Score of 34 on ACT - all sections were 35 or 36, with exception of science that was 31. Planning to apply to biomedical sciences at top schools/Ivys - would a retake help? Looks like section retakes arent available yet?
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Given your interests, yes, it might be a good idea if you could invest some time in improving your science sub score.
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If you get a 35 or 36, sure it can help. If you don’t, it won’t. Most look at total score, not sub score but you can potentially get your super score higher.
But it also depends on where you want to go to school - some are test blind, test optional, or just not as hard to get into.
Others that aren’t as hard to get to may offer more money or a special scholarship but typically for a 36.
Id look beyond top schools for a good college fit versus having him retake the test.
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First of all, the science section has nothing to do with science. It’s about data interpretation, and it is easily mastered by doing a bunch of retired ACT science sections to familiarize yourself with the ways in which they present the data (charts, graphs, etc).
As for whether it will help - for highly selective schools, if the school wants you for other reasons (URM, big donor, extraordinary EC achievement (like you invented, patented, and are profitably selling an affordable, safe, backyard nuclear fusion energy device, but then of course you don’t need to go to college) - you get my drift, the 34 is fine. If they don’t want you, the 36 won’t change their mind.
In my opinion, your achievement on the ACT is already laudable, but it’s so easy to bring up the science section that if you were my kid, I’d schedule you for a retake in August, and have you do some at home prep over the summer, including in keeping up your science and math sections, and have you retake it in August. If you don’t want to, it’s not crucial that you do it, especially if you fall into one of the “desired” categories of applicants.
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Biomedical is offered at many colleges these days. Even IF the ACT score was higher, there is no guarantee of acceptance at “top schools/Ivies”.
I think you also need to start looking at other colleges that are less selective that have this major. This student needs a much more varied list of places to apply to than just top schools and Ivies.
That ACT score is fine. Agree with @parentologist that a retake might be a good idea just to make the kid feel better.
But at the end, if the student doesn’t get accepted to top schools or Ivies when they apply, it might have nothing to do with the ACT score.
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My S22 had similar results on his 1st ACT, because he ran out of time on the Science.
But at home, on full ACT practice tests, he never ran out of time on the Science section and he usually score a 34 or 35.
So he did retake the ACT, and was able to score 35 on the Science,
thus superscoring a 36.
If you think the 31 in the Science is not reflective of your expected work, then definitely retake the ACT.
(Not sure how much it helped, but son is going to MIT,
but shut-out of Princeton/Brown/Cornell)
Good luck!
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