CAN YOU TAKE THE ACT AND OR SAT I AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT TO?

I HAVE BEEN ASKED THIS QUESTION MANY TIMES. RIGHT NOW, AS OF 2010 JANUARY, YES YOU CAN TAKE BOTH TESTS AS MANY TIMES AS YOU LIKE. HOWEVER, THERE IS ONE THING THAT YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST DO CORRECTLY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS!!!

YOU MUST NEVER SEND SCORES FROM THE ACT OR SAT I TO COLLEGES UNLESS YOU ARE DONE WITH ALL YOUR TESTING AND YOU KNOW YOUR HIGHEST SCORES. THEN YOU SIMPLY CONTACT EITHER TEST ORGANIZATION AND HAVE THEM SEND THAT ONE SCORE THAT IS YOUR BEST AND IT LOOKS LIKE TO COLLEGE THAT YOU JUST TOOK THE TEST ONE TIME AND DID SUPER!!!!! IF YOU SEND ALL YOUR SCORES COLLEGES CAN SEE HOW MANY TIMES YOU TOOK THE TEST AND THIS MAY NOT LOOK AS WELL AS SENDING JUST ONE GREAT SCORE. NOW SOMETIMES YOU DO HAVE TO SEND ALL YOUR SCORES TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SUPER SCORING. THAT IS FINE.

BOTH THE ACT AND MORE RECENTLY THE SAT DO RIGHT NOW ALLOW YOU TO HAVE CONTROL OVER WHAT COLLEGES SEE OF YOUR SCORES. YOU CAN PICK WHICH TESTS YOU WANT THEM TO SEE, AND ON THE SAT I YOU CAN EVEN PICK AND CHOOSE WHICH TESTS BY DATES YOU WANT THEM TO SEE (THIS IS CALLED "SCORE CHOICE" AND YOU CAN SEE A BETTER EXPLANATION OF THIS AT:

http://sat.collegeboard.com/register/sat-score-choice

YOU CAN ALSO DO THIS FOR THE ACT. DON'T WORRY IF YOU HAVE ACCIDENTALLY SENT SOME SCORES TO SOME COLLEGES ALREADY. IT IS NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL, BUT IT IS A SMALL ADVANTAGE THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO USE. THEORETICALLY COLLEGES SHOULD NOT CARE ABOUT SEEING HOW MANY TIMES YOU TAKE THE TEST SINCE THEY PICK THE HIGHEST SCORE BUT MOST PEOPLE IN THE INDUSTRY FEEL IT IS BETTER JUST TO SHOW THEM ONE GOOD SOLID SCORE. I AGREE.

HOW DO I REGISTER FOR THE SAT I OR SAT II (SUBJECT TEST)?

THE ABSOLUTE EASIEST WAY TO REGISTER FOR THE SAT I OR THE SAT II SUBJECT TEST IS TO DO IT ONLINE. YOU CAN GOTO WWW.COLLEGEBOARD.COM AND DO THIS. YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO MAKE UP A USER NAME AND A PASSWORD. THEN THE SITE WILL LEAD YOU THROUGH THE ENTIRE REGISTRATION PROCESS. BEWARE! THE FIRST TIME YOU REGISTER YOU WILL HAVE TO ANSWER A LOT OF QUESTIONS FOR COLLEGES. PLEASE DO THIS. I KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF QUESTIONS AND IT TAKES A LONG TIME BUT IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

YOU CAN ALSO REGISTER BY OBTAINING A REGISTRATION HANDBOOK FROM YOUR COLLEGE COUNSELOR. THEN YOU CAN FILL OUT EVERYTING YOURSELF AND MAIL IT IN. I DO BELIEVE THAT DOING IT ONLINE IS BEST; IT WILL CAUSE MUCH LESS PROBLEMS IN THE FUTURE.

THE SAT I IS THE TEST THAT YOU NEED TO TAKE FOR ADMISSIONS TO COLLEGE. IT IS ALSO CALLED THE "SCHOLASTIC APTITUDE TEST". THE SAT II TEST IS THE SUBJECT TEST. IT HAS MANY DIFFERENT ONE HOUR TESTS THAT YOU CAN TAKE TO DEMONSTRATE YOUR MASTERY OF CERTAIN SUBJECTS THAT YOU HAVE TAKEN IN HIGH SCHOOL. SOME COMPETITIVE COLLEGES REQUIRE 2 OR 3 SAT II SUBJECT TESTS. SOME COLLEGES WILL WAIVE THE SAT II SUBJECT TEST REQUIREMENT IF YOU MAKE A CERTAIN SCORE ON THE SAT I OR ACT. IT IS BEST TO CHECK WITH THE PARTICULAR COLLEGES YOU ARE INTERSTED IN.

HOW DO I REGISTER FOR THE ACT?

THE ABSOLUTE EASIEST WAY TO REGISTER FOR THE ACT IS TO DO IT ONLINE. YOU CAN GOTO WWW.ACT.ORG AND DO THIS. YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO MAKE UP A USER NAME AND A PASSWORD. THEN THE SITE WILL LEAD YOU THROUGH THE ENTIRE REGISTRATION PROCESS. BEWARE! THE FIRST TIME YOU REGISTER YOU WILL HAVE TO ANSWER A LOT OF QUESTIONS FOR COLLEGES. PLEASE DO THIS. I KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF QUESTIONS AND IT TAKES A LONG TIME BUT IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

YOU CAN ALSO REGISTER BY OBTAINING A REGISTRATION HANDBOOK FROM YOUR COLLEGE COUNSELOR. THEN YOU CAN FILL OUT EVERYTING YOURSELF AND MAIL IT IN. I DO BELIEVE THAT DOING IT ONLINE IS BEST; IT WILL CAUSE MUCH LESS PROBLEMS IN THE FUTURE.

WHAT ARE THE TWO SCORES I JUST RECEIVED FROM THE ACT? WHICH ONE IS CORRECT??

I KNOW VERY WELL THAT THIS CAN BE VERY CONFUSING. THE ACT WILL INITIALLY POST A SCORE ON THE INTERNET (WWW.ACT.ORG) THAT IS A COMPOSITE SCORE OF YOUR ACT THAT YOU JUST TOOK WITHOUT THE ESSAY BEING INCLUDED!!!!! THEN, SHORTLY THEREAFTER THEY WILL POST ANOTHER COMPOSITE SCORE WITH THE ESSAY INCLUDED. THE SECOND SCORE IS NOW REALLY THE ONE THAT COLLEGES SEEM TO BE USING. GENERALLY THE ESSAY CAN BRING YOUR ENTIRE ACT SCORE UP OR DOWN BY ONE POINT (IT RARELY BUT SOMETIMES CAN DO MORE). SO YOUR FIRST SCORE YOU SEE FROM THE ACT IS WITHOUT THE ESSAY. IT IS GENERALLY WITHING +1 OR -1 OF YOUR FINAL TRUE ACT SCORE. THE SECOND SCORE IS THE ACTUAL SCORE. YOU CAN ALWAYS OBTAIN YOUR ACT SCORE ROUGHLY TWO WEEKS AFTER YOU TOOK THE ACT ONLINE AT WWW.ACT.ORG.

THE ESSAY ON THE ACT

RECENTLY IN 2010 THE ESSAY ON THE ACT HAS BECOME EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. WHEN THE ACT FIRST PUT THE ESSAY IN ITS TEST, COLLEGES SEEMED TO LOOK AT THE OLD COMPOSITE SCORE (THE COMPOSITE SCORE WITHOUT THE ESSAY). NOW THEY ARE LOOKING AT THE COMPOSITE SCORE WITH THE ESSAY! THE ESSAY HAS THE POWER TO BRING YOUR ENTIRE COMPOSITE SCORE UP OR DOWN AT LEAST A POINT, IF NOT MORE. THE ESSAY SCORE IS INTEGRATED WITH THE ENGLISH SUBSECTION SCORE AND CAN BRING YOUR ENGLISH SCORE UP OR DOWN BY SEVERAL POINTS THEREBY AFFECTING YOUR OVERALL ACT COMPOSITE SCORE. SO YES THE ACT AND THE SAT I ESSAY ARE VERY IMPORTANT. DO YOUR BEST; DO NOT BLOW THEM OFF!

SHOULD I TAKE BOTH THE ACT AND THE SAT I ?

I BELIEVE I HAVE ADDRESSED THIS SOMEWHAT BEFORE, BUT LET ME MAKE IT VERY CLEAR. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TAKE BOTH THE ACT AND THE SAT I. HOWEVER, IF YOU ARE APPLYING TO A VERY COMPETITIVE COLLEGE TAKING BOTH TESTS WILL ABSOLUTELY HELP IN YOUR GAINING ADMISSIONS TO ANY COLLEGE, ESPECIALLY A COMPETITIVE COLLEGE. COLLEGE ADMISSIONS PERSONNEL LOVE TO SEE A STUDENT WHO SCORES WELL ON BOTH THE ACT AND THE SAT I. THAT IS VERY WELL RESPECTED AND INDICATIVE TO THEM OF GREAT INTELLECTUAL ABILITY. HOWEVER, YOU SHOULD ONLY SUBMIT SCORES FROM BOTH TESTS IF YOU DO WELL ON BOTH TESTS AND IF YOUR TEST SCORES ON BOTH TESTS ARE SIMILAR. YOU NEVER WANT TO SUBMIT A SCORE THAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU LOOK GOOD. YOU DO NOT WANT TO SUBMIT BOTH AN ACT AND SAT I SCORE IF THE SCORES DIFFER GREATLY. PLEASE REMEMBER THIS! A GREAT CONTRAST BETWEEN SCORES CAN BE INTERPRETED NEGATIVELY. WE NEVER WANT TO KNOWINGLY LET A COLLEGE SEE ANY WEAKNESS WE HAVE!

WHY AM I GETTING SO MUCH MAIL FROM COLLEGES RIGHT NOW? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

MOST PSAT SCORES ARE REPORTED TO COLLEGES. IN FACT, THERE USED TO BE A BOX YOU COULD CHECK ON THE PSAT TO RELEASE YOUR PSAT SCORES TO PROSPECTIVE COLLEGES. THAT IS A GREAT IDEA TO DO THAT. COLLEGES WILL START SENDING YOU BASIC MAIL BASED ON YOUR PSAT SCORES AND OR GPA. THE MAIL INITIALLY DOES NOT SIGNIFY IN ANY WAY A POSSIBLE ADMISSIONS TO THAT SCHOOL. IT JUST MEANS THAT THIS MIGHT BE A SCHOOL YOU COULD POSSIBLY GET INTO IN THE FUTURE IF YOU END UP MEETING ALL THEIR ADMISSIONS CRITERION. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE INITIAL MAIL YOU GET FROM COLLEGES IS ABSOLUTELY NO GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL GET INTO THAT PARTICULAR COLLEGE. IT IS JUST SOMETHING FOR YOU TO CONSIDER AT THIS POINT. I KNOW THE COLLEGE MAIL YOU GET CAN BE VERY EXCITING, BUT PLEASE UNDERSTAND THE REALITY OF IT.