SAT or ACT Scores: Which Should You Send?

The SAT and ACT testing season is winding to a close for the 2010-2011 school year. After teenagers take the last ACT and SAT in early June, all that's left is to decide which standardized test scores to submit to colleges.

This can be trickier than you might think. The top combined SAT score for critical reading and math is 1600, while a perfect ACT score is 36. How do you compare?

When my daughter took the ACT and SAT she couldn't figure out which scores were superior so she decided to send both sets to colleges, which cost us more.

Luckily, you don't have to guess if you have the SAT ACT comparison chart that I've provided below.

This chart, which you can find on the College Board's website, compares a student's scores for critical reading (CR) and math (M) with the ACT composite score. After looking at the chart, you should be able to tell whether the scores from the ACT or SAT are the best.

Lynn O'Shaughnessy is author of The College Solution, an Amazon bestseller, and she also writes her own college blog at The College Solution.
SAT or ACT image by las - initially. CC 2.0.

More on CBS MoneyWatch: