Hey guys!
I’m a high school senior in America getting ready to apply to universities this fall. I took the ACT two times: last August, then again this April. My first score wasn’t so great (a 30), but then I improved ( /actually studied) this spring a got a 35!
I’m really happy with the 35, but I’m nervous because I know that they require you to send in your results from every time you’ve taken the exam. Does anyone know if my original score will hurt my chances of admission? Of course, there’s nothing I can do about it now, but I’m curious!
I think they only consider the highest score, it shouldn’t hurt you. Congrats on your 35!
This doesn’t directly answer your question. But if I was an admissions officer, I’d be impressed that you improved your score by that much. Good work!
Hi, sorry this response is two weeks late! I was accepted to the Yale class of 2021 in March and am attending and can speak to this topic. I submitted a 28 on my ACT to Yale because of their policy and it made no difference -> my highest composite I submitted was a 32 which rounded out to a 34 superscore between other tests although Yale does not superscore. I also submitted 2 780s on subject tests and one 4 and 5 on APs. At the end of the day I think submitting the 28 in no way affected me besides showing growth between my junior and senior year. I think the 30 to 35 will do the same -> reflect growth. Do not take the ACT again to try for better, you are set up well with what you have. This also played the same with Georgetown, I had to send the 28 and a 1290 on SAT
It is common for people to take tests again for various reasons. My daughter took her SAT’s 3 times. She has OCD so the first time was as a Sophomore and we treated it as a benchmark. Then she took them with the intent to get everything right (she would obsess over making sure each answer was correct even when she knew it was) and then the last one was just trusting her answer and focusing on finishing the test. Of course the last time her score was off the charts but she needed to do it in that order to function. Many kids are like this and are not taking the tests over and over because they just want better scores. In the end there is so much more considered anyhow that I wouldn’t focus on that one element of your application.
Great job! You have nothing to worry about in relation to test scores. The officers will look at the 35, and if they even think about the 30 it won’t be a negative–as others have said, they will see improvement. Focus on your essays, and put a lot of thought into conveying what makes you special!