<p>My sons counselor gave him advice as to which ACT scores he should submit to colleges that have score choice. I am not sure I agree, so I would really appreciate hearing what you parents thought before I go and open my big mouth :)</p>
<p>His counselor thinks that we should send both scores so that they see the 34 in English. I think the second scores look better alone and the 1 point increase does not increase the composite average. Only one school he is applying to superscores the ACT according to their common data set.</p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p>PS - New user name used to keep my child's detailed score results private.</p>
<p>Well, I’m certainly no expert on ACT scores, but I agree with you. A 32 composite is <em>significantly</em> better than a 29, and one point on the E section does not outweigh that.</p>
<p>I would tend to agree with you as a 33 in English is also really good and a 32 is much better than a 29. But I am no expert either.</p>
<p>I havea similar question about my DD’s scores - except that her two composites are 31 (with a 28 Math) and a 32 (with a 26 Math). If we send both scores, the 28 in Math won’t change the 32 composite even superscored but I wonder if it is worth sending just to get the 28 Math in there…so far, I have sent the 2nd sitting (32) to all her schools (most of which superscore) but I can’t decide if I should also send the other set.</p>
<p>About half of the colleges on DDs list superscore and the others are unclear on their websites and/or are score optional. However, “superscoring” my DDs ACT yields the same composite as the highest sitting - it’s just a question of a 28 math on the 31 composite sitting and a 26 math on the 32 composite sitting (eng and reading stayed about the same or slightly higher, science improved by 4 points on 2nd sitting and math went down by 2).</p>
<p>OP,
As I read your son’s ACT scores, his second sitting gives him a 31.5 average across 4 sections which rounds up to a 32 composite. If you superscore, it works out to a 31.75 average, which also rounds up to a 32 composite. I don’t see much advantage to sending both scores. Same composite, and the difference between a 33 and a 34 on the English section is inconsequential. I’d just send the second score.</p>
<p>The second set looks good enough to me, though I don’t think it would hurt to send both particularly since the earlier scores were from the previous year.</p>
<p>A superscore is still a 32, so just send the last one. The difference between a 33 and 34 is one bubble. The difference between a 29 and 32 is huge.</p>
<p>Since you apparently have not sent any scores yet, this seems like a no brainer. Send both scores to the college that superscores. Send just the second one to the colleges that don’t.</p>
<p>This is a poor recommendation by the counselor. The Scores are self-evident. If you had two candidates who were exactly the same, except that each had one of the scores listed, which candidate would you admit? Its pretty clear to me. My advice is to ignore the counselor and send only the scores that show the student in the best light.</p>
<p>Lets recast the scores as percentiles:</p>
<p>93rd Composite 99th ENG 88th MTH 85th RDG 84th SCI</p>
<p>98th Composite 97th ENG 97th MTH 97th RDG 93rd SCI</p>
<p>The first set puts him 5 percentile points lower in composite score, and shows only english above the 90th percentile. The second puts him at 97th in English, but well into the mid to upper 90’s on everything else. At highly competitive schools, the second set is much better, IMHO.</p>
<p>Sending both may not be that big a deal, since the lower scores were over a year ago, but I don’t think I would submit them.</p>
<p>The GC offered advice. It is up to your family to set it aside. There is no need to open a big mouth but rather do what makes sense for YOU after you analyzed the scores correctly. </p>
<p>As a side note, you might check what your school will send out and make sure you maintain FULL control of every piece of official paper that is sent to colleges. Of course, you cannot control the LORs, but you should check transcripts and summaries for accuracy, as well as … looking for any errand standardized scores that might adorn the transcripts. </p>
<p>I would recommend bringing a box of sweets to the GC and stress how much you appreciate all the efforts, but stick to your guns as far as sending a clear message that you want the applications to run as smoothly as possible. For schools that insist on sending out everything, request a “mailing” session and offer to bring a big stack of postage paid envelopes, and say you do not mind if they use some for kids who might not have the resources. </p>
<p>Another vote for second set of scores only. </p>
<p>
“Improving” on standardized testing is natural…almost everyone improves the second time. It’s “good” for the student (to improve) but I don’t the colleges care much whether you take it once or you take it twice.</p>
<p>If you wanted to truly push the envelope for maximizing your score appearance, then you would send both scores to the schools that super score (resulting in a total of 33) and one score to the schools that do not superscore (resuting in a total of 32). However, this does create a lot of extra work, such as creating 2 common apps to support your 2 types of ACT scores and keeping track of which schools are getting both the scores from ACT and the common app. Plus, I can’t remember if the GCs or schools must also submit info related to the ACT so it does start getting very complex.</p>
<p>Even though I am an anal perfectionist, I, myself, prefer not do that balancing act and would send only second scores. </p>
<p>For schools that do not superscore, it is not worth anything for them to see the 29, and would have either a neutral or negative effect but definitely not a positive effect.</p>