<p>OK, so I really don't know much along when I should take SAT/ ACT. I'm a junior now, hoping to get into a pretty good school, ie. top 20. When should I take the SAT? I took the PSAT last year, and am taking it again this year, with no plans for the SAT or ACT yet. I do know some people who are already getting ready to take the SAT, meaning classes for it, study books, and scheduled dates. I on the other hand have done none of this.</p>
<ol>
<li>When should I plan to take it the first time?</li>
<li>Do I need to study? should I get a book? should I do review sessions? How necessary are these if my goal is 2100-2250?</li>
<li><p>I'm a lot better at Math/ Science than I am at English so I heard I should take the ACT, should I only take this once?</p></li>
<li><p>Lastly, if you don't mind sharing and still remember, what are all the scores you've gotten on PSAT, SAT, ACT, and what did you do to prepare for each? I'm asking because I want to know what to expect.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you’re a junior, you can be doing all this right now. The best preparation is simply to do practice tests under real time restrictions. You’ll want to take both the ACT and SAT, and you’ll want to give yourself time to take each one multiple times if necessary, so it would be ideal to take your first one in the second half of your junior year.</p>
<p>And really, asking other people for their scores isn’t going to help you out. People on CC tend to have <em>extremely</em> high scores for whatever reason, and the people who are willing to share even moreso. For instance, I got a 34 on my ACT with minimal prep. Doesn’t mean you should use my strategy, especially since you already have an idea of what kind of score you want.</p>
<p>As far as the idea that the ACT is better for math/science kids, that idea is completely false. If you’re good at high school science, that doesn’t mean you’ll be good at the ACT science. At all. Frankly, the ACT science section is about reading graphs. You’ll do well on both the ACT math and SAT math, but it’s hard to predict how you’ll do on the ACT Science or SAT writing until you actually take them. So take both if you’re not happy with your score.</p>