Another boring question: Should I retake the ACT?

<p>Sorry if I'm being arrogant or ostentatious, but I'm wondering if I should retake the ACT. </p>

<p>This June, I got a composite score of 33.25. I'm getting the score checking service to make sure that this is my score but let's just assume that it's my score. </p>

<p>Here are my sub scores:
33 C
31 E
36 M
32 R
34 S</p>

<p>I'm looking to apply to top-tier colleges such as Stanford and MIT. This is my first time taking it. Should I retake it in September or focus on other parts of my College App?</p>

<p>Thank you in advance. </p>

<p>Doesn’t Stanford superscore the ACT to some extent? If they do, it might help you to retake it. And after all, I don’t think sacrificing one Saturday morning would take away from any other parts of your application. A 33 is still awesome for any school you’d want to go to, so don’t worry about it too much!</p>

<p>Everyone I know got crapped on by the ACT this June and my friend went down from a 34 to a 31…So I’m not sure if this June was the proper measure of everyone’s skills. I would take it again and aim for a 34 or 35. a 33 is extremely good but if you’re going to Stanford/MIT type schools, a 34-36 looks extremely good. Especially considering you were 1 point away from a 34 composite</p>

<p>Any other advice please?</p>

<p>English and Math are the most important ACT sections for schools, and your English score is below average for the top schools (eg 25th percentile for Harvard in English is 33). If you could raise Reading that’d also be helpful.</p>

<p>The difference in raw score between a 31 and 33 is just 2 questions, so you might get it just by chance next time you take it. But while you’re studying you might as well aim for a 36!</p>

<p>I retook when I had a 33 and ended up with a 34, a 34.25 at that. By all means, if you want to put in the effort, retake it.</p>

<p>I really don’t want to put in the effort to retake it. If I score lower, is it detrimental to my college app?</p>

<p>I doubt you’d score lower if this is your first time taking the test. What do you mean specifically by focusing on other parts of the common app?</p>

<p>don’t u need more than a high SAT/ACT score to get into those Ivy ?</p>

<p>When did ACT start using decimals in Composite scores. They were not last year…anyway…</p>

<p>If you retake with a score over 32, you are wasting your time. Focus on other aspects.</p>

<p>@Torveaux The composite score is the average of the scores in all your sections. Since the total of your scores (e.g. 30 + 30 + 30 + 31) could be indivisible by 4 and thus result in a decimal, the ACT rounds to the nearest whole</p>