After having a panic attack at the last ACT I took, I decided to take another. The only part I prepared for was math since before the first test. First one was:
28C, 35E, 28M(panic attack in the middle), 20R(yeah.), 27S(came back at the end)
After literally, no joke, thousands of practice math questions, I was ready for the math section. I got a 36 on every practice math test in the Real ACT prep book. No one should have to work that hard to get 60 questions right but my school has below national average test scores since our math department is so weak (the highest you can go is Calc AB, and most of the bad teachers keep their jobs because of seniority), so due to lack of “preparation” that the ACT implies students obtain in high school, it is much harder to get a 36 at my school than say a bigger school where BC and multivariable are options and the teachers don’t focus on just trying to get every single kid to get a 65 on a meaningless “regents”. After all my hard work, I get a 31 in math. This was my last chance to show what I’m capable of, but the December math was just abnormally hard with stuff I never saw before in all the questions I practiced (that were made by the ACT!). My SAT math back in March without studying was a 690, which is the pretty much same as a 31! I don’t really know what to do anymore, I’m kinda just shocked that everything I’ve done has been thrown away. Do I take a February ACT even though it’s after applications are due? Do I write about my disadvantages and lack of resources to compete with other students on a national test in the “additional information” section for applications? Do I just not apply to most of the schools that a 31 below the 25th percentile? I just need someone to talk to, any help is appreciated. Btw, the second test was 30C, 27E, 31M, 30R, 33S. (Superscore 32)
*Does a 790 SAT 2 Math 2c compensate for that math score in any way?
Additionally, in case anyone was wondering, the practice math ACTs I took were under the time conditions of the test
Send both sets of scores. But taking the Feb test is not going to help you as the scores will not get reported in time. What schools are you applying to? Your scores will put you in contention for many fine schools.
I would not recommend writing about your schools lack of resources in the comments section as going to a school that does not offer BC calc is not a disadvantage. Calculus is not tested on the ACT!
Your school provides a school profile so colleges will know what the math curriculum is at your high school.
The more concerning score is E. The drop from 35 to 27 may raise some red flags.
I was looking at Northwestern, University of Michigan, MIT, and some ivies but they’re all kind of out of the question now. I do have some distinguishing parts to my application but the 31 really cripples me for an engineering major. As for the math classes, the amount of them are often indicative of how robust a school is in math. It’s not the fact that I haven’t taken BC or differential equations, but that the small school I go to (population will be under 1,000 next year) has put me at a disadvantage in terms of math against someone who has had the benefit of learning far more concepts than I, in an environment that fosters math far better. I’ve never seen a matrix before, or worked with compound interest, or even thought about using complex numbers. It’s all elementary to someone in a school where this stuff is a part of the more elaborate and resourced curriculum. That’s the point I’m trying to make. I really tried, I learned everything I could on my own and it still wasn’t good enough to get those 3-5 questions that now drill a hole in my application. I’m still curious, however, if my sat math 2 score compensates in any way, as that is especially more material that is non- existent in my school.