Seems like most schools accept either. Now that the unofficial rules of SAT allow one to take it as often as one likes and adding up the top scores in each section a second reasonable stradegy seems to just take the ACT, particularly if one is stronger in math than language, as most things you read say that math is emphasized more on the ACT. A second advantage is that schools that accept the ACT do not require you to take SAT II’s, a distinct saving in time, money, and aggrevation. Yet on the east coast very few high school students seem to take the ACT’s. Does anyone have an opinion as to whether my stradegy is a good one, or are the masses, who only do and redo the SAT’s have the right idea?
I’ve heard it recommended most often now to take both more than once. I knew people who just took the ACT, as they were staying close to home and most southern colleges prefer the ACT, but everyone who applied to schools in different parts of the country took both. It makes more sense to take both anyway, because people tend to do better with one test or the other. The ACT is more balanced between subject areas, so if your ability levels are dramatically different in math and verbal, I should think you’d want to take the ACT more than the SAT because you have other subject areas like science to balance out the difference. I did better on the SAT myself, but that’s because I had a few problems with the science section of the ACT the last time I took it and that pulled down my overall score.
So I’d take both at least twice. If you’re noticably better in one test than another, use those scores. But just be aware that the ACT doesn’t send out a cumulative record of your scores to your schools of choice. They just send out the results from the most recent test you took…but if you send some colleges all of your scores, they’ll pick and choose your best subtest scores. It’s definitely not all colleges or even most, but some do that just like the SAT. The SAT sends all of your results. Oh, and if you’re applying to a really selective college that wants you to take SAT II’s, take those too. The ACT won’t make up for those at the really tough schools…I think that really hurt me when I was applying to a few selective places.
I don’t know if I’d agree that the ACT emphasizes math more than the SAT. The ACT only has one math section, out of four total sections, while the SAT is around half math. However, I would say that the math on the SAT was easier than that on the ACT (although I’ve taken each test only once, so I don’t have experience with different iterations).
I would definitely recommend taking both tests. I think I prefer the SAT, mainly because there is no science section (which is scored very stringently on the ACT…if you miss even just two questions or so, it drops your score for that section from 36 to around 30). I also thought the SAT was better paced, since I hated working just on one section for such a long time on the ACT. Bottom line, though, you’ll get to see what areas you’re strong in and decide from there whether to take either test again.