I recently heard from my counselor and peers that Stanford actually prefers the ACT over the SAT. I have found no mention of this on their website and I have not talked to an official Stanford admissions officer yet (maybe I will get the chance when they visit my town). I have already taken the SAT and I am happy with my score, but I don’t really want to take the ACT and risk getting a lower score than my SAT (I’ve never studied for the ACT yet). Have you guys heard anything about this? Do people who take both SAT and ACT have an advantage in admissions?
Sometimes counselors and your peers are wrong. They are definitely wrong about this one, possibly raising a question about the competency of the counselor. Stanford and almost all colleges in the U.S. take either SAT or ACT without preference. In deciding whether you should also take the ACT, be aware that Stanford does require you to submit the scores of all SAT and all ACT tests you have taken, see http://admission.stanford.edu/application/freshman/testing.html, and thus if you take the ACT and score poorly, you will be required to provide it to Stanford.
Nothing on Stanford’s website to indicate that preference. http://admission.stanford.edu/application/freshman/testing.html I don’t know of any “elite” college or university that prefers ACT over SAT or vice versa. Also,while the Common Data Set for 2014-15 does not indicate a preference, it does show that more Stanford freshmen submitted SATs than ACTs. (This is probably due to the fact that the SAT is still more popular on the East and West coasts as well as for international applicants. That may well change next year when the new SAT is introduced). http://ucomm.stanford.edu/cds/2014 (Percent submitting SAT scores: 86%. Number submitting SAT scores: 1,438
Percent submitting ACT scores: 39%. Number submitting ACT scores: 764)
46
Post No. 1 by drusba offers sound counsel.