How big is the difference between a 33 and 34? Is it worth it to retake the ACT with aspirations of elite colleges with a 33? Then, what is the difference between a 34 and a 35? Once the 34+ benchmark is hit, am I done?
I’ve been wondering the same thing. I got a 33, and I’m worried that my chances at the Ivy Leagues are shot because I didn’t get a 34.
You’re definitely not shot… Just look at the 25/75s. Getting a solid standardized test score is just part of the check list. Colleges care more about who you are as a person and your grades. You will be fine!
Thanks!
In 2013 about 1200 test takers scored 36, 6000 scored 35’s, 11,000 earned a 34 and 16,000 got 33. 33 was in the 99th percentile, 34 and up the 100th.
Honestly, a 33 won’t prevent you from getting into a great school nor would a 34 or even a 36 guarantee you admittance.
Is it just like you need a 33+ to even be considered unless you have a crazy story or are a athletic recruit? @Singersdad
One
According to my calculator, @marvin100 is indeed correct.
I second @viphan and @marvin100.
According to Wolfram Alpha, the difference is indeed one.
Anyway, you’ll be fine with that 33.
@burnt1, absolutely not.
I agree that there is no magic number that will ensure (or doom) your chances for admission to one of the top schools. But approach this from the way an admissions officer looks at this: you have between 2000-2800 acceptances to hand out each year. You could fill the entire acceptance pool with the people who had a 36 on their ACT (or the SAT equivalent). So you are looking for reasons why you shouldn’t give the slot to one of these applicants. Once you get to 34 or 33, you’re looking at what is the middle 50% applicant for an Ivy League school. The Admissions officer is trying to find out why this student, among the 16,000 students with “average” scores stands out on in his or her grades, ECs and essays to get that slot. It’s as though the burden of proof has shifted from the school to the student once you’ve moved into the middle 50%.
In support of this, I’ve seen some score distribution statistics for an Ivy League school that show that students with a 36 have 1:4 acceptance rate, while those with 32-35 have a 1:10 acceptance rate (similar to the general applicant pool). Unfortunately, this is not broken out for every score level 35, 34, etc., so you can’t really see the impact of dropping down 1 point but it is illuminating. Similarly, Princeton shows that students who have 2300-2400 on their SAT are accepted at twice the rate of those who have a 2100-2290. (14.8% vs. 7.7%). So you could more than double your admissions chances by scoring at the very top of the scale, but below that, your odds revert to the same as the general applicant pool.
Technically, the difference in scores isn’t even reported by the ACT. You are in the top 1% with a 33 to 36, and the exact split isn’t broken down. If you wanted to assume the distribution is equal across the scores of 33 to 36 (not likely, I know), but in order to make it simple, the difference could be described as the top 0.8% of test takers vs. the top 0.6%.
http://www.actstudent.org/scores/norms1.html
The positive difference is 1.
Also, once you get to roughly 2-3 standard deviations above the mean, the differences in score don’t really make a huge difference.
Elite colleges often admit holistically, meaning they consider your test scores, GPA as well as everything else on the application as a whole. You shouldn’t be rejected because you “only” scored a 33.
In response to @burnt1
Sadly as @spayurpets explained so well, higher ACT scores give you an advantage. Honestly I suggested my D retake her 33. Also remember your score distribution will be examined. So a very uneven 33 can be more problematic than a 33 with little variance.
burnt it may not affect your overall chances of admission at an elite school, but it may affect your chances at other slightly lower tier schools in getting into their honors programs, merit scholarships and other selective programs that might be available. Be aware some colleges use a strict GPA + ACT score for merit scholarship awards and some schools require a 34 ACT to be eligible for their highest awards. You should research the schools that you are applying to to know for sure.
Please read comments by Matmaven
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1690095-college-admission-facts-opinions-and-myths-p1.html
My son has a 33 and I have been pressing him to try to improve it. Singersdad, did your daughter have any improvement?