This is my first ACT scores.
Should I Retake the ACT? I am want to apply for Georgetown, Johns Hopkins and UVA university. I am from Northern VA.
ACT Composite Score: 33
Mathematics:33
Reading:35
Science:35
Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics (STEM):34
Writing:10
English:30
English Language Arts (ELA):30
If your 4 scores are 33, 35, 35 and 34 - that would mean your composite is a 34 not a 33
If you are a junior, and you have only taken it once for that, sure, do some studying and try it again. 33 seems to be now top 2% and over 60 000 students score a 33-36. 34 gets you into the top 1%. If you were my kid and this was your first result I would encourage a second go assuming you didn’t sweat a ton to get that 33.
I am senior.
My GPA 4.35 possiblity weighted
I was able to attain straight “A’s” in all of my academic subjects.
I had 1460 on SAT
My Class Rank is top 5% over 400 seniors.
I have so many DE and APs
I am still not sure if I can get into one my favorite college.
Definitely if you are a junior, probably if you are a senior – depends on your time constraints between now and RD deadlines. Do you need to study for SAT2’s (GTown strongly recommends 3), are your essays in good shape, time commitments for school and EC’s manageable?
Being a senior do you actually even have any dates available to you that work for your deadlines? If you do then give it a go, and it is your UW GPA that matters. None of this means you will get into your reach schools, a good score just gets you in the mix. Make sure you have match schools and affordability is covered.
They are counting my ACT Composite score based on my Mathematics:33, Reading:35, Science:35 and English:30 the final total score will is 33.25, but they are count it as 33. I wish they took the fourth score from Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) which is 34 , on that case my total score will end up with 35.
@wisteria100 The 34 subscore is for STEM, not really a section score.
If the 75th percentile of the schools you are applying to is 34 or more, you should retake the test. My son did retake after a 33 (and added 3 points) for exactly that reason. I think it made a difference in that he was admitted to several top 20 schools and every elite engineering school he applied to except one (Stanford).
Here is my take, I am not a student. If it were me and if I have the time and money, I will probably take it again. You probably will get suggestions that if you were rejected, it won’t be because of the 33. The fact is I (or may be many people here ) do not know.
If you were to post the question differently, you may get a different answer. If I recalled correctly, there was a post a few months ago asking about a subscore below (or at around) the 25%. Here, your English subscore is below John Hopkins’ 25%. I do not know what it means, you may want to look into the old post.
If you’ve only taken it once I’d be inclined to take it again too, especially if you think there’s a chance you could bring up the CR score. Be warned though that there is definitely the possibility that one of your other scores might go down. My kids took the SAT and all the schools they applied to superscored the test, so it was no big deal that they had slightly different scores each time they took it, but very few schools superscore the ACT.
I think knowing that you at least tried to get a better score will keep you from those “if only” feelings come April. I doubt it will make much difference to the results, your grades, recommendations and other soft parts of the application are more important than your scores.
My take is if your current practice score indicates you can get 1 or 2 points higher, then it may worth that half day and a few ten bucks. If you need to spend a few weeks to practice in order to get that potential 1 or 2 points higher, you may want to see if you can afford the time as you have many DE and AP.
I am going to go against the grain and advise you not to take it again. It is a waste of time. 33 is a great score and I am sure you can find better things to do with your time than to study for standardized tests.
In-state for UVA, looking at Naviance for my kid’s NoVA HS, grades are far more important than test scores. I think your chances for UVA are already really good. Better test scores won’t improve your chances significantly.
How much grade inflation is at your HS if straight A’s only put you in the top 5% of 400 kids - not top 1-2%.
What does your HS GC suggest with respect to your scores? Do they have Naviance to tell you how others from your HS with similar scores have fared at your target schools?
Do you have good EC’s, or is your primary EC simply studying and test-taking? If your EC’s are weak and the Naviance from your HS suggest your chances are low, then I might consider taking the tests again.
It’s kind of unfair to say that most HS in NoVa has grade inflation. My school is one of the magnet high school in NoVa due to the existence of Acadmy of Science. 90% kids in my school either has Doctors or Engineers parents that makes over 200K a years, our parents heavily invested on us. We are taking over 10 hours of Math and Science after school classes in private academies and that’s why everyone gets A, because what ever we study at our school we already know it in advance. At the end everyone blame our school system, there are kids in my school that regularly correcting teachers mistakes. I read on some forums that medical doctors can’t find internships in hospitals in other areas of country, but kids from my school getting paid internship in the US top 10 hospital, NIH and Janelia Research Campus. That’s why everyone is smart in my school getting A in normal classes and getting 4 or 5 in APs is standards.
Here is some of my EC.
HIM 111 Medical Terminology: 3 credits, Pass: A
HLT 105 Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: 1 credit, Pass: A
HLT 106 First Aid: 2 credits, Pass: A
MDL 100 Introduction to Medical Laboratory Technology: 2 credits, Pass: A
RAD 100 Introduction to Radiology and Protection: 2 credits, Pass: A
Pharmacy Technology: 3 credits, Pass: A
Two Years in row (3 months) of summer Health Care Bioinformatics Internship at Inova hospital (top 10 in the nation)
Over 1000 of work experience as Home Health Aide (CNA)
Over 500 work experience Pharmacy Tech
Filed my own Tax at the age 16
Made over 10K age 16 year from paid internship and part time work
Made 25K at the Age 17
Over 300 hours Volunteer Experience at healthcare and community program and United Nation.
Completed Cyber Security and Computer science certification
100 hours of internship at George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Medical Laboratory Sciences Summer Immersion
Member of Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA)
Competed regional concerning health and medicine related subject’s seminars
Financial manager of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) at my high school
President on Inter-Faith at my school
Sports: Soccer
3rd place in national competition improve as group performance
I also took 5 APs including AP World History, AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP Government & Comparative and AP United States History and got 4 and 5 on the final exams.
Sorry to imply the grade inflation - this is more proof of the inequality in comparing high schools. So it sounds like you are an awesome kid coming from an exceptional school. A magnet school with so many high achievers should have Naviance results to show you what to expect based on your current ACT score and GPA, etc. So, are there other kids in your school taking twice as many AP’s - several schools have limits, or only offer certain AP classes, some offer none at all, while other schools allow virtually all of them - my S and D both took 17 APs each, and got mostly 5’s with a few 4’s. In other words, will your GC be able to say you took “most rigorous” schedule?
With the additional infor, I don’t think I would bother re-taking the ACT.
Not sure I would disclose the earnings you made at a tender young age - maybe include the internship and # of hours instead.
You are going to be a sought after candidate at most of the schools you apply to - but if you only shoot for the tippy top elites, you are clearly smart enough to understand what low acceptance rates mean. There are too many excellent kids for too few slots - so you probably won’t get in everywhere you apply. Which will be their loss.
Best of luck to you, and enjoy the ride!
Thank you so much for your advice. I am only interested to apply for the local universities and I decided to stay with a parent during my first 4 years collage. I am 100% sure that I can get into GMU honor school, and already submitted my application with my current score, but I am trying to find out if there any chance with ACT 33 to get into Georgetown, Johns Hopkins or GW. I already checked Naviance and noticed that some kids from my school accepted into Georgetown with ACT score of 30 and GPA of 3.8 and other kids rejected with ACT score of 35 and of GPA 4.5. I wish Naviance explain other factors such as race, gender or other specification that involved on collage decision.