<p>I've been doing a lot of practice for the ACT and I'm finally to the point to where I'm averaging really good scores, better than my SAT, which was about the nation's average. They say your SAT score typically goes up when you retake it, but all the practice I'm doing for the SAT is making me get scores worse than I did on the actual exam. 3 out of the 5-6 colleges I'm applying to already have the bad SAT scores, but should I even bother reporting them to the schools that don't have them? I'm averaging around 30 for my ACT practice tests, so I have a lot of hope for it. The questions just seem so much easier to me than the SAT did. So I'm hoping the real one (will take the one in September) will reflect that. I'm trying to major in English, or Journalism if English is not offer. My choices (in order) are College of Charleston, Alfred University, SCAD, Clemson University, University of South Carolina, and MAYBE Emerson (not in the order). I was going to apply to NYU, but I doubt I could afford it so decided to not. I had a 3.67 GPA last year, but that was before 2 AP classes and 3 honor classes that I did well, so hopefully at least a 3.7 out of the 4.0. I'm Senior Class President, in Key Club (might become President or VP), and Academic Team. I'm a minority if that facts in too, and the first in my family who will attend college. And senior year I'm only taking AP classes (4-5, depends how schedule falls). So should I retake the SAT and get ~1500 (what I scored the first time) or just take the ACT and report that if it follows the trend and I get a good score? I should be able to take the ACT twice before I actually apply, but just need some outside opinions. Please don't mock me, because I realize a lot of kids on here are shooting for Ivy Leagues, but I've jumped almost 100 spots in my class rank after I put forth a lot of effort and am just trying to get into a good school.</p>
<p>You should probably take/submit the ACT. A 30 on the ACT is well-above average, while a 1500 on the SAT is around average. </p>
<p>@ObservantRock183 So I shouldn’t submit the SAT?</p>
<p>Your projected ACT is much better than your SAT. Keep prepping to make sure you get around/above that score. Report that to all the schools (even the ones you already sent your SAT to) you are applying to to maximize your chances for admission. </p>
<p>@butterfreesnd So I shouldn’t submit the SAT at all? I should take the ACT and if I like it send that to all the other schools? I’m asking because I’ve used websites that tell you your chances of getting in and my chances go up when I take out the SAT and put in my projected ACT scores, but I don’t know if colleges will see the bad SAT score and then be impressed by how much better I did on the ACT.</p>
<p>They will. Trust me, if you do better on your act only send that in.</p>
<p>Take the SAT again if you only took it once. If your math score was low, then it may be because the questions can be tricky so be more careful next time. …make sure you are answering the question EXACTLY. For instance if it asks for the answer in decimals, dont hurry and select the fraction answer because that one is “right”. </p>
<p>If your W score was low, dont sweat that. Colleges dont even use it…especially now that it’s going to be eliminated. </p>
<p>all this practicing for the ACT, may help you on the SAT.</p>
<p>But, continue to study the ACT and get the best scores…take it a few times this fall. If you can get a 30, or even a 32, your chances are better for admittance AND merit scholarships.</p>
<p>be sure to have your parents run the NPCs on your schools’ websites to determine affordability. If you need large merit to afford college, then you need the highest scores you can get!!! And you need to apply to the schools that will give them for YOUR scores.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids I’ve taken more mock SAT scores. I think I stressed myself to the point to where I just can’t do well on it. The last mock I took I got a 1550 :-< Whereas ACT wise it’s a LOT better. My lowest is math. But on the ACT they’re so straightforward and I can handle it. On the SAT it’s given in such a way that I cannot pull apart what it’s asking. And I’m embarrassed of my writing score because I want to be a writer. I can write a decent essay, but for whatever reason cannot revise a sentence. But it makes NO SENSE TO ME because the ACT will ask me to do that and I can do it almost perfectly!!! The thing I’m struggling with a lot is critical reading. On the ACT I think it’s easy because I don’t bother reading the passage, I’ll look for exact keywords and by the time I get to the last section I would’ve already gotten the whole summary of the essay. For the SAT I tried that, but it doesn’t work. It bothers me so much because it makes no sense that I can do very well on one standardized test, but not on another.</p>
<p>I think I should also mention that I think I do better on the ACT because I can guess. I did the math on the SAT and if I didn’t guess on any of the question I would’ve scored ~1800. About 600 for each category. But I stressed and answered a lot more questions that I shouldn’t have. I thought they were right, but apparently they weren’t.</p>
<p>Also I’m shooting for at least 28 on ACT, top >75 percentile of my colleges. A 1200/27 gets me a state scholarship for $3000 and I get another one worth $2000 for being in the top 30% of my class. But that only applies to SC universities. Alfred is private and I heard they offer great financial aid. SCAD is the one where I’m hoping my portfolio gets me enough money to attend. </p>
<p>If you are doing that much better on the ACT, I see no reason to stress yourself out by prepping for the SAT. If a 30 (give or take two points) is what you need to be competitive at the colleges you want to apply to, then I wouldn’t worry anymore about your SAT score.
As far as sending both, schools will probably just figure you are an ACT kind of person and not pay too much attention to the SAT score. IMHO, sending your SAT score will have no noticeable impact on admissions so you will be spending money unnecessarily to send your SAT scores. I am just a high school student though 
Maybe a veteran will weigh in with a different opinion. </p>
<p>@butterfreesnd I’ve decided to take the ACT at least twice, barely getting it in before deadlines! #:-S I also think I’ll try my luck at the SAT Subject Tests. I took the practice one offered by CB and got 31/33 right for Biology, and I haven’t taken the class in two years! 
Let’s hope the ACT gets me at least the 27 I need for scholarships! </p>
<p>I think your plan sounds like a good one! Good luck with your prep! :)</p>