Should I take the ACT?

llamaintheroom · July 9

I know that this has been posted a lot before but I couldn't really find a person with close to my situation (if there are please feel free to link them). I am going into senior year and I have 1310 on my SAT which was taken with maybe a week of preparation and on a day I did not eat breakfast and was sick. To be honest, I'm not really aiming for an ivy league or some top school, but I do want to get into a good school with possibly honors and I want to go to medical school. I am taking the SAT again, in about two months, and I am already prepping for it. However, hearing about friends taking the ACT and knowing that it is more science-based (and I am planning to go to school for a biology major) I am now wondering if I should take it. As I said, I'm not a person to aim for a top school but I would really love to get at least a good chunk of merit scholarships from a school. Does it really just depend on how good my upcoming SAT is on if I should the ACT or would you recommend I just take both anyway? I have heard that you should only study for the SAT or the ACT and it is summer, so I want to enjoy it and not overwork my brain. I also am unsure of how much time I would need in between ACT tests to study enough (especially with some of the schools that could offer me a nice percentage of merit scholarships want early admission).
Thanks in advance!

BuckeyeMomX3 · July 10

My belief is that you should take both the SAT and ACT. My daughter also received a disappointing SAT score (1320), which leaves her out of the running for merit scholarships at the two main schools she is looking at, although she has a high GPA, and should probably still be able to get into both colleges. However, with the 30 she received on her first try at the ACT, she is eligible for merit scholarships at both schools and her likelihood of getting accepted shoots up. The main difference for her was the Science component. Like you, she plans to major in Biology (or Biology/Biochemistry) as a pre-med major. She has a high aptitude for Science and that most assuredly helped her when she took the ACT. She also scored better in the Math area on the ACT. I would love to hear how things go if you do take the ACT. Please post an update.

Edited to add: A 1310 is a very good score by the way. Probably not enough for Ivy League, but strong enough to get you into most universities in the United States and you did better than most. I wanted to make sure you understand this!

momofsenior1 · July 10

Take a practice test and see how you do. Some students do better on one format over the other.

llamaintheroom · July 11

@BuckeyeMomX3 that makes a lot of sense thank you (and I already realized that my score was disappointing for what I know I can do). I'm going to try to do what @momofsenior1 suggested and take a practice test on the ACT and then see how it goes from there- I will probably end up taking it though. If you know, does having the ACT on my record (if I get a good score) make my app more appealing to colleges with my Biology major?

Knowsstuff · July 11

No difference to colleges which one to send. Kids usually do better on Act of Sat doesn't turn out the way they want it to. Also depends which schools your shooting for.

suzyQ7 · July 11

There are tons of practice tests online. Find an alarm clock and time yourself strictly before the practice test. Buy first read up on the test format so you know what to expect.

mamaedefamilia · July 11

@llamaintheroom My older kid did better on the ACT than the SAT, so it's worth a try to do a timed practice test and see how it goes. ACT is faster-paced but somewhat more straightforward than the ACT, for example, there will be fewer lengthy word problems in the math section. The science section is less about science content and more about your ability to read and interpret scientific texts, tables, charts, etc. This section also tends to have a fairly harsh scoring curve. Good luck!

Should I take the ACT?

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