SAT? ACT? It's Standardized Test Madness!!!

[Mendi-chan]

In case I haven't said it before, I'm currently a Junior in high school. This means it's a mad dash towards graduation day, filled with thoughts essays, frantic attempts to boost GPA, a desperate search for grants and scholarships, and the all to famous standardized tests. Ah, these tests have the ability to make many-a-student tremble in fear. Just the three letters of S-A-T or A-C-T can strike terror into the hearts of high schoolers. Thankfully for me, I'm Asian. I get automatic high standardized test scores. XD

But in all seriousness, I've come here looking for some input. I've taken both the SAT and ACT, and I'm just wondering where I stand. Currently I have an ACT score of 29 and an SAT score of 1840. I know that these definitely aren't 'bad' scores, however I have no clue as to what exactly they all mean for my high school resume. Could anybody help enlighten me on how to speak this strange foreign language?

[Helel]

Well, I don't mean to be nosy or rude, but the overall cumulative scores (unless they're perfect) don't do us a lot of good for trying to see how you stand.

That said, it also helps to know what you're planning on doing in the future- obviously, if you're leaning towards something liberal-artsy, you'll need to focus more on the reading/writing sections. On the other hand, if you're going toward a more science/mathematics leaning, you'll need better scores in the math/science sections.

So, where am I going with this? Well, depending on where you want to go in the future, you may want to take one test and focus more on preparing for future tests for better scores (who doesn't want to do better?) for either ACT or SAT. From my experience, ACT is generally better for science-y stuff, with SAT have a larger focus on reading/writing for English related liberal arts or whathaveyou.

From there, depending on where you wanna apply, certain colleges prefer one test over another, so if you have a BURNING urge to go to a particular place- find their preference, and prepare accordingly.

All else said, your scores seem to be fairly above average to me, but that's just me.

[Xia]

29 on the ACT is pretty decent

as for the SAT...I think its out of 2400 now? not sure. Back when i took it, I got a 1470/1600

[Sensei Kimiko]

most schools won't tell you, but it was my experience that they have some wierd formula like SAT/100 + GPA = X. If X is high enough you're in. You might try calling the school admissions dept. where you want to go and see what they will tell you.

[Haylie]

See, I was trying NOT to think of those things. I think I'm going to die of the shakes now. I was never a good test-taker to begin with, and I'm not the smartest guy in the world. Quite the contrary, actually. Studying is one of the banes of my existance.

[ZeroForever]

pretty much what helel and x said.. hard to judge and things change with the times and it's dependent on the sections not the total score

if i remeber high 20's to 30s in ACT was good, can't remeber what the total score was for the life of me... all i remeber is i had a 32 or so on that and it was good but still overall slightly worse then my SAT score.

1450/1600 on the SAT's with the new writing section i'm not sure what the good area is.

wait till you take the grad school tests... now those are fun...

[Mendi-chan]

Thanks all for the input, it's greatly appreciated. ^_^

[Helel]

Glad to be of ah-sees-te-aunce

[Rowan]

Colleges look less and less at standardized testing anymore. If you have a lot of extracurriculars and things its a huge bonus.