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@ajdekon
96 answers, 206 votes
 • 5 years ago •
Admissions Advice

Should I report my SAT, ACT, or both to colleges?
Answered

I'm a rising senior and I was lucky enough to be able to take both the SAT and ACT before COVID. I scored 1540 on the SAT (780 math, 760 R&W) and 32 on the ACT. I was registered for the July ACT before COVID (but that test date could possibly be canceled) and I will be taking the SAT again in the fall because my school provides the test for free (rescheduled from the April test date). Is it better for me to send/self-report both scores or just my SAT? I don't want my chances of being accepted to be lowered by my ACT score, and I don't think my ACT score will end up being better than my SAT score. I have a 4.12 W, 4.0 UW GPA, with 7 APs by the time I graduate, and strong extracurriculars. I want to study either mechanical or aerospace engineering and I plan to apply to Duke, UMich, Northeastern, Northwestern, UIUC, Georgia Tech, Purdue, University of Wisconsin, and Michigan State.

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@parenta5 years ago

You should be fine with just the SAT - that is a great score. The ACT is good as well, but not necessary to report both. Also you do not need to take the SAT again.

[🎤 AUTHOR]@ajdekon5 years ago

I wouldn't take the SAT again if my school didn't require it, but I have to because the school has to provide a free test for all students.

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@jcdenton
expert
256 answers, 320 votes
 • 5 years ago

Submit the SAT score. A 32 on the ACT roughly corresponds to an SAT score in the low-1400s, so a 1540 is significantly better than a 32. A 1540 should be enough to get you attention at all of the schools you're mentioning, though if you're taking the SAT again, there's no harm in trying to raise it to the 1550+ range.

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@KDennis
4 answers, 14 votes
 • 5 years ago

I would personally just submit my SAT score. You almost got a perfect score. You’re more lucky than me because I did not get to take my SAT before COVID-19 but even if I did I doubt that I would have gotten a 1540 like you. Congratulations. Would you mind sharing how you studied and got such a great score?

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[🎤 AUTHOR]@ajdekon5 years ago

I was able to take the PSAT in 9th, 10th, and 11th grade so I connected my CollegeBoard account to Khan Academy and used their specialized practice based on the problems I struggled with on the PSATs I had taken. I mainly practiced math questions on there, because there are a lot of simple math concepts that you forget about that show up on standardized tests. For the reading and writing portions, I looked up the main grammar rules and concepts for the SAT and wrote them all down (1/?)

[🎤 AUTHOR]@ajdekon5 years ago

because a lot of the questions are easily answered if you know the rules to explain it. Reading a lot of different styles of writing also helps you with preparing for that section. For the test overall, also for the ACT, I looked up simple tricks that helped people score higher and chose the ones that I liked. Some of those are skipping problems math problems if you can't solve them in one try and coming back later, bubbling in the answer sheet one test booklet page at a time, and picking (2/?)

[🎤 AUTHOR]@ajdekon5 years ago

Only one letter to answer whenever I was unsure of a question. Doing practice timed tests and such online also helps put you in the test mindset and allows you to see how good you are at taking tests and thinking while under pressure. (3/3)

@KDennis5 years ago

Over what period of time did you do all of this? It kinda sounds like something you’ve been doing for a year or so. I only have a couple months in till I take the SAT so I’m not sure if I can study and memorize everything.

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