Just took the ACT and received the dreaded 33.25 (my goal was a 34). Three of the schools I am looking into have ACT ranges that are 32-34 (25th-75th). Of course admission is a wholesome process, but is being in the middle with a 33 likely for admission? Is it imperative to meet or exceed the 75th?
The schools that have mid 30’s ACT ranges are very holistic. The 33 will qualify you for admission, but it will be the other aspects of your application that will get you in. No one is likely for those schools unless they’ve won a Nobel prize or are royalty.
@MusicLeaf If everyone met or exceeded the 75%ile, then everyone would have the same score.
Think of it this way: The [32,34] score range does not determine eligibility for admission. Instead, it’s more likely that the school selected the people they believed were most qualified (but also taking test scores into account), and it so happened that the middle 50% of scores were in the interval [32,34].
Once your in that range there is little difference between a 33 and a 34. I wouldn’t worry about it and at this point focus on having a good rest of your application.
Also: arithmetically speaking (and in your particular case), the difference between 33 and 34 can be just one answer.
The actual range is 31.5 to 34.25.
For a balance of opinions:
[quote=golfcashoahu]
A 30––whether 29.5 or 30.25––will be viewed as a 30, but your higher sub-scores may be noticed as well./quote
I’m a little late to the party but I got that exact score so that’s why I’m commenting. I’ve deciced that I’m going to retake it and only focus on the science portion because I got a 31 and on all my practice tests I was getting 34+. Even if I only get a 32 on it then it bumps me to a 34 overall. So if you’re in the same boat where one section was significantly lower than I would retake just because I’m not going to take the chance that It’s going to come down to that single number. Even though it probably won’t.