<p>How difficult is it to raise a 33 (taken Jan. Junior Year) to a 34 or 35? With the grading system so tight (-1 or -2 means 35 or 34 in certain subjects) is it even worth trying?</p>
<p>It depends on many factors, including if you studied for the test you got the 33 on.</p>
<p>He did not study for it. But he hasn’t studied for the next one (June 12) either, but says he will when finals are over.</p>
<p>If he got a 33, why would he study? Like you said, that’s 2 or 3 questions away from a 34/35.</p>
<p>That’s more of luck than anything you can study. Besides, and i’m sure you’ve heard this many times before, a college won’t base its decision on a 33/34/35.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not true. Higher scores yield higher chances. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Luck is indeed a small factor, but it is absurd to wholly attribute higher scores to that. There are people who consistently score perfects.</p>
<p>It gets harder and harder to raise your score by even 1 point the higher your score is.</p>
<p>
Such as the gentleman who uttered these words. :)</p>
<p>Well, one or two questions is what separates those scores. People who consistently score high are naturally prone to score that high. For people who studied to get a 34, the 1 or 2 questions difference to get a 36 wont come from more practice. There’s a point where the practice stops and the luck comes in. And that point comes when it’s a 1 or 2 questions difference.</p>
<p>I am not saying people who get high scores get it because of luck. People who score a 34 naturally may get lucky and get a 35.</p>
<p>You may have consistently scored a perfect…does it come from studying? no. You’re naturally smart dude.</p>
<p>As for the colleges, I guess it depends on the school. But it’s not about only about tests.</p>
<p>To those who claim a 34 or 35 is less likely to be accepted than a 33…show me the data.</p>
<p>I mean…data. Not other claims.</p>
<p>Harvard’s mid 50% is 31-35, and it’s the highest I’ve seen.</p>
<p>To be clear: plenty of people with high scores get rejected. Because…hold it…hold it…these damn tests are not the only consideration.</p>
<p>Your admission is not a reward for scoring high on the ACT. You would be far better off working on your essay, grades, and lors than trying to squeeze out a 34 instead of a 33.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Who claimed that? Of course that is false.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Per section.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>But at lower rates than people with lower scores.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone said that</p>
<p>CAN I go from a 32 to a 33, 34, or 35 by studying this summer? I got 35 in math, 32 in English, 31 in reading, 29 in science. I think If I did my best, I would get a 35 in math, 35 in English( got this on practice test), 34 in English, 34 in science. Obviously this probably won’t happen, but if I study a lot over the summer, what are the chances that I will at least raise my grade by 1 point?</p>
<p>If you study, improvement is possible. It just comes down to luck once you hit a certain point though. I would suggest studying a lot and then taking the test again if you really want to go up another point or two.</p>
<p>For me, I would only study math or english if I were to study at all (I didn’t). I think that reading and science are both built on comprehension skills developed in years preceding the test. Only in math and english will you be able to brute force memorize rules and apply them in a consistent manner.</p>
<p>Okay, I’m in the same boat… I got a 33 on December and the Illinois state administered test. I didn’t really “study” for anything for more than like, the two days before the test, because I honestly don’t see the need. At this point, you know everything you will be tested on, and losing points is a matter of luck. Both tests, science dragged me down from my goal of a 35, so for tomorrow, I just studied science. Getting a 33 to a 34/35 won’t be done by studying for inappropriate amounts of time. Simply look over anything (if anything) you do not know, and pray that you don’t make any careless mistakes or get a randomly hard problem or section.</p>
<p>“To those who claim a 34 or 35 is less likely to be accepted than a 33…show me the data.”</p>
<p>I wrote this a long time ago. I’m such a dork; I meant “more likely to be accepted.” </p>
<p>I still don’t see the data, however. </p>
<p>And I’m skeptical. You’re saying I’ve got two identical kids: one has a 33, and another has a 33 plus some higher score (34 or 35). And admissions guy chooses the latter only because of the slightly higher 99th percentile ACT score. </p>
<p>I haven’t run the numbers but I’ve looked at the Naviance data for my d’s high school for all the glamour colleges. And I see no evidence of this tendency. But I’m willing to be convinced.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>All of the following links indicate a positive correlation between test scores and chance of admittance across all the entire score range:</p>
<p>[Brown</a> Admission: Facts & Figures](<a href=“Undergraduate Admission | Brown University”>Undergraduate Admission | Brown University)</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/865226-addressing-few-concerns.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/865226-addressing-few-concerns.html</a></p>
<p>[Princeton</a> University | Admission Statistics](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/)</p>
<p>[Applicant</a> Profile : Stanford University](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/basics/selection/profile.html]Applicant”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/basics/selection/profile.html)</p>
<p>[Testing</a> Statistics](<a href=“http://www.dartmouth.edu/admissions/facts/test-stats.html]Testing”>http://www.dartmouth.edu/admissions/facts/test-stats.html)</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.amherst.edu/media/view/181593[/url]”>https://www.amherst.edu/media/view/181593</a></p>
<p>[MIT</a> Admissions: Admissions Statistics](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/admissions_statistics/index.shtml]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/admissions_statistics/index.shtml)</p>
<p>I’m sure there is a very strong positive correlation when you consider the entire score range. </p>
<p>But to say that 34 or 35 increases your chances above a 33? I’ll look through your links and report back my impressions, but on this specific point, I’m skeptical. Though persuadable.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The issue of causation is discussed in mifune’s thread.</p>
<p>Silverturtle: Thank you very much for these links. I will be wrestling with the Avery et al. paper for some time. The assertions are very troubling to me, if they are valid. </p>
<p>Here’s what I observe:</p>
<p>The college reported admissions data is a mixed bag. Brown: The report lumps 33, 34, and 35 together. No way to tell if 35 improves chances above a 33. Amherst reports 44% for 34-36, versus 37% for 33. Stanford just lumps 30-36. MIT admits 18% of those between 34-36 versus 11% for 30-33. So there you have some suggestion of a relationship, but we don’t know if it’s spurious.</p>
<p>But the immediate reaction I have is this: only 18% of MIT students are admitted among those who score 34-36. To which I say: 18% still sucks, and I bet there is some other way to increase your chances that has more leverage.</p>
<p>Dartmouth singles out people who get 800 on one of the SAT sections. And the percentage of those accepted is significantly higher than 700-790. </p>
<p>The most persuasive piece is the Avery et al. paper, which makes a very direct claim about the jump from the 99th to the 100th percentile (or 98th to 99th I suppose) of the SAT. For MIT, this jump seems to get you close to an estimated 50% probability of acceptance, but even if the chance increases, it never gets very high for the other colleges cited.</p>
<p>Bottom line: I guess if a) you think taking the test again is a zero cost proposition and b) you think you can improve your score to absolute perfection, then go knock yourself out. </p>
<p>I can’t get past the impression that retaking the test from a 33 is a waste of time and focus. I might say this much: I would guess that you would get more leverage from retaking the SAT than retaking the ACT.</p>