<p>My dream schools are Harvard and Yale, but they're a reach. I'm doing my best in all other areas, but I was wondering which standardized tests I should take. I'm a junior, so obviously I flubbed up a little in making plans; I should be okay, but I want to maximize my chances of getting into the schools of my choice.</p>
<p>So far I've taken the SAT twice... I received a 2070 the first time (I wasn't really prepared for the essay section as fully as I should have been, and made some other silly errors) and a 2210 the second time (still better, but definitely not as well as I could do... I would really like a 2300+).</p>
<p>I'd like to go into business and later law, though engineering isn't out of the question. I wanted to take the SAT one last time, but because today was the deadline for the last test of the year, I needed to sign up for subject tests. I decided to take math II, physics, and US.</p>
<p>My main concern lies in the fact that I want to take the SAT one more time, possibly the Spanish and Literature subject tests, and ACT (just in case I happen to be really good at it! I haven't tried it yet). I was planning on taking the SAT I first thing next year, after studying in the summer, but ACT and other SAT IIs are in question. Realistically, I probably don't need to take five subject tests, but for some reason I felt like I wanted to, at least to see how I would do. ACT, however is a more serious subject... Should I pay the late fee to take the last one this year? Next year?</p>
<p>Thanks for any advice!</p>
<p>In general, I do not recommend taking a test without thorough preparation. However, I see your concern as you are running out of time. You may give ACT a try in June with some practice tests after your subject tests. I notice you want to take 2 more subject tests in Fall. Unless you are sure you will do better than the other 3 subject tests, my suggestion is to skip that and focus on another round of SAT1 and ACT too. Having 3 subject tests is sufficient for any school applications. What is more important is your SAT1/ACT score at this point.</p>
<p>If you do get a 2300 why would you bother with the ACT? And you don’t need more than 2-3 subject tests (3 aren’t required at any schools and are only recommended at a couple).</p>
<p>I agree if he gets 2300 in his third attempt of SAT, he does not need to take ACT. But he would not know until Fall that may be too late to have a backup plan.</p>
<p>We are in a similar situation… I want to apply for either of the schools early, and I only have June and October for that. I took SAT in May, and I hope to get over 2300, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen. But I’m pretty sure it will be over 2100 and possibly 2200… Of course, I will take it again in October to get +2300. I’m also thinking about taking ACT in September. I think ACT and SAT are pretty similar, so I will just buy a prep book and go over it. I’m stronger at math, so I might get a better score on ACT. So I only have time to take 2 SAT subjects. And I’m not planning to take more than two at all. I heard about people who got into Yale or Harvard with two subject tests. It’s better to score two subjects high than to have five mediocre (early 700 in this case) scores…</p>
<p>I am surprised to see many Juniors still do not have ACT or SAT scores on hand by this time. Aoeiftert and humanities, at least you two already have decent scores and should not worry too much. I strongly recommend to take ACT in parallel with SAT though. When I planned for my D’s test schedule, she would finish SAT1, SAT2 and ACT by June including retakes of SAT1 and ACT if necessary. She got her second SAT1 score and her first ACT score on the same day in March. Fortunately, she is done with them and does not need to retake ACT in June. One really needs to start planning for the whole college application game early on (from the summer of sophomore year).</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice/comments. If I could do it over, I definitely would have prepared more thoroughly and scheduled better… Oh well, what can you do?</p>
<p>Just catch up with ACT in June and retake in Fall if necessary.</p>