<p>I have read several times here on the CC that some schools will accept ACT scores in lieu of SAT II tests. My S is all about skipping any tests that he can and is hoping that UVA is one of those schools. How can he find out is this is the case?</p>
<p>Thank you in advance for your help in this matter.</p>
<p>Do you mean take the ACT in lieu of the SAT (as opposed to SATII subject tests)?</p>
<p>From UVA's website -
[quote]
Please see our Online or traditional applications for full details and deadline.
Excellent performance in a rigorous secondary-school program
Results from the SAT I or ACT (including writing section)
Results from two SAT Subject Tests (strongly recommended; any two subjects of your choice)
Recommendations from Guidance Counselors
Extra-curricular Involvement and Honors
Writing as demonstrated in the Admission Essays<br>
[/quote]
<p>UVA states on its website & application that it "strongly suggests two SAT II subject tests." I know two of my D's friends were accepted at UVA (OOS) last year without SAT II's, but they may not have been "strongly suggested" at that time. If he really wants to go there, he should probably take the SAT II's.</p>
<p>I know how he feels. My D refused to apply to any schools that required SAT II's (she used her ACT scores). She said there are too many great schools that don't require them, so why bother. She got into some wonderful, selective schools without them. The way to find out if they are needed is to go to the school's website, click on admissions, and look for the admissions requirements.</p>
<p>Ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad, there are schools that require either SAT & SAT II's OR ACT (with no SAT II's required).</p>
<p>^^ From the wording in the OP's post I thought there may have been confusion around SAT versus SATII.</p>
<p>Anyway, UVA seems to 'strongly recommend' SATIIs. The SATIIs aren't like the SAT or ACT, they're shorter (1 hour), and one can actually take 3 of them in one day, so it might not be so bad to take a couple of them.</p>
<p>I've also heard that UVA is getting more and more difficult to get into so it might not be a bad idea to follow their recommendations.</p>
<p>Lisa,
The most painless way to take the subject tests is to do them the same time as the corresponding AP courses/tests or precalc (for Math2). Since the AP tests are more in depth than the subject tests, he shouldn't have to do any additional studying.</p>
<p>Lisa, our guidance people strongly recommend the SAT II for UVA, since the school seems to be high on them. One of my son's friends took three Saturday; my son took two. They plan to apply to UVA, and both said that they wanted to finish out their SAT II testing before their senior year. UVA is getting increasingly tough. My son's friend worries that he might not have enough for the school, even though he is an athlete, yearbook editor, works part-time and has nice grades and scores. And he's in-state.</p>
<p>I truly think UVa reads essays with great care as well. For any student, in-state or out, I would suggest thought and effort in essays. Even though UVa admissions is not super personal, and they cannot follow interest in the school and court students due to volume of applications, I think they morph into a small or medium college, and they truly do read files with care as if they were not a state flagship college. They have way more qualified applicants that places, and any tipping factor is a help. My last advice..do not encourage your child unless they are test savants, to walk cold into SATIIs. They are short and sweet but they require knowing a lot of facts. Review and practice at least once. Make your SATIIs an asset, not an after thought. Our sons never take more than 2 in one sitting and one at a time is also smart if time allows.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your suggestions. I guess that I should provide more information in order to get the best answers, so here goes.</p>
<p>Attends a school that is not "ranked" (prob. never even had anyone apply to UVA)</p>
<p>Has taken the ACT 3x. Don't know the scores for the last one. He's thinking that he needs at least a 33? (he's very close with the previous 2)</p>
<p>Took the SAT cold (his school only preps for ACT). Those scores will never see the light of day : )</p>
<p>He just does not want to do SAT IIs unless he MUST</p>
<p>He is OSS</p>
<p>Again, thank you for all the information and suggestions!</p>
<p>Lisa</p>
<p>it seems to me that we found some wanted the act plus with writing instead of the act if sat or sat subjects tests were not going to be submitted. check with the admissions rep. for each college under consideration.</p>
<p>If he really wants to go to UVA for the next 4 years and UVA 'strongly recommends' SATIIs, it seems short-sighted to not spend the 2 hours taking the SATIIs just because he doesn't feel like taking them. It's 2 hours of testing to help admission to where he'll spend his next 4 years. OTOH maybe he doesn't really want to go to UVA that badly.</p>
<p>OOS admissions to UVa are very very competitive, and students admitted compare to the top students in most colleges. OOS students who are admitted opt to prove/document their abilities in numerous ways. Your son's current ACT if "near" 33 show he is a bright young man, but he should be willing to put more cards on the table. Keep in mind that a third of our UVa students matriculate from some of the highest functioning DC suburb high school districts in the nation, and many of the kids from this corridor come from high schools with strong AP and IB performances. My son was admitted to UVa from a low performing high school but he shut himself up on weekends in May and June of junior year and prepped for his SATIIs to show admissions teams that he was a strong self directed learner. He had only one AP to show when he applied (as our schools were not into AP instruction at the time.) He correctly viewed his SATIIs as his chance to stand out. If your son is a junior..he still has October and November for SATIIs and all summer to prepare. Perhaps your son has some unique hook. If not, tell him to study for SATIIs and sign up. All of our kids have spring fever every May/June and we know it is hard to do test prep, but there is the summer and the fall test dates to aim for as well.</p>
<p>"Took the SAT cold (his school only preps for ACT). Those scores will never see the light of day : )"</p>
<p>If he sends the SAT 2s the SAT will be sent along with it. There is no choice for SATs as there are for ACTs.</p>
<p>Re: Post #5. I read the original post over again & I see what you mean. Now I get it!</p>
<p>whoa. Gcnorth has made the most important point. I will make one more point. If your guy can make close to a 33 on his ACT, he can probably improve his SAT (the one he didn't prep for) and perhaps should do the 10 Real SATs this summer to work on it. It is all about motivation and maturity for a segment of young men. I realize some students can make high scores with little effort, but our son didn't like his junior year final tally and his motivation changed. Our son's SATs went up a bizarre amount of points in fall of his senior year. If his junior spring SATIIs had not been high, I bet he would have been flagged for review for suspicious score increase. We are not sure what happened (brain development? Maturity?) but he did not have the ACT score your son has today when he was a junior (his was lower.) He is a student at Duke and was admitted to two reach schools and three other selective colleges based on his senior fall test scores and his HS record.</p>
<p>Faline2 - What are the "10 Real SAT's"?</p>
<p>gcnorth - yikes! You mean that the score will be seen? So when you release SATIIs EVERYTHING you have done at collegeboard.com is sent. bummer</p>
<p>Thank you all again for the suggestions!</p>
<p>Lisa</p>
<p>Yes, whenever you have ANY SAT scores sent they send ALL of the scores to date, there is no score choice like with the ACT.</p>
<p>Faline2, if your son is anything like mine, maybe he didn't really take it seriously the first time around. My S is a sophomore & has been a bit "blah" at the idea of his AP US exam next week. His teacher ran a full length practice test yesterday, and S scored a high 4 on the multiple choice. His teacher (whom S thinks is awesome) told him he kicked butt ... and now S is pumped up about the exam & even plans to study (something he had not done prior to yesterday's test). Those boys ... they seem to need to "own" things more than the girls do (okay, I know, don't generalize ... but that's how it works for MY boy & girl!).</p>
<p>Yes, everything is sent by college board - you can't just send SAT 2s and "hide" the SAT. </p>
<p>Unless a school REQUIRES the SAT2s you may want to consider having your son send only the ACT if the SAT scores are significantly lower than they should be. Otherwise he may want to retake the SAT because most schools superscore and will ignore the lower scores.</p>
<p>College Board is ridiculous that way. But yeah, that's what they do. </p>
<p>Many schools accept the ACT in lieu of the SAT/SATIIs, which is a real deal, in my opinion, because the ACT is in no way as hard as the SATIIs. Not even close. The math and reading are comparable to the SATs, and the science section of the ACT is something you can pretty much do by logic alone. </p>
<p>Read the college info very carefully to make sure exactly what they want.</p>