Sorry if this has already been addressed. My son got a 35 ACT and was planning to send only that score and not his SAT, which was a 1530. But that 1530 included an 800 in math. On this ACT, his math score was actually his lowest (32), while he got a 36 in science and reading. Thanks for advice!
Send them both. The adcoms will appreciate the 800 in math AND the 36 in science and reading. The composite scores are very comparable – 1530 SAT and 35 ACT. Don’t try to cherrypick in this case. Think of the two exams as reinforcing the positive.
Is your son taking SAT II’s?
No, he isn’t taking SAT IIs. The schools he’s looking at don’t require them.
I want to send both(35, 1550) but S18 thinks the 1550 is lower based on some concordance table he saw.
What’s his major going to be?
You’d want to show/use the SAT math score if he’s going for engineering or comp sci. Otherwise the ACT should be fine.
@northwesty, he’ll likely major in bio or one of the other natural sciences.
First, forget about the concordance table which was totally hypothetical without real data. SAT 1550 is actually in the same 99+ percentile as ACT 35 according to their latest reports. For top schools (and if budget allows), do send in both scores as there are big differences in the Math section scores. 32 in Math is only at 97%.
I would send both, they are outstanding scores.
Send either one. Colleges won’t superscore across tests and they are virtually equivalent.
I have a solution to my problem! When I approached son’s GC, she said that he only needed to send the ACT but that she would mention the 800 in math in her letter of recommendation. Hopefully this idea will help someone else.
Actually, I don’t think that’s a good solution. 1530 is a perfectly good SAT score. If the GC mentions only the 800 in math in the recommendation letter, the admissions staffers might think he had a 600 on the SAT CR.
I would not pay too much attention to the concordance tables. They are quite good around the average scores on both exams, but I have seen several that are based on a small number of scores at the high end on both exams–so they are influences by the quirks of individual high scorers. Your son can read the CB statistical report about generating the concurrence tables, and see if he finds it satisfactory in his score range. I would guess not.
I’d send both. They reinforce that he is a consistently high performer. And an 800 always catches the eye. 
We sent both.