<p>Hi,</p>
<p>What do you think about only taking the ACT and skipping the SAT? My son is only interested in the schools in California. Thanks!!</p>
<p>Unless your son rocks the ACT, I see no downside in taking the SAT in addition (other than the time involved in preparation). Some kids do better on the ACT, some better on the SAT. Most colleges these days will take either test, so see which score comes out higher and submit that one.</p>
<p>I did this back in the day, and didn’t have a problem with it when applying to colleges. I’m now a senior in college and the one area where I do have slight problems is that some of the jobs I’m applying for (higher end management consulting) ask for high school test scores in the application, and it can be a little weird to explain why you only have the ACT. That said, it hasn’t hurt me, and is a tiny bit of a niche… overall I wouldn’t worry about only having ACT.</p>
<p>I have a friend who’s son is a sophomore at USC. When he was a sophomore in hs he took the ACT on a whim and scored 35. He never took the ACT again or the SAT’s.</p>
<p>Almost all schools accept the ACT these days. If you are submitting the ACT with writing, at most schools, this satisfies all testing requirements. You don’t need SAT Subject tests (except at tippy top schools). So, yes, if your child tests better on the ACT, it is fine to use just that rather than the SAT. But I suspect you won’t know which test your child will do better in, without trying both of them at least once.</p>
<p>Kids in our midwest HS only take the ACT. The SAT seems to be much more common in the east. I agree that it wouldn’t hurt to take both & then use your higher score.</p>
<p>For UC’s, does he also have to take the SAT subject tests? I believe so. A few years back my S took only the ACT, plus the SAT subjects, and did get accepted to Davis, UCSC, UCI and UC Santa Barbara. And his scores were not exceptional, though his GPA was. ACT only shouldn’t be a problem. We really don’t need to throw more $ at the College Board do we?</p>
<p>For Fall 2011 UC admission, two SAT subject tests are required whether you take the ACT or the SAT. For Fall 2012 and beyond, the SAT subject test requirement disappears.</p>
<p>It’s fine to just take the ACT – however, if the student has scored well enough on the Junior year PSAT for national merit, then he would want to need to also take the SAT to qualify.</p>
<p>If he did well enough on the ACT to get into the schools he’s interested in, there’s no reason to take the SAT. Just about every college will accept the ACT, even those in traditional SAT areas. If after a couple tries his ACT isn’t where he wants it to be, then he may want to consider the SAT just because he might be one of those students who is better suited to the SAT. One way to gauge this is to look at his PSAT score, if he took that. We’re from the midwest, where the ACT rules, and D’s guidance counselor told us that less than 10% of the kids he’s responsible for who took the SAT did better on the SAT than the ACT. Of course, I don’t think that can possibly be the case across the board or no one would take the SAT.</p>
<p>ALL schools will accept the ACT in lieu of the SAT. The one reason to take the SAT is if he is in the running for National Merit. The SAT will be needed to confirm the PSAT score.</p>