SATs and ACTs... what the colleges look at??? I'm hearing mixed things!!

Test Preparation
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<p>So basically, different people are telling me different things. Even high school students, college students, teachers, and so forth are giving me mixed information. This is what I want to know...</p>

<p>Some are saying that the colleges see EVERY score of EVERY SAT you ever take.</p>

<p>Some are saying that you get to choose which SAT the colleges see / they see your best score.</p>

<p>Some are saying that Colleges see EVERY score of every ACT you take.</p>

<p>Some are saying they see HOW MANY times you took the ACT, but only the score of the highest one... so say you got a 28, 26, 30, 29. The colleges would see that you took the ACT 4 times and that your highest score is a 30.</p>

<p>Could somebody please clear this up for me? I would ask my guidance counceler, but he's a jerk and makes you feel stupid no matter what you say... and he hates people who hate sports. So yeah, what to colleges see in terms of your SATs, ACTs, and the scores? Thanks a ton you guys. CC rocks!</p>

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<p>SAT: colleges will see every SAT you took and the score you received. however, many schools claim to take the highest score on each section and combine to form your highest composite</p>

<p>ACT: colleges will not know how many times you took this test. they will only see the score you choose to send them.</p>

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<p>I don't know any of the details about the ACT, but I know that if you send an official score report for your SAT's that they will see scores for every SAT you have taken. Also, for the SAT's they will usually take your best composite score [Note: exception for the UC's and a few others who will only take the score from your best sitting], so... but I guess someone else will need to inform you about the ACT's b/c I don't know squat.</p>

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<p>Thanks a lot you guys. Can anyone else confirm this? </p>

<p>Not that I don't trust you two or anything... it is just that I want to be absolutely sure.</p>

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<p>You can choose to send whichever score you like for the ACT but not for the SAT.</p>

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<p>They are right.</p>

<p>SAT - The SAT has one universal score report, which has every SAT and SAT II you've ever taken, including retakes. So colleges will see every SAT and SAT II you've taken when you send them the score report.</p>

<p>ACT - The ACT is a little different. Every test has a separate score report. That means, if you take the ACT four times, you have four different score reports. When you send a score report to colleges, you get to pick one of these score reports, generally your best one. So basically colleges will only see one ACT score of your choice.</p>

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<p>Awesome. Thank you very much! Now I'm going to take the ACT every single time its administered. :-D</p>

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<p>Uh, if you want to confirm, all you need to do is go up to the web sites for the SAT and the ACT. They are perfectly clear.</p>

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<p>Really? I didn't see anything anywhere on the ACT website.</p>

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<p>If you look at how one sends scores, you will see that you are required to pick a particular test date for each recipient and pay on that basis. Just look at the score order form. </p>

<p>The pricing is "per test date per report." </p>

<p>Also on the web site:</p>

<p>"If you ask us to send a report to a college, we will release only the record for the test date you choose."
<a href="http://www.actstudent.org/scores/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.actstudent.org/scores/index.html&lt;/a> </p>

<p>"We report ONLY the scores from the test date you authorize, not any other test scores."<br>
<a href="http://www.actstudent.org/scores/send/asrtips.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.actstudent.org/scores/send/asrtips.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>"We do not combine scores from different test dates in our reports. ACT maintains a separate record for each test date, and it is ACT's policy to report scores only for entire test dates."
<a href="http://www.actstudent.org/faq/answers/twoinone.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.actstudent.org/faq/answers/twoinone.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>"ACT lets the student decide what set of scores they want sent. The College Board's policy is to send all scores."
<a href="http://www.actstudent.org/faq/answers/actsat.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.actstudent.org/faq/answers/actsat.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>It may be expressed elsewhere on the web site as well, but I hope this is enough confirmation for you!</p>

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<p>Yep, it is, haha. Thanks DianeR!</p>

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<p>Diane lol I think he gets the point..</p>

<p>And I wish I would've found out earlier about score choice, cuz then I would've taken it everytime it was administered. As it is now, though, I have a very good score and have only taken it twice, so I feel cheated when other people have the same score after like five tests, but colleges only seeing one.</p>

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<p>OK, I got carried away :)</p>

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<ol>
<li><p>College Board always sends to colleges all SAT I and SAT II scores you have on file whenever you request any one score sent.</p></li>
<li><p>ACT sends only score requested and it does not say anything about how many times you have taken the test.</p></li>
<li><p>HOWEVER, check into what your high school does. Many high schools put all your SAT and ACT scores on your official high school transcript that is sent to colleges.</p></li>
</ol>