Does my intended major affect how colleges look at my ACT subscores?

Test Preparation
1

I got a 31 composite on the ACT, with a perfect 36 in science and a near perfect 35 in English, however my reading and math scores were lower - 25 and 28, respectively. I am probably going to major in bio or chem for pre-med (trying specifically for WashU STL). I would imagine that the science 36 would make me look good for that area of study, but I’m not sure colleges would even take that into account. I wouldn’t be too worried, just take the test again for a slightly better score in those two areas, but my GPA is much lower than average for someone with those scores - 3.68/3.4

TLDR, do colleges look at the subscores directly applicable to intended major?

2

Depends on the college and most don’t disclose what they look at. You can look through the websites and other sources to see what is out there. Look for “academic index” If you can’t find anything, I would use the common data set as your guide. Check if they superscore as well.

3

There are some schools who pay more attention to the math and english scores than the others. Likely prompted by the study referred to in this article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/report-finds-2-of-4-tests-in-act-poor-predictors-of-college-success/2011/07/19/gIQAOiPFOI_blog.html