<p>Asking for a friend. She got a 33 but she wants to retake for a 34-35.</p>
<p>Top 25 schools.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I really dont think theres much of a difference. Anything 33 or above is considered excellent. If she got a 36 that would definitely be better though because thats a perfect score.</p>
<p>If you look at <a href="http://www.actstudent.org/scores/norms1.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.actstudent.org/scores/norms1.html</a> , a 32+ composite is 99th percentile.</p>
<p>Yes, but percentiles don't mean much. Colleges will obviously look at a 33 differently than a 32 and a 33 different from a 34. Personally I just got a 33 but I'm retaking it for atleast a 34 hopefully. I think it's a good idea to retake.</p>
<p>ahhh this makes me laugh and definitely no offense intended by this comment because I was SOOOOOO score-crazed even 8 months ago but...</p>
<p>...I graduated 3 weeks ago from high school and I honestly can't remember my ACT, SAT or final GPA scores.</p>
<p>I do, however remember my PSAT</p>
<p>getting a 33, and then trying to get a 34-36 is a little matter of luck and maybe one of two points determine that. So, it wouldn't make any sense, because as long as a see a high score above 30's, several points don't make a difference. You are trying to make one piece of pie look perfect, but don't forget the whole cake.</p>
<p>I was actually thinking about starting a thread about "how high is enough" or something like that until I saw this.
Actually, I got a 33 my first time. I don't think I'd bother to pay to retake and study a bunch to get a higher score because, really, there's not that much to improve on. However, my school gives vouchers to seniors to take the ACT once for free, so it looks like i'll have one more shot this coming year.</p>
<p>A composite score of 31 is the 98th percentile, whereas a 32 and up is the 99th percentile. Personally, I don't think there is much difference whether you have a 31-32 or a 35-36, you're still in the same elite class of test takers. Also, when you have a composite score that puts you in the 98th-99th percentile, you risk lowering your score on a retake, but with the ACT this doesn't really matter since you control whether the new score is reported. Perhaps its better to focus on improving the other components of your applications (ECs, recommendations, gpa, aps, etc.) rather than worrying about getting another point or two on the ACT.</p>
<p>No, there really isn't a big difference, i mean it shouldn't make or break your app. Plus, think, you might get a 33.25, which with almost one more point (and one more question right) you'd get 33.5-->round up to 34. It's all very random, and the curve is very harsh. If you want, there's no lost in retaking it since you have "score choice", but only if you have 50 bucks or so to spare. :)</p>
<p>I don't think it's worth it to retake the test when you get into that score range. Luck is a big factor. There's also a lot of other variables that come into play. You might not be feeling good the day of the test. You might not have gotten a good night's sleep. The material might just be on a topic which you personally happen to struggle with.</p>
<p>Unless you feel that there was some significant outside factor that played a part in reducing your potential for a higher score, I don't think it's worth it to spend months studying just to raise it another point, because you'll definitely have to become an expert in all of the subjects to reach for, in particular, a 35/36, and that doesn't happen easily.</p>
<p>I know someone who retook a 33 because some colleges give out merit scholarships for a 34+.</p>
<p>I guess that would make sense. I would only do that if I knew I could do better, or was one point away from something I needed. Other than that, don't bother.</p>
<p>i heard that colleges look at 33-34 together and 35-36 together, so i wouldn't retake a 33 just to get a 34...they're basically the same.</p>