<p>I hate to break it to you, but unless you can significantly increase your composite score, you won’t be getting into Stanford or Duke without a convincing hook to your application. Vanderbilt is also very unlikely without a higher score; I was accepted at Vanderbilt, and will attend in the fall, but my friend was rejected during the regular decision round with a very solid application, which included a 32 on the ACT. </p>
<p>Anyway, to address your question, my advice is to stop worrying about your score on the science section. Will your score on the science section be considered? Yes, as the score will be provided, and because colleges will exhaust all objective criteria during the admissions process to make differentiation between qualified candidates more direct. Will the score be considered heavily? Probably not, unless it deviates significantly from your other scores and possibly suggests a weakness. </p>
<p>Admission at most schools goes far beyond quantitative data, and so you are much better off allocating energy and thought to other areas of your application that you can directly improve, rather than your ACT science score. Best of luck with the applications.</p>