<p>I am sure this question has been answered MANY times before; I cannot seem to find the thread to it. I am in a quagmire. My sophomore son just took a first time mock SAT vs. ACT (so, no doubt, had an abridged version of both). He got a 1900 on the SAT and a 33 on the ACT. He really wants to study only for the ACT and do better on that. My question is: what are the colleges' preferences (especially on the East Coast)? Is the SAT still the more preferred and respected test for colleges and universities? For example, I saw that UPenn takes the ACT in lieu of the SAT + subject tests--but would they still prefer the SAT?</p>
<p>My son took only the ACT and I think it is one of the smartest things we did with the college application process. He got a 32 on the first go around and he was done. It took alot of pressure off of him. All of the schools he was interested in took the ACT and we decided that was good enough. He was accepted ED to one of the most competative LAC.</p>
<p>I am trying to get a feeling if the East coast colleges (this is where we live) are really taking the ACT as seriously as the SAT. Anybody with kids or themselves in East coast colleges have a feel on this?</p>
<p>East Coast colleges generally prefer the SAT over the ACT… but in this case, I would probably go ahead and just have him study for the ACT. A 33 is boatloads better than a 1900.</p>
<p>My son interviewed at Brandeis, Tufts, Wesleyan, University of Rochester, Lafayette and Swarthmore. The fact that he had not taken the SAT was never mentioned. Since he was admitted ED to Swarthmore we will never know what would have happened other places. If the schools say they will accept the ACT I think you need to take them at their word. Your son will still need to take SAT IIs for most school. Let him put his energy into doing well on those.</p>
<p>As I understand it, there used to be a geographic skew - schools on the east and west coast used the SATs and the midwest used the ACT. That led to students more often taking the test that the schools in their area preferred. However, many schools seem to have decided they wanted geographic diversity and that accepting both tests would help them do that. My son decided that he prefered the ACT and stopped after he got what he considered a great score. However, he had already taken the SATs (with a slightly worse score when you do the comparison) so its not clear which the schools were using when they accepted/rejected him.</p>