The SAT versus ACT Challenge

Test Preparation
1

<p>You will notice that I have adjusted the "location" in my personal profile to indicate that I am too busy to read essays for applicants. But I will make one exception: if any high school class of 2008 applicant can find me a CURRENT college admission office publication posted on the Web where I can verify it that says that that college prefers the SAT I test to the ACT test for college admission decisions, I will read that student's essay and comment on it for the first student who can find me such a link. </p>

<p>I am quite sure that there no longer is any college that says it prefers the SAT I to the ACT. Yale doesn't--Yale says specifically now it has no preference, as I heard in a Yale information session in my town three weeks ago. Princeton used to have a preference, but it doesn't anymore. I've been told that Harvey Mudd College used to have a preference, but now it does not. Harvard has not had a preference for a very long time, and neither have most of the other most selective colleges. MIT </p>

<p><a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/standardized_test_requirements/index.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/standardized_test_requirements/index.shtml&lt;/a> </p>

<p>writes, </p>

<p>


</p>

<p>In other words, I don't think I'll have to pay up on my challenge. I don't believe that any student here on CC can find me any current college admission office publication that shows there is a college that prefers one admission test to the other, especially not at any nationally known highly selective college. But if you'd like to prove me wrong, and earn the opportunity to have me read and comment on your admission essay, have at it, and find the publication and show me the link. The first student who can verify that there is a college with a preference gets a free essay reading and comments from a former professional editor (me). </p>

<p>Best wishes to all of you high school students applying to college this year. Don't forget to apply to a good "safety" college along with your "reach" colleges.</p>

2

<p>I don't know if this counts but on CB it says to apply to University of Wisconsin Green Bay, "ACT reports should be supplied prior to receiving admission."</p>

<p><a href="http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=4042&profileId=6%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=4042&profileId=6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>and then there's University of Wisconsin-Barron County which says specifically on Collegeboard "Act is preferred"</p>

<p><a href="http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3812&profileId=6%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3812&profileId=6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I think I won :)</p>

3

<p>Also then there's Brigham Young which REQUIRES the ACT's.</p>

<p><a href="http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=843&profileId=6%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=843&profileId=6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Game, Set, Match, If I do say so myself. :)</p>

4

<p>On U of Wisconsin--Green Bay, see </p>

<p>


</p>

<p><a href="http://www.uwgb.edu/admissions/freshmen/admissions_requirements.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.uwgb.edu/admissions/freshmen/admissions_requirements.html&lt;/a> </p>

<p>On U of Wisconsin--Barron County, see </p>

<p><a href="http://www.barron.uwc.edu/admissions/application.html#C%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.barron.uwc.edu/admissions/application.html#C&lt;/a> </p>

<p>


</p>

<p><a href="http://saas.byu.edu/admissionsServices/admissions/ACT_SAT.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://saas.byu.edu/admissionsServices/admissions/ACT_SAT.php&lt;/a> </p>

<p>I think in all cases the college websites say that they will take either test, and the College Board website may reflect previous policies that haven't been updated. </p>

<p>What do you think? I'm glad you established priority on this, because if you can find a clear-cut case (I don't think you have yet :) ), I'd be honored to read your essay.</p>

5

<p>Taken directly from <a href="https://apps22.uwex.edu/pls/ea/ea.Campus_Section.Save_WIP#INTRO%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://apps22.uwex.edu/pls/ea/ea.Campus_Section.Save_WIP#INTRO&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>(you probably can't access it though because you don't have a current app to UWisc)</p>

<p>

<a href="http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/245/acthz4.jpg%5B/img%5D"&gt;http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/245/acthz4.jpg

</a></p>

6

<p>I think the key phrase, right after the phrase you underlined in the .JPG, is </p>

<p>


</p>

<p>By the way, I found that statement by Googling the quotation on a publicly readable webpage. </p>

<p><a href="https://apps22.uwex.edu/pls/ea/ea.info?app_type=UD%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://apps22.uwex.edu/pls/ea/ea.info?app_type=UD&lt;/a> </p>

<p>That's the real issue for applicants. If there is no advantage to the applicant to take one test rather than the other, there is no need to worry about this. Take whatever test is convenient--every admission office from Utah to Wisconsin and beyond can analyze the scores of either test. </p>

<p>I find it hilarious, by the way, that so far all the links that are turning up prefer the ACT, because all the CC threads I see imply that the SAT is the preferred test. In fact, any applicant can fearlessly submit either test to whichever college the applicant likes. </p>

<p>Thanks for sharing the link.</p>

7

<p><a href="http://www.rmc.edu/prospectives/admissions/process.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.rmc.edu/prospectives/admissions/process.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>...Take the SAT (preferred) or the ACT. (If you take the ACT, we prefer that you take writing section as well, but it is not required.)</p>

<p>It's the same wording as the above, but without the damning next sentence!</p>

<p>Did I win?</p>

<p>Edit: The same thing is also in their online application: <a href="http://www.virginiamentor.org/Applications/Randolph_Macon_College/apply.html?application_id=1344%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.virginiamentor.org/Applications/Randolph_Macon_College/apply.html?application_id=1344&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>This is the whole paragraph regarding scores: </p>

<p>"Take the SAT Reasoning Test of the College Board (preferred) or the American College Test (ACT). You are responsible for seeing that all scores of the SAT or ACT and SAT Subject Tests are reported to the college. Although the SAT Subject Tests are not specifically required, the results of any such tests are helpful in evaluating applications and placing students properly. Especially useful are Subject Test scores in writing, mathematics, and foreign language. These may be reported with the high school transcript or, preferably, from the College Board."</p>

8

<p>Your original post was not concerning whether the tests would be acceptable or not, but rather if they were prefered. We provided the appropriate links and now you are changing what you said in your original post. Never did you say anything about an advantage...simply a preference.</p>

9

<p>none of your links said that they preferred either, they just said the SAT or ACT first because that's what most of their applicants take.</p>

<p>-i got your back token.</p>

10

<p>All of our links have specifically stated that college x prefers either the ACT or SAT. I technically answered the question better only because I found a college that prefers SAT over ACT without any statement claiming that the two would be treated equally =D</p>

11

<p>Let me consider that Randolph-Macon College example overnight. I would consider the Common Data Set score report </p>

<p><a href="http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=576&profileId=6%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=576&profileId=6&lt;/a> </p>

<p>supporting evidence in this case.</p>

12

<p>Rereading the exact wording of my challenge, and considering the College Board </p>

<p><a href="http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=576&profileId=1%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=576&profileId=1&lt;/a> </p>

<p>and College Results Online </p>

<p><a href="http://www.collegeresults.org/search1a.aspx?InstitutionID=233295%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeresults.org/search1a.aspx?InstitutionID=233295&lt;/a> </p>

<p>postings for Randolph-Macon College, I will declare enderkin the winner of the essay reading UNLESS I am told of a verifiable statement by a college of the harder case--that a college won't accept one admission test or the other AT ALL--by midnight Eastern time on Thursday. (I should close the challenge by then so that I have time to read and respond to an essay before ED/EA deadlines.) </p>

<p>I'm impressed by your online searching abilities. When I ask this question among parents here on CC, no one ever finds any links. </p>

<p>Good luck to all of you in your applications.</p>

13

<p>
[quote]
In other words, I don't think I'll have to pay up on my challenge. I don't believe that any student here on CC can find me any current college admission office publication that shows there is a college that prefers one admission test to the other, especially not at any nationally known highly selective college.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Not that I really care cause I don't really need anyone to read my essay over, but technically all of us provided valid links. How was enderkin the first to provide a preference? FredFredBurger should definitely have won because he did exactly as the "competition" asked:

[quote]
The first student who can verify that there is a college with a preference gets a free essay reading and comments from a former professional editor (me).

[/quote]
</p>

14

<p>FredFredBurger didn't link to an actual college website in any of his posts. Also, while UW-GB said it had a 'preference', it really didn't--the SAT and ACT were still weighted exactly the same. and Brigham Young University actually accepts SATs now, as stated on their own website: <a href="http://saas.byu.edu/admissionsServices/schoolRelations/pf/admissions/admissions_criteria.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://saas.byu.edu/admissionsServices/schoolRelations/pf/admissions/admissions_criteria.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

15

<p>He never said a word about weighting the test differnetly..he said preference!</p>

<p>it says VERBATIM "ACT prefered" on the link he provided.</p>

16

<p>According to USA Today, all 4-year college institutions now accept the ACTs. View the article:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-03-18-life-cover-acts_N.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-03-18-life-cover-acts_N.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

17

<p>"where I can verify it that says that that college prefers the SAT I test to the ACT test for college admission decisions,"</p>

18

<p>I declared enderkin the winner of the challenge. He met the exact wording of my challenge most exactly, and did surprise me with what he found. But I offered essay readings to everyone else who posted in the thread (including one junior) because I appreciated the research help. The link fa-la-la-lena posted makes clear that there is no college in the United States that absolutely, positively will not take an ACT score, and by implication from the statements found from ACT-dominant regions, there also isn't any college that absolutely, positively will refuse an SAT score. Take whatever test is convenient for you. If you have an ACT score of 32 or higher, or an SAT score of 2200 or higher, most colleges are going to be GLAD to admit you, even if you submit the test the admission office is less familiar with. </p>

<p>The link found by enderkin did convince me that Randolph-Macon College, for the moment, really prefers the SAT, probably because ACT scores that correspond to the SAT score range of student who enroll at that college are ACT scores that barely show college readiness. (See </p>

<p><a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/highered/ra/sat/satACT_concordance.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/highered/ra/sat/satACT_concordance.pdf&lt;/a> </p>

<p>for an ACT-SAT score concordance table, and </p>

<p><a href="http://www.act.org/news/data/07/pdf/National2007.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.act.org/news/data/07/pdf/National2007.pdf&lt;/a> </p>

<p>for the ACT benchmarks for readiness for college study.) There are a lot of high school students who are college-eligible but not college-ready. The college found by enderkin is selective in admission, in that it doesn't admit all of its applicants, but has an applicant pool such that it barely can be sure its admitted students are ready for college-level classes. The way to make sure your scores are acceptable to any college, regardless of the brand name on the scores, is to get high scores on one test or the other. The colleges that can choose students from the highest end of the score distribution no longer care about which brand name is on the test--they know a 34 on the ACT is at or above the 75th percentile level of any college that reports ACT score percentiles. It's the test-taker who gets about 500 per section on the SAT, or about 22 per section on the ACT, who may have to worry a little bit what a college says it prefers--but that student should probably take the other test anyway, to see if that rest results in a higher percentile score. </p>

<p>Good luck to this year's applicants. If you're applying to, for example, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, and the like, getting a high score on EITHER test is more important than what brand of test you take.</p>

19

<p>Wow! I'm amazed at the correlation between the two scores given in the links by TokenAdult. I'm another token adult :-) and my son's scores are pretty close to the predicted correlation. He got a 1360 on the SAT (CR and Math) and a 32 on the ACT composite. He thought he did "much better" on the ACT, but the charts show that he scored pretty close to what correlation value is on the SAT.</p>

20

<p>Though ther has already been a winner, I'll post another (Wisconsin, predictably) college that blatantly states it's preference...</p>

<p><a href="http://www.uwsp.edu/admissions/acadunit2.aspx%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.uwsp.edu/admissions/acadunit2.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>
[quote]
Test Scores</p>

<p>The ACT or SAT is required of all new freshman applicants under age 21. While we prefer the ACT, there is not an advantage in submitting one test rather than the other. We do not require the ACT writing test.

[/quote]
</p>