<p>If I did not so great on the SAT but good on the ACT will colleges focus on the better of the two? like say i meet the ACT requirements for one college but not the SAT will they accept me based on my ACT or turn me down becuase of my ACT? or does this all depend on the college? thanks!</p>
<p>If your ACT is much better than your SAT, you don't to send in your SAT score report (unless your colleges require SAT II scores)</p>
<p>yeah but what if I already sent them to the schools before I even took the test, like when I registered on College Board?</p>
<p>anyone got an answer???</p>
<p>I'd say they would look at both (probably "use" the ACT) but still wonder about the SAT.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>My guess would be that unless your SAT score was significantly different from your ACT score, the ACT score would be what they "use" when considering your application. If the difference between the two scores is drastic (ie. 1000 on SAT and 34 on ACT or something like that), then it might raise a few eyebrows. If there is a reason behind your lower SAT score, perhaps its something your counselor could explain in the "anything else we should know about this applicant" section of the GC recommendation. Then again, this is just my guess of the whole process...</p>
<p>My uncle is an admissions dean at a selective university, so I've grown up around these kinds of discussions. The best answer you'll get is "Although we look at everything, we consider each application supportively." I realize that probably sounds like doublespeak, but it is basically true. The only ethical thing for adcoms to do is to give you the benefit of the doubt. How can they possibly know whether you weren't feeling well when you took your SAT, or perhaps you got lucky on your ACT, etc. The fairest way they can deal with these uncertainties is to focus primarily on whichever score is comparatively higher. </p>
<p>Honestly, the way you refer to is at "meet the ACT requirements" and "accept me based on my ACT or turn me down" suggests that you may be overestimating the relative weight of the scores. If your ACT scores puts you in a school's ballpark, then the rest of your application will get a fair read even if your SAT score is not competitive.</p>
<p>tanman makes a good point about the lack of control you have if you opt to send your scores to colleges when registering for the SAT in junior year. If you think you may try the ACT at some point, and you're not worred about losing a few $$ by not using the four free score reports that you get with your SAT registration fee, AND you're not expecting to need to report Subject Tests, then you may as well hold back your SAT scores and render this whole issue moot. </p>
<p>I realize I'm contradicting my previous opinion that it shouldn't matter much anyway if colleges see all your scores, but I can understand why you wouldn't want to show a black eye if you don't have to.</p>
<p>I agree with 2400SAT in that a minor difference between your ACT and SAT scores won't be significant enough. Just like there isn't much difference between a 2350 and a 2300. They're both excellent scores, and will mark you as a competitive applicant. The only reason why those 50 points would matter so much would be if two applicants were practically the same and neither was more distinguished than the other.</p>