Has anyone raised their score from a 32 to a 35, or even a 32 to a 34? I need to know if there is hope. Thanks!
It’s possible. My kid got a 31 her first two times, but scored a 35 on this past Feb’s. ACT. She took as many practice tests as she could from the red ACT book.
Why? Any school that will take you with a 35 will also take you with a 32. Once your scores get that high, it is more about the rest of your resume. The reason you see higher ‘averages’ among the top of the accepted list is that too many people keep freaking out like you are.
That is not to say a 32 will get you in wherever you wanted to go, but if you don’t get in, it is not likely to be because of the score.
Daughter went from 31 to 33. Taking again soon. Work practice tests specifically to identify areas you need to shore up. At this point, it’s nuking a few questions per subject.
My nephew raised his ACT score from a 24 to a 34. He took the test eight times. He had trouble finishing the test the first four or five times he took it, but his score got a little higher each time.
It’s possible if that 32 was taken with little or no prep, but otherwise it’s pretty difficult since you’d have to cut down your mistakes by about 75% (i.e. going from losing 4 pt out of 36 to losing only 1 pt per section).
“He took the test eight times.”
EarlVanDorn. Wouldn’t it have been better to study, take practice tests and then simply take the test once or twice. Otherwise it is taking up weekends for about 2 years. But in terms of the OP, remember some schools super-score and focus mostly on the composite and first two sub-score (the later two just add error to the composite). So, if you got, say a 32 and 36 on the first two, if you take it again and get a 36 , 32 =even if you don’t improve the composite score you’ll have a 36 36 for those that super-score. I would not make a career out of taking the test but taking it a second time might help-especially if you study only one section primarily to raise that one section-a help only if you are applying to schools that super-score tho.
I went from a 30 to a 34. It’s possible
@lostaccount Although not diagnosed as such, I’m sure my nephew has a slow processing speed. He made good grades, but he always took longer than anyone in his class to finish math tests, for example. Everyone thought he was goofing around on purpose. He just had a hard time finishing the test. The first few times he took the ACT he had sections he simply could not finish.
Some people don’t spend the tremendous amount of time “studying” and taking practice test that you guys do. My kids do study, and they do take practice tests, but they just don’t wear it out. And I think the best practice test is the actual ACT itself. I don’t think eight Saturday mornings out of three years is that time consuming.
My daughter took the ACT in 8th grade and made a 30. She took it again in December as a 10th grader and made another 30. She was not happy. So she will definitely be taking it several more times to try to get at least a 33. I don’t think her math skills will allow her to get any higher than that. But she will probably take it at least four or five more times.
Take your lowest subject scores and try to bump them up. Ideally get your composite as high as you can, but once your’e above a 30-32, a lot of schools will be just fine with it, so just try to get your superscore up in the 34-36 range, which will show that your’e capable of all subjects, even if you couldn’t get them in one sitting.
I understand the OP’S concern though. For my D it is not so much about admittance, but scholarship. A 33-34 ACT at her school of choice is a one year, half tuition scholarship. A 35-36 is a FOUR year, FULL tuition scholarship. Big difference! She has a 34 now, and retook it Mar 1 as part of the state required ACT test.
My Dd had a 32 in her sophomore year and as a junior our state used to provide a free ACT with writing as a requirement to graduate HS. I told her to not prep, don’t worry, don’t care about it and stop stressing. She went from a 32 composite to a 34, and jumped from a 29 to a 36 in math.
@slaudsmom makes a point that many are missing, which is that there is a huge difference between a 32-33 and a 35 at a number of schools which offer full scholarships in which ACT scores play an important role. It’s always better to have a higher ACT score than a lower one, and if the schools to which one is applying don’t require that every score be sent, then it doesn’t hurt to take the test as many times as possible.
I took a practice test in sophomore year and got a 29. Took it for real last September and got a 35