We were told to take the SAT IIs right after we took the corresponding AP exam. The only reason I took them was because Berkeley required them and Berkeley was my #2 choice until the fall of my senior year. If I had just stuck with the private schools, then I wouldn't have needed them. I had also taken the ACT.
You didn't need SAT 2's for your Ivies?
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....but some are more equal than others.
Nope. At the time of my application (November 1998), the ACT could be substituted for the SAT-II requirement. I still submitted them but that wasn't the reason why I took them.
In my day (early 80s), very few East Coast schools accepted the ACTs as a standardized test and certainly not for replacing the Achievement tests (the old name of the SAT IIs).
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....but some are more equal than others.