Hi everyone,
I took the ACT with writing four times. The first I got a composite of 30 with a writing of 8. The second I got a composite of 32 with a writing of 6. The third I got a 31 with a composite of 8. Lastly, I got a 32 with a composite of six. Will they only look at the six, because it is tied to the 32s? Will this seriously disadvantage me? Thanks,
While many college’s super-score the SAT, very few of them super-score the ACT. (HYP superscores the SAT, but not do the same for the ACT, they use your highest composite score.)
If your family can afford it, I would send all your ACT scores to Harvard and let the Admissions Office sort it out. My gut is Admissions will use your highest composite score (32) and then question if you can handle the reading and writing load on their campus based upon your writing score of 6. FWIW, see: http://blog.prepscholar.com/which-colleges-superscore-the-sat
Thank you – So if I sent in all four they still would use the sixes most likely? And do you know how heavily they rely on the ACT Writing?
^^ Are you an international student? As Harvard doesn’t require the TOEFL, I suspect Admissions looks closely at the SAT and ACT reading and writing scores to gauge an international student’s English proficiency.
No I’m American haha. So for American students do you think they look heavily on the writing portions?
^^ In that case, I’m assuming Admissions will look to your teacher recommendations for comments about your writing, as a 6 is pretty low for HYPSM. They will also look closely at your essays for content, structure, originality, composition and tone.
I would not send all four scores. Send at most two (31 & 8, 32 & 6) or just send the 32 & 6. (If you just send the one score, they might assume you just took the test once and had a bad day with the essay.) If you send all four scores, it will just confirm your subpar writing skills (at least as it pertains to standardized test taking essays which I’ll be the first to admit is a flawed measurement).
Thank you so much guys. Would you still even reccomend applying with my scores?
See C9 data point in Harvard’s Common Data Set: http://oir.harvard.edu/files/huoir/files/harvard_cds_2013-14.pdf?m=1420474747
A 32 composite ACT is at Harvard’s 25th percentile, meaning 75% of accepted students had that score or better. It also means that 25% of accepted students had below a 32, although many of those students are thought to be recruited athletes from teams such as football, basketball, hockey etc. In addition you should also note that Harvard’s 75th percentile score is a 35, meaning 25% of accepted student’s who submitted the ACT had a 35 or 36.
So, your 31 and 32 are within Harvard’s range, but at the low end. By all means apply if you want Harvard, but understand the odds are similar to buying a lottery ticket.