<p>My state has 80%+ take the ACT and about 10% take the SAT. Plus those who take the SAT are typically on the higher end of the spectrum, skewing the results (average is 1800 in my state).
Will this make any difference? I had originally planned to take the SAT, but my eighth grade ACT score was pretty good (if I do say so myself, 31 no prep).</p>
<p>One way to go about it is take one, see how you do, and then decide whether to take the other. That yours is principally an ACT state does not in itself make any difference because colleges readily accept either. Moreover, that those who take the SAT test in your state have a higher than usual average also means nothing since your score is not determined by how you do in comparison to others in your state; it is actually determined by comparing you to all those who took the test nationwide at anytime during the testing year (Oct to June), before the testing year that you take it.</p>
<p>Where the ACT might be an advantage is simply in what may be offerred as part of the preparation for taking the test, e.g., your high school may offer an ACT prep course but not one for SAT. In addition, that you have already scored a 31 in eighth grade indicates your chances are good to score high on the ACT when taking it for applying to college.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! I was under the impression that scores are compared to your region (school and state); thus I thought that the ACT would make me look better in comparison to my region.
My school is a little weird: it offers ACT prep courses (can’t take them though, will bring down class rank), but all the English and math classes are geared toward P/SAT prep (e.g. sat vocab lists in English and PSAT math prep in precalc).
I will probably take a practice SAT sometime soon to see if it is significantly different from my ACT score.</p>