<p>Whenever I tell people I took the ACT and the SAT, I get all these varied responses that really confuse me.</p>
<p>First of all, my personal reason for taking both is to see which I'd do better at. I didn't think certain schools in certain areas would prefer one over the other or require a specific one. </p>
<p>Because the dad of a friend who applied to a bunch of UC's a couple years ago was like "oh you're taking the ACT because you plan on applying to the UC's, right?", and i kind of stared at him blankly because I wasn't actually planning on it at the moment</p>
<p>and then a couple of college students were like "oh you're taking the sat, you must be considering schools on the coasts."</p>
<p>and finally, a guy from chicago was like "yeah, you're taking it for u chicago, right?"</p>
<p>so yeah, now i'm REALLY confused. is the act preferred or required for certain schools, and if so, which ones and where? or do certain school want to see both SAT and ACTs? </p>
<p>haha like I said, I just took the ACT to find out if I'd do better. I didn't realize that by doing so, people would start jumping to conclusions about the schools i'm applying to.</p>
<p>U chicago it seems like is one of those picky schools, so they would want the SAT. and schools on the coast are known for the SATs (I'm from Chicago)</p>
<p>So, most of my friends take the ACT and the SAT if they're applying to both Midwest, and coast schools. But my other friends who are staying within the midwest are only taking the ACT. </p>
<p>You can go to the school's website and see if they allow either scores. A lot of the schools I've looked at (midwest universities) will accept either scores.</p>
<p>Your friend's dad, makes no sense at all bcos California is Collegeboard's largest customer (but, it's losing market share to the ACT on the left coast).</p>
<p>Back in the last century (about the time your friend's dad would have been applying to college) some colleges required the SAT. Other colleges required the ACT. Often they would not accept scores from the other company. The SAT was more often required on the coasts and by near-Ivies. The ACT was more often required in the Midwest and by public universities.</p>
<p>Then, there was a transitional period in which colleges began to accept both exams but they still insinuated that they'd really prefer it if you took their favorite.</p>
<p>Nowadays, every single college and university in the USA that requires a standardized test for admission will accept either the ACT or the SAT. It really doesn't matter which one you choose to take. Some students take both, and then send the better set of scores out. Other students take the exam traditional to their part of the country and use those scores. </p>
<p>Honestly, it doesn't matter. Send your best scores. You will do just fine.</p>
<p>My son scheduled the ACT first (April)-more as practice because if he didn't do well, it wouldn't need to be sent; He scheduled the SAT II the next month (May) and the SAT in June. As it turns out he did great on the ACT and the SAT II so he canceled the SAT-no real need.</p>
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Nowadays, every single college and university in the USA that requires a standardized test for admission will accept either the ACT or the SAT.
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<p>That's the general rule for all the colleges that College Confidential participants care about. </p>
<p>In my state, all 11th graders are required to take the ACT as part of the state standardized testing assessments. Since they have to anyway, there's relatively little motivation for students of this state to take the SAT.</p>
<p>I myself still hold that bias of the SAT being for the better schools (and I never took the ACT myself) but I acknowledge it's my outdated bias.</p>