<p>I received a 1780 my June SAT. I spend a month for preparation and only jumped 40 points. I am a junior and my class rank is 19/80. I want to apply to out of state schools like NYU, Columbia, USC, and UCLA. My score is nowhere near competitive.
Should I spend my summer preparing for the ACT instead?
If so, which methods do I use? How many questions can be missed per each section of the ACT in order to get a score of 36?
I am highly capable of pushing myself, I just need advice on where to channel my determination. </p>
<p>Please advise.
Thank you for all of your answers</p>
<p>It can’t hurt to try the ACT, some do better on one test after all. I recommend doing an official ACT practice test (there are a bunch online if you look around this forum a bit) and seeing where you’re at.</p>
<p>Practice practice practice. There are a lot of good books out there that give tips at how to take the ACT. I like Princeton Review, a lot of people have luck with Barron’s. What book fits you often depends on where you’re at, so a practice test is a good gauge.</p>
<p>You don’t need to shoot for a 36, anything 34 or higher puts you at the top quarter of the score range for Ivies. There are four sections of the ACT with different amounts of time and questions. The section scores are added and averaged, and typical rounding rules are applied (33.5 is a 34, 33.25 is a 33, etc.)</p>
<p>Missing one question will knock you down to a 35 in that section most of the time, but sometimes it’s still a 36. Reading and science are especially hard because there are only 40 questions. English and math are much more forgiving since there are 75 and 60 questions respectively. The official ACT prep book (red) will show you what the curves often look like.</p>
<p>The essay does not factor into the ACT composite, which is great for people like me who consistently write mediocre essays.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Realistically, having a class rank of 25% is not likely to put you in those top schools even if you are from the #1 high school in the country. But don’t be discouraged. Just try your best and shot for the highest. You may not get 36 or even 34 in ACT as only the top 1% or less students get that. If you study hard and get the highest score you can get, it will still help you to get into a better college. If you want to get 36 in ACT, you can only miss 0-1 question in each section (occasionally 2 in a section but very rare).</p>
<p>
Like 4 or 5 in total at the maximum. So like 0-1 questions per section.</p>