<p>I took the ACT when I was in seventh grade and got a 31. By my senior year, I am expecting to get a perfect score. SAT, on the other hand, I presume is going to f*** me. Assuming that this happens, would it be looked down upon to send in only a 36 act and the sat subject tests, but no regular sat?</p>
<p>Just got straight to the source. Call UPenn admissions on Monday and ask the question. They will be more than happy to help you. </p>
<p>If there is a particular admissions person responsible for your region, reach out to them in particular. Make yourself known now… when they have time to talk.</p>
<p>two seconds on google</p>
<p>[Required</a> Testing for Freshmen - Penn Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/apply/freshman-admission/required-testing]Required”>http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/apply/freshman-admission/required-testing)</p>
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<p>Yeah…don’t do that. If you reach out to this person to ask a question that you could answer for yourself with a quick Google search and a glance at the university’s web site, you won’t be making yourself known in a good way.</p>
<p>If you think the SAT may be a problem, don’t take it. You do not need it to get into Penn or any other university. Everyone accepts the ACT with writing. For example, my son who got into Penn ED only took the ACT and SAT Subject tests. Furthermore, in the Midwest where we live most kids do not take the SAT.</p>
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<p>[sigh] Good going Sikorsky… That’s the way to teach the younger generation to be fearful about actually make human contact. :-/</p>
<p>hellisotherpeopl,
OK. First, don’t EVER be frightened of asking a question. And never… ever… be afraid of what someone thinks of you for asking a question. Nobody but a complete jerk makes a judgement about someone asking a question… especially when it’s a high school kid asking a question. </p>
<p>Getting back to the ACT versus SAT. Regardless of what it says on a website, there is much more to know. Are the tests truly accepted in the same light or do they prefer one over the other? How do they interpret the ACT? Each ACT point is worth tens of SAT points. It’s important to know how they compare the ACT kids to the SAT kids. </p>
<p>Only a recruiter will be able to have this conversation. Make contact. Be friendly. Be yourself. Be confident. I’m sure you have many questions. Don’t overwhelm the guy/gal. Pick your top three subjects. You don’t want to be on the phone forever. Get their e-mail address and send a “Thank you for your time today” message. Send it a couple/few hours after your conversation… not immediately.</p>
<p>At a later date, call back, tell them they were very helpful the last time you spoke and ask if it’s OK to pick their brains again. Again, keep it reasonably timed. Pick your next top three subjects. </p>
<p>Especially in this age of e-mails and text messages, personal contact will give you an edge over the huddled frightened masses who think far too much before saying anything.</p>
<p>Don’t wait for them to initiate contact (interview, etc…). It will never have the same impact. They should hear from you before that.</p>
<p>Thank you, maikai. I am reminded of the seventh graders who used to come to my class from elementary school, so pleased with themselves that they’d learned what their elementary-school teachers had taught them: “There are no dumb questions.”</p>
<p>Except the thing is, there are some dumb questions, and one example is a question that’s answered prominently on the university’s own web site.</p>
<p>As for this:</p>
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<p>I don’t know of any university or college in the country that favors one standardized test over the other, and if you do, you’re the only such person I’ve encountered. Let me direct you, for example, to this:</p>
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<a href=“The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos”>The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos;
<p>Just take the SAT/ACT get a good score, choose two subjects and move on. When you are done with college admissions, you will release that all of the time you spent worrying about tiny score variations/small details on these tests was a waste of time. As long as your scores are around 32 on the ACT and above 700 on all sections of the SAT and maybe mid to high 700s on the subject tests you should be fine.</p>
<p>^I’m an incoming freshman and can completely corroborate what Poeme said. The minute after I got into Penn, I suddenly realized how stupid I was for caring about such trivial score differences. Although, I’d put my standards higher than that. If you’re an unhooked applicant (i.e. not URM, legacy, or from a well connected prep school) you should be aiming for more like 33-34+ on ACT and/or 750+ on all sections of SAT I as well as a few SAT II tests.</p>
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<p>Judging kids… that’s just sad.</p>
<p>You may think the website answers the question “prominently”, but it doesn’t. I’ve already addressed that.</p>
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<p>And you go on to quote some nonsense about SAT versus ACT. yada, yada, yada.</p>
<p>You’ve jumped to a conclusion that isn’t at all supported by my writing. I’m actually a big fan of the ACT. My own son took ONLY the ACT. Like many boys, he did significantly better with the ACT. I have repeatedly recommended to kid on this site to take both pratice tests and focus on the one they do best.</p>
<p>That being said, I had my son reach out to his short list of schools about the tests. What he found out was quite interesting. All the schools took both tests, but normalized everyone with an SAT equivalent for easier comparison. Some of the schools used the center of the SAT range that the ACT score represented. My son’s first choice school actually took the top of the range for this equivalent score. In that case, having an ACT only score was an added advantage over the SAT.</p>
<p>One school, who advertises they take both on their website, said they “prefer to get an SAT, but will accept the ACT”. That’s a direct quote from the recruiter for our region. I’d say that’s a school you take the SAT for, no matter what is said on the website. :-/</p>
<p>The actual quote on their website is:
“Cornell does not have a preference. Either the SAT or the ACT with writing are fine.” :-)</p>
<p>We were taken aback, because of all the schools, they also made the biggest deal downplaying the tests and even GPA, saying they took a holistic approach to student acceptance. Uh… yeah… right.</p>
<p>My son’s short list was Stevens, Lehigh, Cornell, and RPI. </p>
<p>In the end, my son decided to apply ED1 to Stevens. He fell in love with the campus and sees himself living and working in Manhattan. He hated the environment of Cornell and RPI (cold and gray). Lehigh was his second choice, but couldn’t compare with the setting of Stevens.</p>
<p>The relationships he created at Lehigh and RPI were quite strong for the limited contact. Both reached out to my boy, asking why they have not yet receive his application yet. One even said if he applied, he would not be unhappy with their response. I attribute this directly to my son’s engagement with them over time… the result of being outgoing and building honest relationships. </p>
<p>I couldn’t disagree more with your guidance to keep the phone solidly on the hook, second guess yourself and fear being judged by “stupid questions.” That kind of outlook and attitude will never result in anything good.</p>
<p>Obviously, neither of us cares much for the other’s advice on this matter. I do agree, actually, that the time to be talking to admissions officers at colleges of interest is now. I just don’t agree that this is the issue.</p>
<p>I hope your son is happy and successful at Stevens.</p>
<p>“Obviously, neither of us cares much for the other’s advice on this matter.”</p>
<p>Yes, we can agree to disagree.</p>
<p>Thanks for the well wishes for my son!</p>