immediately answer. Then go back and do the harder ones. It worked for me. I may work for u.</p>