Skipping ACT - bad strategy?

[MarkT]

DS (rising Senior)  did very well for a first try SAT.

His B&M charter ran a test prep class for the Juniors and they took one practice SAT and one practice ACT.

DS scored a 29 on the ACT practice - his real SAT equivalent would be 31

Because of that score he doesn't want to take the ACT at all. (original plan was the June ACT)

 

For almost all the colleges he is going to apply to he should easily get in with his current SAT score.

One of the colleges seems to prefer the ACT (since that's what they publish for averages etc).

 

We are looking for merit scholarships.

Do you think that skipping the ACT would impact merit aid for the above college?

 

He is planning on re-taking the SAT.

 

thanks

Mark 

[Lilaclady]

I think almost all colleges accept both so it should be fine but I will call the other school that only publishes ACT scores to make sure they will take the SAT

[regentrude]

I have not seen any college that didn't accept either test. 

What do the colleges you looked at say on their websites?

 

One reason a college may publish only an ACT average is that very few students at this school have SAT scores. It has nothing to do with the college's preference but with geography. In some states, ACT testing is prevalent for historic reasons; in some, it is done for all high schoolers and paid by the state, so hardly anybody takes the SAT. 

Edited June 9, 2017 by regentrude

[Ann.without.an.e]

I think most experts say to take a full practice of both and then prep for your strongest.  It sounds like you already know SAT will be his strongest so focus there.  Good luck.

 

[JanetC]

Confirm with admissions of that one outlier school, but I doubt SAT vs ACT will be a limiting factor for merit aid.

[Arcadia]

DS scored a 29 on the ACT practice - his real SAT equivalent would be 31

Because of that score he doesn't want to take the ACT at all. (original plan was the June ACT)

If you are talking about taking the ACT tomorrow, I'll just bribe him to take it as a once and done. We bribe our boys with whatever restaurant they want to go to for lunch or dinner.

 

The reason is both my kids did better on the actual ACT and SAT than they did on practice tests. The ACT composite was 7 points higher for my older and 5 points higher for my younger compared to the practice test. Total silence in the exam halls was wonderful for my kids.

 

You already paid up and it is a Saturday morning so all your son lose is a few hours of sleep (if he tends to sleep late) or morning down time.

[8filltheheart]

Have you googled the school's name and common data set? It may not be on their website but it may be in their published stat info.

[MarkT]

If you are talking about taking the ACT tomorrow, I'll just bribe him to take it as a once and done. We bribe our boys with whatever restaurant they want to go to for lunch or dinner.

 

The reason is both my kids did better on the actual ACT and SAT than they did on practice tests. The ACT composite was 7 points higher for my older and 5 points higher for my younger compared to the practice test. Total silence in the exam halls was wonderful for my kids.

 

no I discussed it with him a while back - we did not sign up

[MarkT]

Have you googled the school's name and common data set? It may not be on their website but it may be in their published stat info.

I have no idea what you mean here

 

that college accepts the SAT but seems to "advertise"  the ACT

so would that some how impact possible merit aid - he definitely is in the upper quarter with his current SAT score and grades for that school IMHO

Edited June 9, 2017 by MarkT

[8filltheheart]

I have no idea what you mean here

 

that college accepts the SAT but seems to "advertise"  the ACT

so would that some how impact possible merit aid - he definitely is in the upper quarter with his current SAT score and grades for that school IMHO

 

I would call the school and ask, but it would be unusual for a school to only award scholarships based on the ACT.  

[Julie of KY]

You could skip it, but I'd tend to do it for real and see what they get. 

[Corraleno]

I agree with Arcadia that it's a good idea to do at least one real test of each, because the real scores may be quite different from the practice scores. In practice DS did better on the ACT than the SAT, but on the actual exams he did better on the SAT — SAT score was 50 pts higher than in practice, while ACT was 3 points lower. He took the SAT again last week and is doing the ACT again tomorrow, and we'll see if that pattern holds. 

One advantage of the ACT is that some schools require *either* the SAT + 2 subject tests *or* the ACT (no subject tests). If you know your DS will be taking subject tests, that's no big deal, but if there's any concern that he might not take them, or might not score well on them, it's not a bad idea to have a nice ACT score as back up.

[Guest]

Do both.

Due to ec scheduling ACT was where my son was on top of his game. He is very happy he did it, because the admissions counselor told him it gave him more merit aid then his sat score.

[MarkT]

My son is a rising HS Senior he will decide (let them have responsibility) - so far haven't seen any strong arguments why to take it but I will run it by him

[catz]

29 is one of the borderline scores that can open up a lot of doors at 31 or 32.  I'd encourage him to do a little prep and try it again.  Sometimes a couple points are easily achievable after worst case is he doesn't report.  If he really has a clear picture what he wants to do maybe that isn't necessary but I tend to stay on the side of keeping doors open.

 

My kid does better on the SAT format too.  A little unfortunate given our location!  He's actually at the ACT today and will try the PSAT as a junior in the fall.

[madteaparty]

I have no idea,but DS says the science section today was hard for him. We didn't prep that section, but for whatever that's worth.