<p>"I also recommend trying the ACT first-that was one of the first things I learned on college confidential. Remember, ACT has score choice. The student gets to decide which score(s) to send. All SAT scores get sent. If your daughter starts with ACT and is happy with her score, she doesn't have to take SAT. If she starts with SAT and subject tests and does better on ACT, it will not be possible to "hide" the SAT score from any school that also requires subject tests."</p>
<p>I second that! I wish we'd known about that when D was taking her tests. Her ACT was wa-a-ay better (like 200+ SAT points according to the conversion chart) than her SAT. After she got her ACT report, she said that she "has SAT-ed out". Some of her friends got the opposite results.</p>
<p>The only trouble with January testing is you may not have had time to get the PSAT back and see what your weak spots are. But I do think having the option of retaking May or June of junior year is a good one. It still leaves a final slot in the fall of senior year if you still are unhappy with your scores. Don't forget that you will probably want to also use a May or June test date for the SAT subject tests.</p>
<p>My son is taking an SAT prep course. They said that for years they have recommended the January date for the first time. However, there has been a state-wide calendar change which leaves us with finals at about the same time as the January date, so they now say to take it in December.</p>
<p>If I'm remembering correctly, all of the PSAT results come to the high schools, in December, with the result that some distrubute the info in December and some in January.</p>
<p>Regarding PSAT scores, they may get to the HS in Dec or Jan, but our school district does not give the scores to students until the last week of school in May. Hence, the PSAT results do not figure into SAT or ACT testing schedule around here. So my junior student is taking ACT in October this year to get it out of the way when convenient.</p>
<p>From what I've seen on CC, MOST schools release the results of the PSAT in December before the break. Ask your GC, they should be able to tell you what they've done in the past. I also vote for Jan with a retake in May or June if necessary. My D preferred taking SAT II's that corresponed to AP's in May since everything is fresh for the AP tests which are harder. I would strongly recommend NOT waiting until fall of senior year for the retake as your D will be very busy with applications at that time.</p>