<p>So I just got my ACT score - a 32. This is my first time taking the ACT, and I'm wondering if I should take it again? </p>
<p>I really don't want to, but the things I do for college.... lol</p>
<p>Congrats, QuantumGirl, that’s a very good score. Couple questions: Did you do any prep before you took it? Did you take any practice exams, and what scores did you get? What schools are you dreaming of? Are you hoping for merit financial aid? The answers to those questions will tell a lot about whether you could benefit from re-taking.</p>
<p>First off, thanks for taking your time to help me decide. :D</p>
<p>Here’s the extra info you wanted:</p>
<p>I did A LOT of prep for the SATs (2150 out of 2400), but practically non for ACTs. The only ACT prep was the PLAN test, which I scored a 26 (that translates to ACT of 32. Right on. Lol)</p>
<p>I want to double major in Mechanical Engineering and Astrophysic, so I my dream school is HarveyMudd, maybe Olin. MIT and Caltech would be nice, of course. Who wouldn’t want to go there?!</p>
<p>I’m already taking college classes (senior lvl programming), have serious extracurriculars (one of which where I rank state in violin), and have a 4+ GPA.</p>
<p>I don’t need financial aid, though it would be nice.</p>
<p>I’m thinking you have a fairly good chance of bumping that 32 by a point or two. ACT is very different from SAT (I’m sure you know that already), so the fact that you didn’t prep for ACT means there’s real room to improve.</p>
<p>My daughter put in 2 hrs each Sat and Sun for 2 months going through the Princeton Review Cracking the ACT. We just got her composite score: 34!</p>
<p>Also…her 34 is higher (by several points) than either of her practice exams. She said all that practice and checking WHY wrong answers were wrong helped tremendously. She also got faster (and therefore had more time to think/double-check) with each drill and practice exam. The day of the test, she was pretty sure she rocked it out.</p>
<p>Since you’re going into a competitive field and are hoping for some excellent schools, I would say put in the prep time and re-take. No guarantees, but on paper you look like the kind of student who can get a bump from prepping.</p>
<p>Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Great job, a 32 is a terrific score. Considering the schools and majors you are thinking of it can’t hurt to try to get a higher score. My son got a 32 the first time through and got a 34 when he retook the exam. I don’t think he did very much prep, but he did feel he had better time management when taking the test the second time. I guess taking it the first time was his prep for taking it the second time.</p>