So my son took ACTs in February without any prep, just to see how he would do. He got a 32 (36 english, 35 reading, 28 math and 27 science). He decided to take again in June with science and math prep and got a 33 (34 reading, 30 math, science went up to 36, but english when down to a 30). If the school superscores his composite is 34.
Will the English score drop to 30 from 36 matter? My kid’s dream school is Georgetown and they want to see all tests.
Should he re-take the ACT, hoping to bring his English score up? Because he wants to go go to Georgetown, he also has to prep for two more SAT subject tests, so it is not like this is something he is dying to do.
It depends on the school. Some schools care more about the English/Math than the Reading/Science. Some schools will state that under their ‘Standardized Testing Policy’ section on their website. Check Georgetown’s and any other school that interest your child. You can also post on the Georgetown website, ask Admissions when you visit, high school visit or local info session.
Thanks for the feedback. My initial advice to my son was to focus on SAT subject tests at this point. The guidance at our HS is not at all helpful about this kind of stuff, so I figured I’d turn to the experts!
Look at Common Data Set for Georgetown (assuming they have it) and see what the individual area scores are at 25-50-75% levels. If he’s below 25-50% in anything, it might be worth a retake, depending on how competitive he is in other areas of application.
