<p>Everyone always talks about the curves on SAT's.</p>
<p>For instance, on the new writing section of the SAT's, it has a much harsher curve than its predecessor, the Writing SAT-II; on the old one you could get 7 wrong and still get around a 750, and on the new one 7 wrong is around a 700.</p>
<p>So, how does it work on the ACT's? Can I get 2 wrong per section and still get a 36 composite? If I get a 36 on two sections and a 35 on two sections, how does it work?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>the ACT hasn't changed as the SAT did--the ACT only added an optional writing section.</p>
<p>2 36s and 2 35s => 36 composite</p>
<p>There is no curve based on how well the group that takes the test does. For each ACT test, the score you will get based on any particular number correct is predetermined. To score 36 on each subsection usually requires getting all the answers correct. However, you can miss 2 or 3 overall and still get a 36 composite because any 35.5 composite becomes a 36, meaning, for example, that two 36's and two 35's in the sections equals a 36 composite. The score drop off for each section is different. For example, miss three in math and you fall only to a 34, but miss three in science and you are usually down to a 32 or 33 depending on the particular test given (in fact, for some of the ACT tests missing one in science drops you to a 34 and it is not possible to get a 35). A rule of thumb is that if you get 90% correct in a section, you will likely score 30 or 31.</p>
<p>Wow, so that seems like pretty rough actually.</p>
<p>But what about this whole "you don't get penalized for wrong answers thing," are you meaning to say that its determined on the # you get RIGHT then?</p>
<p>Yes, it is strictly determined by the number of correct answers and there is no weighting of the difficulty of the questions-- each correct answer of an easy question counts the same as a correct answer of a more difficult question, which is why one of the strategies for the ACT is to not get bogged down spending a lot of time trying to figure out a hard question because time pressure is greater than the SAT and you need to make sure you answer all the ones you can do quickly. How "rough" it is just depends. The ACT tends to have more straightforward questions than the SAT; i.e., they don't try to trick you. Nevertheless, the number and percentage that score a 36 has traditionally been significantly lower than the number and percentage that score 1600 (old) SAT.</p>
<p>Only 24 students nationwide got a 36 composite on the ACT last year vs. >100 students getting 1600 on the old SAT.</p>
<p>there are more people taking the SAT than the ACT, so percentages are more accurate.. anyways, I found the ACT curve harsher than the SAT curve.
just keep an eye on the time, and you'll do fine.</p>
<p>I believe that was 224 getting 36 composite last year, not 24.</p>
<p>elladorkess you are totally wong.</p>
<p>People taking ACT last year- 2.1 Million
People taking SAT last year- 1.9 Million</p>
<p>Shocking isnt it.</p>
<p>hmm...is that statistics true?!?</p>
<p>No, the correct figure for the ACT in 2004 is just under 1.2 million. I don't have the link to the report, but it's been posted in other threads.</p>
<p>Actually 8 wrong and 0 omitted on the May SAT Writing is a 62. Yeah, it sucks.</p>
<p>I think it was 24 people who got a 36 composite at one sitting last year, not total because there was some story (I could be way off) about some kid that got a day named after him cause he got a 36...</p>
<p>:)</p>