Should I submit both and ACT and SAT score to colleges when I apply?Answered
Hi! Should I submit an ACT and an SAT score to the University I will apply to? I haven't taken the SAT yet since I'm a sophomore and they didn't allow us to take the PSAT in the fall because of Covid. I plan on taking the PSAT in the fall of 2021 and the SAT in the spring. Do colleges like to see both test scores or just one? Thank you!
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2 answers
There is no harm in submitting both the SAT and ACT as long as both of them are concordance equivalents. For example, if you get 1550 on the SAT and 35 on the ACT then they are 99%+ percentile scores. But if you took the SAT 4 times and got a 1520 and took the ACT once and got a 35, then I would only submit the ACT because it's a higher percentile bracket.
I wouldn't spend an extra 100-200 hours mastering the ACT if you already have a high SAT score or vice versa. Since the whole point of submitting either is to show you have met or exceeded the 50% middle threshold for previous admits, then it's just a litmus test for how you might perform as a Freshman taking college courses. You are not going to get extra points or extra consideration if you submit both test scores. It's an unnecessary flex like submitting SAT II subject tests in the future when they don't matter and are being phased out next month.
The downside of focusing too much on trying to submit 2 high SAT and ACT scores is that you should have spent the 200 hours doing something else in your EC portfolio of activities. Also since many people in higher education believe that the ability to prep for the SAT and ACT and take advantage of test prep tutoring, online courses, buying all the materials, the cost of taking the tests multiple times, is tied to cis wealthy privilege. Therefore, you may want to curb that assumption about your narrative if it matters to you.
Hope that helps
I believe just one is good enough, though some people take both to kind of test them out. I'd say submitting one is enough, but if you did great on both I guess it couldn't hurt to submit both. Just remember, though, that colleges will look at how many times you took standardized tests to gauge how much emphasis you placed on them. You don't want to come across as too testing-focused. Also, just FYI, you can take the SAT whenever if you really want. I took it in 8th grade just to see where I was.
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Thank you so much! This helped a lot!!