Hi, so I received a 36 on my ACT from the February test date, which I plan on submitting to colleges. On the December SAT however, I scored much lower than anticipated as I only got a 1230. I was wondering if I should study and retake it again even if I already plan on submitting my ACT score? Should I submit both? With this COVID-19 pandemic, im worried that I will not have enough time for all these exams, as I still would like to take the chem, bio, and math II SAT subject tests, which I plan on taking possibly in June and August if it is not cancelled.
For reference, the main schools I plan on applying to are UVA, Columbia, upenn, ucla, nyu, vtech, Penn State (already accepted w/ athletic scholarship), along with my safeties/match schools
I’m a college freshman who worked on college apps last fall, and from what I know/experienced, most people usually submit the one exam they did better on. I took both but only submitted my SAT scores since they were better than my ACT. I personally think you shouldn’t worry about taking the SAT again if you got a 36 on the ACT (again, colleges will only see what you choose to submit) and should instead focus your energy on subject tests which cover a lot of content and require thorough knowledge and understanding of specific subjects. I took multiple subject tests, and they were very hard, so I would recommend that you take your time to prepare for them!
Also, I am mainly concerned since my school district, for whatever reason, includes SAT scores and ACT on transcripts, so even if I don’t officially submit my SAT score, colleges may still see it.
So my school actually did the same thing, where they include all scores on my transcript. But I was able to talk to my counselor, who actually hid/removed the scores I didn’t want on my transcript before submitting them to schools. Before you decide to retake the SAT, definitely ask your counselor or someone else in admin if it is possible to hide certain scores on your transcript!
Seems like no real point in taking the SAT if you scored a 36 on the ACT – there is no way you can get a better SAT score (at best, you may get an equivalent score).
I think the issue is that his low SAT score will show up on his transcripts so he is wondering if he should take the SAT again to show adcoms he can score better on it and is more in line with his ACT score.
I understand his concern but don’t think the adcoms will really care about old SAT scores, if he self reports the ACT scores they may not even see the SAT score until he submits his official transcripts after acceptances are already in.
Don’t retake the SAT.
If you are a PSU athletic recruit, why are you applying to other schools? Are you not sure you want to play your sport in college? Trying to get recruited elsewhere?
There is no reason to submit that SAT and no reason to retake it. Your advisors should remove it.
I have to say that is very unusual- that SAT score does not match up at all with your ACT. The tests aren’t that different…
I was recruited from Penn State with a good scholarship for tennis, however I would really like to pursue pre-med or biology in college and I don’t think I can handle both tennis and my academics…especially in such a difficult major. I am worried that if I were to accept their offer, the school would make my main focus be tennis and not my personal goals in STEM. I responded to them undecided, but they really wanted me to reconsider so their offer is extended to around winter of my senior year. I am still not sure if I will attend since I am very interested in NYU and UPenn.
I mainly took the SAT in December just to see where I was at in terms of standardized testing, so I did not study much for it. PSU wanted to see some sort of standardized testing score as well before offering admission, so it was a bit of a last minute rush to get those scores in.
haha I have to agree as well. When I took the SAT in December I was really unmotivated after I reached the reading section. I rarely studied for it and was not expecting to do well - especially because I had only studied for a month.
After my SAT, I took a practice ACT and I liked how straightforward the questions were, and after endless hours of prep, I surprisingly got a 36!!