My daughter is a junior in high school. She is in an ACT prep in school and just got a 25 on her first ACT from October. She has a 4.2 GPA and we are hoping to bring her ACT up to a 29-30. She will begin tutoring this month, and we obviously have some time to bring it up. For those of you that took it multiple times, how did your scores change as you took each test?
Hi! I’m a senior and I took the ACT in both September and October of this year. My score went up from a 32 to a 33. I barely studied at all between the two though, so I think it’s definitely possible for her score to go more than that with a tutor. I know some people whose scores went up multiple points when they had tutors, and since she has a lot of time, she definitely can do it. Good luck!
Given her GPA, you may want to aim for ACT 32 to 34 for full tuition
My daughter’s best friend took it four times in effort to finally reach her goal score. Her scores in order: 31, 30, 31 and then finally 33. I guess that persistence pays off… but if I were a college admissions officer, I am not sure that I would be impressed with an applicant taking the test 4 times to reach her final high score.
Each of my daughters took it only once.
@WWWard Unless the school the student is applying to requires all scores be sent, you just send the best one. The school would never know the student took the test 4 times.
@uwalummom Yes… that is true for many schools. My daughter’s friend’s top choice is Vanderbilt, which as a policy requests that each test score be sent… but I guess that applicants can choose to ignore that request too.
^^^the scores can be deleted.
What kind of tutoring did she get? I am in the same position, High GPA but 25 on act even if I scored between 31-32 at home. Idk
I’m a senior but I started taking the ACT junior year.
First try: 27 composite (no studying)
Second try: 28 composite (no studying) I really should have started studying before this, but I didn’t think I needed it
Third try (most recent): 31 composite
To improve 4 points from the first test, I took many, many timed practice tests and made sure to identify my mistakes, fix them, and try to not repeat them. It’s definitely possible to get the increase you’re looking for, you just need to put in the required effort. I worked hard for 2 months, and now I actually have a chance at my dream school. Good luck!
I took the ACT twice, in February and April of my Junior year. It improved significantly without any studying, and I think just being familiar with the format of the test is a big part of that. I would advise against taking it more than a few times, I think that it is a waste of time and money. A 30 should be totally obtainable with a little practice.
@MarcoXP no tutoring yet. She takes an ACT prep class through her school (it’s an actual daily class). The tutor wants to start in January. It’s only 3-5 sessions 1:1 but she wants her doing 30 minutes a day of work from the red book for ACT prep. 25 is still around the 80% for national scores, but she’s going to try and get it up to a 30.
I am a current senior. I took my first ACT in September of last year and got a 26. I was very disappointed as I am 2nd in my class and have a 4.35 GPA. However, I did not study to do better (my own fault), but as of the October ACT, I am sitting at a 31. I did take the test several times, but my score improved everytime, not because I studied, but because I became more familiar with the way the test works. Your daughter should be fine, especially if she studies.
My child improved from 26 to 32 with more practice.
i went from 28(27.75)->29(28.5)->31(31.25)
My daughter started with a 25. Her next scores were 26 & 27. Her last score was a 30. She took a prep class and then worked with a tutor to bring her score. The tutor was really good. She has all of the previous tests and answers and worked with my daughter focusing on English to bring up her overall score. I am certain my daughter could have done even better with more time. If I was going to do it over again, I would get a baseline score by having her complete an actual ACT test provided by a tutor. After getting the baseline score I would focus on tutoring starting in the sophomore or junior year. We waited too long, and although a 30 is a good score, with more time I think she could have gotten a 32 and then she would have more schools to choose from. There is no substitute for painstakingly going through each wrong answer and learning how to correct your errors.
I took the ACT a total of 4 times. In spring of my sophomore year, I got a 25. And the next 3 times I took it I got 29, 31, and 31. However, my english, reading, and science scores fluctuated greatly, especially between the two times I got a 31 (April and June). So although my highest composite is a 31, my superstore is a 33. I took a rather ineffectual prep class in terms of instruction, but I think it helped simply because it forced me to sit down and practice. There are such great online (and free!) resources that I really don’t see expensive tutors as necessary.
32 --> 36
Practice tests, practice tests, practice tests …
Review and UNDERSTAND your mistakes so you won’t make them again – that was the biggest help for me
33 -> 33. No composite score change but subscores changed. 35 superscore.
First: 33 C (34 E 31 M 32 R 36 S)
Second: 33 C (33 E 34 M 34 R 30 S)
Super: 35 C (34 E 34 M 34 R 36 S)
My sister went from a 26 to a 33 in a year and a half. She’s taken the ACT more than anyone with common sense would recommend, but hey, she went up 7 points.
Some are looking to hit a certain number for a particular admission or scholarship. Both DDs score improvement meant $$ - for one $12K over four years, and the other much, much more.