33 act?

Test Preparation
1

<p>Should I retake a 33 ACT if I am applying to top-tier schools (ivy league), or is a 33 fine as is?</p>

2

<p>Yes, retake the test…unless you’re sick of studying for it…or the opportunity costs of dedicating time to ACT study become too great (sacrificing EC involvement, stress, etc.).</p>

3

<p>Depends on the rest of what you have on your app. If your math score especially is on the low side, you might want to retake.</p>

4

<p>You should retake the test.</p>

5

<p>The real question is can you do better than that. If you feel like you have not reached the plateau yet and it was your first attempt, you should give it any trial after more preparation. 33 is within the mid 50% for top schools, so it is not really outstanding.</p>

6

<p>Interesting topic. My daughter - who has aspirations for a top school - took her first ACT and got a 33 too. I guess the obvious answer to the question is, “if you feel you can do better you should take it again”. Of course. The deeper questions are:

  1. At what price? I mean if your senior year entails 4 AP’s + government, + music, + school, + school newspaper, + sport, + college apps? Oh and what about those essays?
  2. How about the combined score option? It doesn’t appear many “top schools” (I guess USC, Amherst and a couple other exceptions) take the best of each subject for the best aggregate score?
  3. So if a best aggregate score isn’t applicable for those reach schools, what if your scores goes down when you retake? I know the theory is, they only take the best score (but is there a subjective lean to someone whose score dropped?).
  4. If if a kid has great GPA/course load, EC’s and a 33, how much difference is a 34 going to really make? Obviously it won’t hurt, but how much will it help?</p>
7

<p>Is 34 better than 33? Yes.
Does it make big difference in application? May be, may be not. Depending on what else you have in your credential and which school you are applying.
Will you sacrifice anything to get that one point increase? Probably not.
I believe the difference between 34 and 35 is much smaller than the difference between 33 and 34 in school chances. If it is a 34 or 35, I would suggest not to retake it. You feel you can do better if you often get higher than your current score in practice tests. You don’t worry if you get worse score in second attempt. Schools will consider your best score. Most schools do not superscore ACT.</p>

8

<p>They will actually look deeper than the composite score. With 33 in composite, you may have a relatively low score in one section. 33 is a good score but it probably did not make the cut off yet. It is generally believe 34/2250 to be the cut off that higher scores does not really matter for those top schools.</p>