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The preference is regional. [1] When I took the ACT, many years ago, it was the test the university I was applying to listed first in their requirements. And t

by Brybry 3y ago

The preference is regional. [1] When I took the ACT, many years ago, it was the test the university I was applying to listed first in their requirements. And that's still true. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SAT-ACT-Preference-Map.svg https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SAT-ACT-Preference-Map....

saghm 3y ago
When I was in high school (graduated 2012), my school recommended we take both, since not only do certain schools prefer one to another, but if you happened to score relatively well on one versus the other, you could choose to only send that one instead.
- withinboredom 3y ago
  > if you happened to score relatively well on one versus the other This should be reasonable proof that the test doesn't test things very well, IMHO, because there are so many factors that go into getting a good score. I was one of these people -- I got one point below perfect on ACT, but the morning of my SAT, I got into an argument with my mom and got a below-average score.
  - pbh101 3y ago
    1. No (nontrivial) test is perfect: we take each with a grain of salt and accompanying context 2. You can take these tests multiple times and use the highest score, reducing impact of one-off ‘off days’ for whatever reason 3. These particular two tests do not claim to assess the same thing (aptitude vs achievement) and do so through different implementations These factors limit me from tending towards ‘reasonable proof’ on its face when considering the system as a whole.
  - saghm 3y ago
    > This should be reasonable proof that the test doesn't test things very well, IMHO, because there are so many factors that go into getting a good score Yep, I don't disagree! I happened to get scores that converted to each other exactly according, but overall I think it was good advice to try to use the system to our advantage rather than treat it as some sort of objective measurement.

by Brybry 3y ago

saghm 3y ago

When I was in high school (graduated 2012), my school recommended we take both, since not only do certain schools prefer one to another, but if you happened to score relatively well on one versus the other, you could choose to only send that one instead.

withinboredom 3y ago
> if you happened to score relatively well on one versus the other This should be reasonable proof that the test doesn't test things very well, IMHO, because there are so many factors that go into getting a good score. I was one of these people -- I got one point below perfect on ACT, but the morning of my SAT, I got into an argument with my mom and got a below-average score.
- pbh101 3y ago
  1. No (nontrivial) test is perfect: we take each with a grain of salt and accompanying context 2. You can take these tests multiple times and use the highest score, reducing impact of one-off ‘off days’ for whatever reason 3. These particular two tests do not claim to assess the same thing (aptitude vs achievement) and do so through different implementations These factors limit me from tending towards ‘reasonable proof’ on its face when considering the system as a whole.
- saghm 3y ago
  > This should be reasonable proof that the test doesn't test things very well, IMHO, because there are so many factors that go into getting a good score Yep, I don't disagree! I happened to get scores that converted to each other exactly according, but overall I think it was good advice to try to use the system to our advantage rather than treat it as some sort of objective measurement.