Being Competitive with ACT and SAT

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Skywalker77

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Looking at the admissions website it doesn't say if you should have both ACT and SAT or just one will make you competitive. Should I take both or is one fine?
 
The SA's don't care which you take, so long as the score is as high as possible. And they "super-score" so they assemble the best component scores over time. So it is to your advantage to take multiple exams for the SA's.

The raison d'être for taking BOTH the SAT and the ACT is that many students will do significantly better on one test versus the other. The SAT and ACT are different exams, and trying both options allows you to perhaps repeat the one that you do better at or are more comfortable with.

Some argue that the ACT measures accumulated knowledge, whereas the SAT is more of a test of logic and test taking ability. Either way, why guess on which one is better? Take both and then concentrate on the one that is the best fit.
 
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As someone who’s also soon applying, I’m taking both since each test covers different subjects (ACT has science and SAT doesn’t). They each require a different mentality and different strategies, and one is offer easier than the other for different people. I personally prefer the SAT just because I’ve spent more time studying it’s strategies and questions, but my friend did horrible on the SAT and really got an the ACT. It really matters on the person! So I would take both at least once to be sure which one you do better in
 
zoesmith said:
As someone who’s also soon applying, I’m taking both since each test covers different subjects (ACT has science and SAT doesn’t). They each require a different mentality and different strategies, and one is offer easier than the other for different people. I personally prefer the SAT just because I’ve spent more time studying it’s strategies and questions, but my friend did horrible on the SAT and really got an the ACT. It really matters on the person! So I would take both at least once to be sure which one you do better in
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New edit since I made a ton of mistakes:
As someone who’s also soon applying, I’m taking both since each test covers different subjects (ACT has science and SAT doesn’t). They each require a different mentality and different strategies, and one is often easier than the other for different people. I personally prefer the SAT just because I’ve spent more time studying its strategies and questions. My friend on the other hand, did horrible on the SAT and really good on the ACT. It really matters on the person. So I would take both at least once to be sure which one you do better in. For the SAT, the Blackbook is really helpful, so I would definitely buy it and study it as much as possible. Also, use Khan Academy and take a SAT full length practice test. They're accurate, so you can see how you do after some studying. Do the same with a full length ACT test, and see which you can score better on and which you prefer. From the USAFA website, the average is a 30 on the ACT and a 1370 on the SAT. I made these my goal, but I would say really try to get at least a 1400 on the SAT and over 30 on the ACT as it can help you be more competitive for a nomination. Good luck!
 
Having had my son go through this process, I would strongly recommend taking the tests as early as possible. It gives you time to up your game...if needed. In my son's case, it brought him peace of mind so he could focus on other aspects of the application. Good luck. BTW - He did significantly better on ACT, so taking both is probably a solid suggestion.
 
AROTC-dad said:
The SA's don't care which you take, so long as the score is as high as possible. And they "super-score" so they assemble the best component scores over time. So it is to your advantage to take multiple exams for the SA's.

The raison d'être for taking BOTH the SAT and the ACT is that many students will do significantly better on one test versus the other. The SAT and ACT are different exams, and trying both options allows you to perhaps repeat the one that you do better at or are more comfortable with.

Some argue that the ACT measures accumulated knowledge, whereas the SAT is more of a test of logic and test taking ability. Either way, why guess on which one is better? Take both and then concentrate on the one that is the best fit.
Click to expand...
DD bombed both SAT and ACT so stayed with SAT only to keep costs down. Thus, Plans B-ZZ. :)
 
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