<p>It seems as if though English and Math are the most important sections. But I got low scores on Reading and Science and it lowered my composite score significantly from a 31 without R and S to a 27 with them. Are all sections equally important, specifically for UC schools?</p>
<p>It’s on the test they want you to take, so I think they would care about each score</p>
<p>they care about the composite first i think and then they look at each section.</p>
<p>Why wouldn’t they?</p>
<p>Either way, they’re factored into the composite score, so you need to do well on them. There is no composite score calculated from half the sections. That’s only for M+CR on the SAT, because Writing is a new section and factors the poorly-designed essay portion into the score.</p>
<p>Why, pray tell, would they care about the Critical Reading section on the SAT, but not the Reading section on the ACT?</p>
<p>Your reasoning here seems to be almost entirely “I did poorly on these sections; therefore, I will find some people on the Internet who know nothing and just want me to chance them back to reassure me that those sections don’t matter.”</p>
<p>Unless I see hard evidence suggesting they don’t care about Reading and Science, I am inclined to consider them just as valuable as the other sections.</p>
<p>Yeah, colleges look at all sections, but I still think that the English and Math are more important than Reading and Science, Science being the least important IMO.</p>
<p>I have seen some college data websites that list the average composite, English, and Math scores for incoming freshman. I don’t recall ever seeing averages for Reading and Science, however. I don’t know if that means colleges emphasize certain sections more, but that is my experience.</p>
<p>I always personally hated the science section. It had nothing to do with science, just reading charts and stuff…</p>
<p>The ACT composite is usually the focus. They might look at your sections to get an idea of your strengths and weaknesses, but the composite is the important part.</p>
<p>That’s quite a gap in your scores!</p>
<p>Colleges do care about Reading, because in college you will be doing a lot of…reading! On your own, without the professor telling you what the book said. Lectures are not intended to regurgitate the readings…the readings are a taking off point or a contrasting point to the lectures. Both lectures and readings are fair game for exams.</p>
<p>Colleges also care about the Science score, because it tests your ability to understand different ways of presenting information and your ability to take the next step/make inferences from the information in those formats. The Science section is testing your ability to think more than anything else.</p>
<p>Get some practice books and work with them until you feel more confident…then take the test again.</p>
<p>All to the good… a lot of schools now superscore the ACT just like the SAT.</p>
<p>Speaking of which, how did you do on the SAT? It might be a better test for you.</p>
<p>Not having science may help, but it is highly unlikely that the SAT’s CR portion will be easier than the ACT’s Reading section.</p>
<p>Of course they care. The without a question count reading the same as math and english. The only thing I’ve heard is science being less important, but still counts a lot. They look at your composite score. Even if your score would have been a 35 without science, if your score is then a 31, they will see a 31. It’s annoying, but the section IS there. It’s not like the writing section where schools openly say " we don’t consider the writing", which fewer schools are doing since they see the writing section of the sat very important as well now. Anyway, with a 27 your not going to be applying to IVY’s and top schools, so a 27 should be ok for most places and uc’s, except for ucla and berkley.</p>
<p>My SAT is almost the same as my ACT when converted, an 1840. I’m not going to retake because I already sent my applications…</p>
<p>He asked a question. You’re contemptuously shooting down what you have assumed him to believe.</p>
<p>maharg–this thread is a couple of years old. The OP is by now safely studying at the college of his choice.</p>
<p>Looks like USC. Why are these ancient threads getting revived?</p>