SAT or ACT or both?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
1

Hello helpful forum people. My son is applying to Cal Poly and has questions on ACT vs SAT.

His best ACT is English/Math/Reading/Science: 31 / 33 / 34 / 33
His best SAT is Reading/Math/Writing: 640 / 650 / 620

  • Is there any point to reporting both the SAT and ACT scores? Seems ACT is strictly better.
  • Does CP Slo look at the ACT Science anywhere? He had a 35 on an earlier test.
  • What's the best way of converting ACT to SAT for purposes of estimating MCA score

Thank you very much in advance for your responses.

2

There are a ton of places on the internet (including ACT and the College Board) that have tables to covert your ACT composite score to SAT total score and vice versa. However, I also found a table published by Tenn Tech that addresses the individual English and Math scores:

https://www.tntech.edu/admissions/actsat

Per that table, your son’s ACT scores are far superior to his SAT scores. I see no reason to submit the SAT.

CP SLO only looks at Math and English. I was told this by an admission office during a campus visit this last spring. They do not use Science or Reading scores.

3

Thank you for the reply. I also found a table on act.org here: https://www.act.org/solutions/college-career-readiness/compare-act-sat/

It seems to equate SAT Writing to ACT English/Writing. So I thought perhaps ACT Reading would equate to SAT Critical Reading. Seems the right answer is ACT English equates to SAT Critical Reading.

4

This question comes up frequently and the simple answer is…it doesn’t matter. Cal Poly super scores across platforms. That means if your best math is SAT and your best english is ACT, that’s what they’ll count.

On the more nuanced note, the tests are very different. SAT tests deeper reasoning skills, ACT is more about speed. Don’t take both over and over, but rather settle on the one you do best on and retake that if need be.

Good luck.

5

May I ask is it I only need to send one set of official test score to CP SLO, and the other Cal State school can share the test score like the UC system, or I need to send score to each Cal State school that I apply?

6

@newapplicant - If you send your score to CSU Mentor it will go to all the Cal State Schools, including CP SLO.

7

Thanks. I look at the site, it says the CSUMentor institution code for the SAT is 3594. What about ACT?

8

If you send it to one UC, they will all receive it. Look in the right margin of this page:

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/examination-requirement/

9

@newapplicant You send your scores to one CSU and then use the ACT Scores Manager to send it to the rest:

https://secure.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/sat_code.asp

10

@eyemgh or @ocgolfdad or others who might know …

Can you confirm that Cal Poly SLO is only looking at ACT scores for English and Math (and not Reading/Science/or Combined English/Writing)? I believe that is what is being said in the thread above. Just wanted to confirm.

My daughter’s English & Math ACT scores are fairly high (29 and 35, respectively) but her Reading & Science scores are on the lower side (24 each).

Her SAT reading score is 610 and Math score is 740.

If CP SLO only looks at English and Math for the ACT, it actually looks like her ACT score would be higher than her SAT. We hadn’t submitted because of the low reading and science, but I’m thinking now that we should. Any feedback would be appreciated. She is applying ED. Thanks all!

11

@Mumstheword2 You are correct. Math and English ACT only. This was stated to me personally by an admissions officer at a campus tour presentation in April 2015. I would definitely submit the ACT scores.

12

That’s great news, @ocgolfdad. Thank you for your quick response! :slight_smile:

13

@Mumstheword2, her ACT is better the best I can figure, but who knows if that’s accurate. They super score across platforms, so it’s safest to submit everything.