Like many people, my daughter has received her second round of ACT scores. Her composite went down a point, but her English score went from a 30 to a 34. This was at the cost of her reading score plummeting from a 28 to a 22…
My instinct is to forget this ACT and send the previous, figuring we shouldn’t let anyone see a 22, but then we were thinking that if they ONLY see the best scores a perfect English score is nice. Opinions, please?
You (actually your daughter) should look at the colleges she is interested in applying to and see if they superscore the ACT. If they don’t, obviously don’t send the September ACT. Even if they do, I would caution against it. Does a 22 even meet the College Readiness Benchmark? I would also try to figure out what caused the huge fluctuations.
What was her first ACT score (composite + breakdown)?
What as her second ACT score (composite + breakdown)?
Some selective colleges do super score the ACT or at least use the highest score from each section across multiple test dates. Check standardized test policies by school when applying
@golfcashoahu
June:
Composite 29
English 30 (usage 16 rhetorical 15)
Math 30 (pre alg 18 alg.geom 15 geo trig 14)
Reading 28 (social studies 17 arts 12)
Science 26
Combined English/Writing 27
Sept:
Composite 28
English 34 (usage 18 rhetorical 16)
Math 31 (pre alg 16 alg.geom 16 geo trig 16)
Reading 22 (social studies 09 arts 16)
Science 23
Combined English/Writing results not back yet
Yes, a 22 meets the reading benchmark, but only just. She does not test well in history/social studies – only got a 3 on the APUSH exam – but her GPA is good and other APs are and will be at least 4s. Her first choice is a pretty competitive (but not top) LAC, and they say they use the highest score, but I’m really wondering if it will hurt her if they see that 22 (and the 23 in science, really). The middle range of accepted students is 27-30, for some perspective on the school.
@Pheebers i would NOT send her second ACT scores. An admissions officer at a highly competitive LAC (or any highly competitive college) will have a hard time overlooking a 22 and 23 subscore, especially when it was taken more recently than her first ACT. Such scores may make them question whether her first ACT scores were a fluke or not really representative. Her first ACT is well balanced, and a 29 composite is a solid score. I would just send that one.
@Pheebers Thank you for providing her complete testing profile. As the above poster mentioned, I urge your daughter NOT to send those second examination results. Not only is the composite a point lower (90th percentile vs. 92nd percentile), but also the breakdown on the second ACT is, quite frankly, bad. It seems odd…a 34 english but barely passing on reading AND barely passing on science.
What is the LAC that she is applying to? If you aren’t willing to share on here, please PM me.
There is no authoritative consolidated list of colleges that superscore the ACT but this seems to be the most recent:
http://blog.prepscholar.com/colleges-that-superscore-act-complete-list
If your school is not on that list I definitely would not send the second score.
@ErinsDad Thanks so much for the list – it’s not on there. The answer’s pretty clear to me.
@golfcashoahu I’m frustrated myself with her scores…and she’s an incredibly hard worker in everything else but she just wouldn’t prep.
She also took the SAT around the same time as the ACTs last spring (didn’t prep for either), and got 550 CR, 650 Math, 690 Writing. We figured SATs were out because of that 550 – her equivalent ACT of 29 was much stronger so she opted to retake the ACT to try for a 30. She did do some practice exams this summer, but nothing like what some people do.
At this point it’s too late for her to do anything about the tests themselves, it’s just damage control, and perspective. She shouldn’t be suicidal about a 29.
No you shouldn’t be suicidal over a test where you’re in the 93rd %ile. http://www.actstudent.org/scores/norms1.html
29 is solid. Don’t send the second set.