I like the idea of taking the test after you send off the set you have now and only send them to colleges if there is an improvement. I’m sure you realize that it’s no guarantee the numbers go up.
As you also probably know, your DD should write up notes with everything she wants her School GC and recommending teachers to bring up in their write ups of her. I suggest that it is mentioned that she is someone who works on things to get them as close to perfection as possible even as she continues to deal with other things in life as they come along. That she is persistent and thorough. I’m sure you and she can work out better wording, and it should be presented differently in each REC. That could mitigate the effect somewhat. How to tie that into multiple test taking is a project for you guys.
Sometimes so many different perspectives can leave a parent confused. Your daughter needs to be able to advocate for herself in her application through her essays. It’s like writing a cover letter and resume for a job application where you highlight your strengths and why you would be a good fit for the job. You would research the company and go well prepared for an interview so that you get the job.
In reading her application the reviewer only has what has been conveyed. From that they formulate a picture of the applicant and determine if this student would be a good fit for their school. It’s the applicant’s responsibility to portray themselves in a way that is true to themselves.
This website has links to forums for each college. You must have in your mind a list of schools that she would be interested in applying to. Check out those individual college forums on this site and read the threads. Usually each college forum has an accepted students thread where students list their stats and ec’s so you will get an idea of what caliber of students are accepted to those schools. There will be some threads in the college forum where accepted, rejected, waitlisted students post their stats. There maybe another thread where applicants post Early Decision results. All these posts will give you some idea of what type of applicant is applying to such schools.
There is a section on this site for SAT and ACT test preparation. Read some of those threads. I’m sure others have posted asking they same question. How many times should a student take a test?
Do a search on this site for “How to improve from a 32 to a 34+” and you will find a thread addressing this concern.
Here is a book that might help her on her science score.
https://www.amazon.com/Love-ACT-Science-innovative-standardized/dp/0996832203/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=for+the+love+of+act+science&qid=1556934625&s=gateway&sr=8-2
@socaldad2002: Thank you for the answer. Just wondering since some applicants think that if they take a class at a specific university, it will give them an edge in admissions. Having a bad HS Physics teacher is a good reason to consider alternative options.
One of my kids took both ACT & SAT about 4 times. Almost the exact same scores kept coming up, before & after a prep course, which were lower than expected. Finally kid took a community college logic class & next time ACT jumped 3 points & SAT a comparable amount.
The colleges that required all exams all outright rejected kid. Almost all comparable colleges which didn’t require all exams either accepted or waitlisted the kid. All colleges applied to were in the USNews top 30 national universities. Conclusion: for top colleges that can afford to be picky, it doesn’t seem to help if they know student took multiple swings before hitting a home run.
My D took the ACT 4 times because she was gunning for a specific score for merit scholarship purposes. She would have taken it as many times as necessary to get that score. I can’t imagine any school looking down on a kid for taking the tests multiple times.
When we visited Columbia University, the admissions representative made it quite clear that they both discouraged and were a bit leery of students sitting tests over and over. They also observed that “changes at the margin” weren’t considered significant and that they only took note of “significant” changes. One parents asked what they meant by “significant”. The response was “improvement by 40 points or more”. They also mentioned that in evaluating applications, they did consider the fact that many students cannot afford to take tests more than once and ensured that those students weren’t placed at a disadvantage.