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Hi Tammy! I think all students should try to take the ACT and SAT at home, to see which one makes them look the smartest. If you feel her scores were lower than expected, it may not be your daughter's problem, it could just be the wrong test for her. Give her a sample ACT at home first, and see if that's the better test.
Sample ACT: http://www.act.org/aap/pdf/Preparing-for-the-ACT.pdf

Whichever test is best, work on test preparation during your school day - and use it to replace much of your English class. Your daughter does NOT have to get smarter to get a better score, she just needs to get more familiar with the way they ask the questions.
Schedule Test Preparation
http://www.thehomescholar.com/blog/schedule-test-preparation/10962/

If both tests are equally discouraging, then begin to focus on other ways to get outside documentation for your grades - great course descriptions, letters of recommendation, detailed activity and awards lists, etc. I have an article about outside documentation here:
Super-Size Scholarships with Outside Documentation
http://www.thehomescholar.com/outsidedocumentation.php

There are plenty of kids who don't do well at fill-in-the-bubble tests that get good grades. So try to get those scores up if you can, even if that means switching tests, but don't panic about the test scores - look for other outside documentation if you need to.

Blessings,
Lee

Thank you, Lee!
I have been working through my daughter's transcripts, and her grades at home from tests, homework, and quizzes are good----she is getting all A's. Her first time taking the sat, however, her scores were not as high as I had hoped---low in fact. 500's and one score in the 400's!
I was wondering if I need to go back through all of her home grades and lower her scores to match up with the sat scores. I don't want the colleges to think mommy grades are bogus!