ACT score and percentile?

<p>hey guys
i jus got my ACT scores in the mail and i got a 32.....but somehow that ended up being the 99th percentile which didnt make sense to me cuz i kno my friend who took it previously got a 32 and 95th percentile</p>

<p>which is more important the score or the percentile?</p>

<p>Percentile....32 has always been 99th for all I know
YOur friend probably had a 30 or 31</p>

<p>Could his/her score have been a 32 in one individual section? I, too, have always associated a composite score of 32 with the 99th percentile.</p>

<p>nvm then...</p>

<p>but how much of a difference is it from a 32 to a 34 or so?</p>

<p>cuz im thinkin of retakin it jus dunno if i shud spend the time on it</p>

<p>
[quote]
nvm then...</p>

<p>but how much of a difference is it from a 32 to a 34 or so?</p>

<p>cuz im thinkin of retakin it jus dunno if i shud spend the time on it

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</p>

<p>32 has always been 99th percentiel, as far as I know.</p>

<p>32 to 34 is a BIG difference. You notice that there are A LOT of people with a 32 but not many people with 34, 35, and 36. I think it just gets harder to get a better score when your score is in the 32 - 36 range in which your score gets bumped down 1 or 2 points on the scale if you miss just one question. </p>

<p>I think y ou should retake it as many times as it takes to satisfy you.</p>

<p>I took the ACT in february and got a 34, but I was sick at the time so decided to retake it. I bumped up my composite to a 35, but my English subscore dropped from a 36 to a 34 all because of two questions.</p>

<p>so, yeah, I definitely agree that it's hard to move up your score once you get to the high 30s. </p>

<p>I would definitely recommend taking it again if you aren't satisfied. what can it hurt? My friends thought I was crazy for retaking it after getting a 34 but I'm glad I did.</p>

<p>I took the ACT and got a 29. I'm very satisfied with that (it's the highest I've heard of at my school.) Though I was hoping for at least a 30, it was in the 95% percentile. How much better does say a 32 look compared to a 29?</p>

<p>rspn70, some schools might look at it more than others, so it depends where you are applying. With that being said, I would definately retake a 29 if you think you can get higher</p>

<p>well i am definitely retaking it (I was not paying attention to time on the first section and didn't have time to do the last 15 questions.) I am not trying for Ivy League or anything, I already applied and was accepted to Auburn, so schools in that general league. I was just curious as to if it was down to me and another applicant, would the 32 heavily weigh over the 29? And I am also hoping for a scholarship... that shouldn't really weigh heavily in the scholarship process, should it? I have a 3.979 gpa and good EC's.</p>

<p>a 32 is without a doubt better than a 29 when it comes to scholarships, I'd think. I'd choose an applicant whose act score is a 32 over an applicant whose score is a 29 if i were the judge.</p>

<p>and, also, a lot of people have gpa's over 4.0 nowadays, so colleges will be looking for better scores on the equilizer tests such as SAT and ACT. Wouldn't you agree?</p>

<p>so i guess the general idea is that ACT is now just as widely accepted as the SAT...and not jus becuz the universities say so...but its actully a truthful fact?(especially the top tier schools)</p>

<p>I like ACT a lot better than SAT, even though I haven't really taken the real SAT once - looked at a couple of problems and :swoosh: over my head.</p>

<p>I wish more top schools treated ACT as they do SAT, though. SAT is still "the test", it seems.</p>

<p>the sat is more so "the test" because it's the test the vast majority of students take, rather than by the college's choice. You will find, however, schools that just take the ACT, while there aren't many that just take the SAT. And most take the ACT in lieu of both the SAT and subject tests, so that's an added advantage right there. Personally, I wouldn't retake the 32, but I would the 29, because a 29 can potentially improve twice as much as a 32, and after you're at 99% it's just a matter of luck really on whether you miss 4 questions or 6. Although I think it also depends upon what the individual scores were and what your intended major is. For example, I got a 33 composite, but it would have been a 35 had it not been for the science section, which isn't as important for a business major (I got 35 english, 12 essay, 35 math, 34 reading, 29 science). If I had gotten under 32 in english, math, or reading I would have considered retaking, but especially with a 12 essay I'm happy. I just wish I hadn't missed so many on science..</p>

<p>I would say a 32 is definitely better, because that is when all the scholarships for state schools are given.</p>

<p>
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I would say a 32 is definitely better, because that is when all the scholarships for state schools are given.

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</p>

<p>Really? I'm right at a 32, and I'm going to take 2 more to see what i can do.
Are you serious? 32 is where state schools' sshcolarships start?</p>

<p>yea...this is intresting...wats this whole deal with 32 and state scholarships (i live in michigan)</p>

<p>Maybe because it marks where the 99th percentile begins</p>

<p>12041987, I think you're incorrect about the science section.</p>

<p>The purpose of the science section is not at all to test scientific ability. It really is just an extension of the Critical Reading, but more in depth. It's almost like the logic problems on the LSATs in that you don't need to understand the ACTUAL INFORMATION, just HOW IT WORKS. You see what I'm saying? I, for one, am not all that great at science. On the New York Regents Exams, I've gotten 94 on Earth Science, 92 on Biology, 87 on Chemistry and 75 on Physics. However, on the ACT science I got a 36 (35 composite).</p>

<p>I honestly feel that the so-called "science" section has very little to do with science. "Science" is just another way of saying "advanced passage and/or graph interpretation."</p>

<p>I agree that the science section does not test specific knowledge, but still I think that for a business major the math, english, and writing are the most important sections. I'm not saying the science section is useless; that's why it's reported and why there's a composite score. I was actually surprised at my science score, because when I first looked at sample questions science was my highest section, but I don't think it's reason enough to retake the ACT. Would you disagree?</p>

<p>32 composite has never been lower than 99th percentile so someone who says he got a 32 and 95 percentile is in error. 29 is the usual 95th percentile. Difference between getting a 34 and 32 composite is about 8 to 10 correct answers total. Both ACT and SAT are accepted almost everywhere and one is not considered "better" than the other; that is a myth perpetuated mostly by high school students (and even some high school counselors) in the East who usually do not take the ACT. A 32 puts you in the mid 50% range for admission at all the ivies and other top schools; a 29 does not at a number of those. There are many colleges (particularly privates that are not in the top 30) that offer partial scholarships ranging from 25% to 75% of tuition that are based on a formula that depends on a combination of high school class rank/GPA and test score and the difference in scholarship money between a 29 and 32 ACT in those formulas is often significant (and having a 30 or above may mean the difference between getting some money and getting none). Auburn, mentioned above is one of the publics where there are a number of partial tuition scholarships doled out; the usual, publicly announced, rule is that you need at least a 27 or 28 ACT to be considered for one of those, but the not generally known rule is that you usually need at least a 30 or 31 ACT at Auburn to actually get one of them. Nevertheless if you are looking at chances of admission then, at 90% of the colleges in the US (not your top ranked ones), a 29 or above is a high score and thus having a 32 composite instead will not really increase your already high chance of admission by much.</p>