I’m a jr from CT and got a 2260 SAT, 36 ACT. If I took the SAT again I’d probably improve at least one of the sections, maybe by 50 or more points. Is it worth it, though, or should I stop worrying about SATs and start prepping hard for SAT IIs? I know most people in the northeast don’t even take ACTs, so do colleges in the northeast (ivies) look at SATs more strongly than ACTs?
Also, I know that perfect ACTs are statistically more rare than perfect SATs, but are they admitted to colleges at the same rate (or better)? I read on CC that Harvard admits something like 40% of the perfect SAT applicants. Does anyone know any stats for perfect ACT applicants? Thanks.
<p>I'd say that they look at the tests pretty equally...especially since some students in certain parts of the country are more likely to take one test rather than the other.</p>
<p>Just about all colleges accept either test and do not consider one better than the other. You do have one distinct advantage with the ACT. A number of colleges that usually require SAT II's will take the ACT in lieu of both the SAT and SAT II's and thus you can even avoid taking II's for those colleges-- examples: Yale, Brown, Penn, Duke, Amherst, John Hopkins, Tufts, Wesleyan, Wellesley, Vassar, Boston College, Pomona.</p>
<p>That a 36 is rarer than a perfect SAT score is mostly irrelevant. Perfect score is perfect score and college admissions officers do not sit around going, "Oh, is a 36 better than a 2400?" Test scores simply put you in the group of persons seriously considered for admission to highly selective colleges; it is everything else that gets you in. Thus, do not assume having a perfect score is the key to automatic admission regardless of whether it is the ACT or SAT.</p>