My daughter received a 29 on her ACT’s and is trying to decide if she should retake them. I don’t know why, but she’s worried they’ll go down and she doesn’t want to have to send in a lower score than she already has.
From what I’m reading, it seems like it would be rare for schools to want ALL scores. Would you guys agree with that?
Most schools that we applied to wanted all scores but they only look at the best.
The best thing to do would be to check the website of any school she is considering applying to and read the policy. Typically only the highest score is used for admission purposes.
Few schools want all scores. @drusba has researched this. Look at post #2 on this thread:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/1828724-can-you-pick-which-sat-scores-you-want-to-send-to-college-p1.html
Hmmm, well it seems that will be a decision she will just have to make. Without knowing where she wants to go, she can’t look up the rule. She also wants to apply where merit aid is offered, but we can’t pick out the schools without knowing her score, haha.
Thanks for the link.
I’m pretty sure that schools can’t require you to send in all your ACT scores anyway like they can for the SAT.
Does “send all scores” mean “you are ethically obligated to submit scores from every test you take, including tests taken after you’ve already submitted scores to our college”?
Or does it mean, “When you submit scores to our college, you must submit the scores for every test taken up to that time”?
If it’s the former, the solution to the OP’s kid’s problem is obvious. Send the scores now. Take the test again. Don’t submit the new score if you don’t like it.
@Marian
The only problem with that is she doesn’t know where she is applying to quite yet and her ACT test is in June.
I think she should just take again, I think she’s over thinking it. Like I said, she is worried her score will go down, but she has a study book with practice tests, I think that will help.
My daughter didn’t apply to any schools that required that she send all scores. I don’t think many schools do that. She also had a 29 the first time she took it. We felt like the worst thing that could happen is that her score might go down and then she’d just send the 29. That’s not bad. She took it a second time and got a 31 - she went up in all subject areas. Her 29 was just fine to get her into the schools she applied to, but a couple of them had bigger merit awards if you had a 30. One of them you just had to superscore a 30, so we knew if she was just one point higher on any of the tests that she’d superscore a 30. That was a good reason to take it a second time. After she got her 31 she was done. She got a great merit award at the school she wanted to attend.
If she studied her butt off, and got a 29, and she doesn’t plan on studying anymore then I’d stick with the 29. It’s a good score. If she looks at schools she has at least A LITTLE interest in, and sees that her score is not a competitive one, then I would have her take it again. But, she needs to put some time in, or else her fears are warranted, IMO. But even taking the actual test is good practice for taking the next one.
So what she explained to me is the fact that the scores are rounded. She got a high 29 rounded up to 30 on her first practice. Then a low 29 the next two practices. Then on the actual ACT she got a high 28 rounded to 29.
So she sees her scores going down and is worried.
We did get the ACT red book the other day that she plans on using it if she retakes the test.
That’s why she’s not sure if she should take though. To me those just sound consistent, but maybe I’m wrong.
My daughter had a high 28 that rounded up. The second time she took it she had a low 31 that rounded down. It bugged her that if she would have had just one more point on any section she would have had a 32. My daughter’s best friend also got a 29 and she got a 31 the second time she took it. They did little prep work before either test. My daughter did work out of a book to work on her science and math scores since she had the most room to gain there. But she didn’t do much. Almost 60% of kids who take it get a higher score the second time. The 29 is hers to keep. If her score goes down, she still gets to send her 29. The ACT was key for the merit awards where my daughter applied. Right now your daughter has a score that will award her merit money at many schools, but amounts vary. She’s taking practice tests, not the real thing. A lot of kids have higher scores on the real test than practice ones. I know that the counselor at our high school advises students to plan on taking the test twice because she consistently sees higher scores on the second test and there is no downside if you do happen to get the same or lower score.
What do colleges do if a students high school transcript lists all scores? Do they take them all into account, or just the official report(s) you send to them? It annoyed me that my D’s highschool lists them all, but there was nothing that could be done about it.
The schools I have seen that require all scores do so to help the kid either by super scoring or because they use a calculation that weights certain sections and throws out others and the applicant doesn’t know which score is “best.” I know a few ultra competitive schools may require all of them as a way to eliminate serial test takers but I don’t think they are looking to boot out someone who only took it twice which is pretty much the standard these days. Based on your other thread, that is not the type of school you are looking for anyway.
@Fourthmom
Her last score was a real one not practice, and it did go down. But it was her first so I’m hoping that it goes up the second time. We are looking for merit scholarships so she was really hoping for a higher score.
Thank you-- it’s encouraging to hear that they often go up the second time around.
@gettingschooled
You are correct, she is not looking for anything specific. She’s still getting used to the fact that she might need to go where the money leads her.
Very good info here on CC, it’s helped a lot!
Valparaiso is a school that requires all scores.
I followed that the 29 was her real score. She should not freak out about a practice test being lower was my point. My daughter went where the money was and she loves it. We would never have been able send her there without her award. I do feel like with a 29, they would have been generous with her since she would have been in their top 20%, but a 31 put her in their top 10%. That is where the money is. Our goal was never to get her into the most selective school she could get into. Our goal was to get her into the best school school we could afford. Even at the cheaper state schools and the OOS that offer reciprocity, they would give her between $2500 to $3000 off their tuition because of her score - even with a 29. That made a lot of reasonable schools especially good deals. We viewed her ACT score as a big coupon that not everyone gets. We knew she wouldn’t qualify for financial aid so it was a big deal for her. I think you’ll feel pretty good about it as you research schools.
You have to list schools that she is considering to have an idea. Most state schools with merit aid are simply going to take the highest score. A 29 may already qualify for max merit aid at some schools so nothing more would be needed. You have to research individual schools and I would start with your state flagship.
Upper tier schools that may look at a lower score negatively but require all scores need a score about 29 anyway so she would need to take it again.
My daughter got the same score both times on the act, but her superscore was one point higher. We ended up sending both in whether or not the school said they superscored (hope springs eternal 
).