<p>I currently have a 23, and my score only went up 1 point since I took it. And no one in my family lets me live it down. I have a 3.93 GPA with a 4.1 weighted. But my ACT is not up there. I mean I'll get accepted into college, but probably not the college of my choice. It's not fair. I keep getting lectured, my dad isn't talking to me because of my ACT score and supposely I haven't studied hard enough for it even though I've taken Kaplan and done all the homework. I don't know. I'm just confused. It's not fair. =/</p>
<p>Tried the SAT? Some people find one harder than the other</p>
<p>I guess you just go to a really easy school. Where else could a 23 on the ACT correlate with a 3.93 GPA. And stop saying its not fair. Getting cancer or being killed in a plane crash isn’t fair, but achieving a similar score over and over again on the ACT is fair. The fact that you got two similar scores of 23 and 22 just mean that maybe you aren’t as smart as you thought you were.</p>
<p>You will certainly get into college, maybe not a top 40, though.</p>
<p>Buddy McAwesome, though certainly blunt, is almost certainly correct.</p>
<p>Any person who has a near-4.0 GPA should be a pretty intelligent person if they go to a reasonably well-respected school. And seeing as ACT/SAT scores do correlate pretty well with intelligence (you won’t see geniuses getting 1800s on the SAT), the only think I think is that…</p>
<p>A. Your school is incredibly easy and plagued by extreme grade inflation
B. You aren’t a good test taker
C. Your high GPA led you to believe that you could get a high score on the ACT… which obviously wasn’t the case</p>
<p>ACT is not an intelligence test. </p>
<p>Have you looked at any test optional schools? Wake Forest, which is ranked at 28 in USNWR is a test optional school. Also, NYU would let you exchange your regular test score with either AP Exam grades or SAT Subject Test scores.</p>
<p>OP- Why isn’t it fair? You took the test twice with similar results. Your low ACT scores are your wake up call. Now you can more wisely select your colleges instead of throwing away your time and money applying to colleges way out of your range. Grow up.</p>
<p>People here need to realize that a standardized test does not measure your intellectual abilities. It’s impossible to gauge whether or not someone is intelligent based on a test that only covers basic Math and English. I think some of you here are a little naive when it comes to real capability.</p>
<p>If you have a good GPA then you should be fine. I got into college with my 3.9 GPA (college prep school, 4.1 scale, top 20%) even though my ACT scores were worst than yours. You have to realize that your scores are above average and you WILL be accepted into a school of your choice.</p>
<p>Standardized tests AREN’T fair. They shouldn’t be a requirement but what can you do? Petition if you really hate them.</p>
<p>Most people who go to top 50 schools could walk into the ACT on the day of the test with no preparation of any kind and knock out a 27+ easily on the first try. Granted, that’s a sweeping generalization, but if you’ve actually studied and prepared for the ACT and are consistently getting the same score, then that’s what you’re going to continue to get. No one is saying you won’t end up a doctor or lawyer. It’s just obvious that you didn’t go to a highly competitive high school. That is why colleges use ACT’s. It’s an equalizer. Some state universities do have minimum ACT’s though. I know Auburn University and LSU do. I’m sure many others do too. AU’s is 24. If you can’t hit that number (or whichever state school’s number) then try for their SAT requirement number. I’m not sure that test preps for things like the ACT and SAT work all that well. Don’t care too much about where you go to college, or rather, what OTHER people think of where you go to college.<br>
Best of Luck.</p>
<p>just don’t give up and keep studying…
Complete the red REAL ACT book and that should help.</p>
<p>or take the SAT…</p>
<p>honestly, you shouldn’t pay so much attention to your slighty obsessive parents…
its not your fault and not talking to you because of your ACT score is kind of evil.</p>
<p>To be honest, the test is unfair. Even my teachers agree. And no my school is not plagued by grade inflation. My high school in Illinois has some of the most difficult teachers, and our grading scale is off compared to other teachers. And no I’m not smart, you guys are right. I’m hard working. I work my butt off for my grades, staying up until 12 every night studying, but the fact is that yeah I’ll get accepted into school but most likely not the college of my choice. I want to get into STLCOP, and I’m thinking University of Illinois. But now is that going to happen with my ACT score? Probably not. And BuddyMcAwesome I never thought I was smart, before you just start generalizing.</p>
<p>Does anyone know when we get the scores back from April 22nd?</p>
<p>they are already being posted, if not up already for yours they post 2 times a week, just log into your account at ACT</p>
<p>You may be trying too hard and overthinking the test! a poster here gave me good advice to pass on to my son. he is great at science but his score was lower than expected for him. the poster advised that he was probably over reading and over thinking the science portion…stop reading the questions and concentrate on the graphs, he did that on the last act and raised his score dramatically. He also did not want to do the study prep ie kaplan etc. but these study guides seem to be helpful</p>
<p>Layout 13</p>
<p>if the link doesnt work its <a href=“http://www”>www</a>. improveyouractscore . com</p>
<p>sparknotes also seems to be good.</p>
<p>Dude everyone gets into college if they want to. Lets establish that fact. It may be a cc or a run down public school, but its college. Second, UIC’s range (im assuming UIC because UIUC is a little bit of a reach) for the ACT is 21-26 which means you are right in there with the pack. you scored better than about 50% of the people admitted (btw UIUC range was 26-31 so u miss that cut). These scores are (25th to 75th percentile). With decent EC’s and ur gpa which seems really good (colleges cant see if it is inflated) you should get in.</p>
<p>How is the SAT or ACT not fair? For every kid at my highschool that i’m friends with, their SAT scores directly correlate with how smart I think they are. You could say that its unfair that some are smarter than others, just like its unfair that some people are born with horrible diseases. Life may not be fair, but tests like the SAT and ACT are fair. Unless everyone except you is cheating on the test, it is fair.</p>
<p>Be honest with yourself. Have you truly studied as hard as you can? If you put off all your studying until the last week the answer is no. However, if you study every day for an hour a month before the test you have.</p>
<p>You have an amazing GPA (I’m jealous, seriously), study more and take it again. Try the SAT, too, while your at it. Maybe speed reading isn’t your thing.</p>
<p>And you have to do MORE than just what you are assigned. Always, study more. The SAT and ACT don’t even measure your intelligence. If you forgot the material or were having and off-day you will do badly. </p>
<p>For example, when I took the SAT the first time my Math score was 100 points lower than when I took it the second time. That’s because I actually studied that time.</p>
<p>Let’s be real, most people aren’t innately smart. I only know 5 people who are inherently intelligent. Most people just work hard.</p>
<p>Why isn’t it fair?</p>
<hr>
<p>It’s very unfair. I despise people with ignorant, capitalistic world views.</p>
<p>@ BuddyMcAwesome</p>
<p>Are you really so immature that you think a standardized test can accurately measure intellectual capability?!
At this point, the SAT is chocked full of flaws that it’s almost disgustingly so. It’s not keeping “dumb kids” out of competitive schools if their parent’s can hire a tutor for their kid a few years in advance. It’s also not keeping the average kids from studying like crazy on their own to improve their scores. Does a minority student’s 1560 officially make them of average statistical intelligence? Do you really understand what your saying? </p>
<p>One of my best friends just got her SAT back today and she went up from a 570 on her writing to a 710. Did she just get astronomically smarter between those months? Nope. She studied and was luckier the second time. Only a real shallow or ill informed person could make the challenge that standardized scores are the end all be all in someone’s intellectual capabilities. </p>
<p>To MsAnonymous, I would try the SAT and SAT II’s if I were you. The tests are not compunded the same way and you may have better luck. Don’t sell yourself short without sufficient trying. If you could get grades like that without being intelligent and just “working hard”, I assure you that you can break down these tests and use that energy on them to do well. It’s funny that you say you aren’t smart, because working your butt off to get the most out of school and simply caring about your future is one of the smartest things a teenager like you can do with yourself at this point in your life. Good luck girl.</p>
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</p>
<p>Loaded phrases “are you so immature” and “Only a real shallow or ill informed person” are not cool.</p>
<p>This is a message board i.e., people have opinions. My guess is that almost all people who do well think SAT/ACT is fair and those who score low do not. </p>
<p>My take on this conversation would come from “A is for Admissions” written by a former associtate Dean at Dartmouth. She says that Admissions Officers don’t take kindly too kids who don’t do well on standardized tests because … at the Ivies they give lots ot tests.</p>
<p>Your the biggest ****** ever</p>
<p>Everyone is right to a certain extent. Since this post is from quite a long time ago and OP hasn’t come back, we can’t make any definite conjecture. But there’s no need to insult her.</p>
<ol>
<li>OP is bad at testing.</li>
<li>Her school has insane grade inflation.</li>
<li>She’s dumb.</li>
<li>She’s bad at the ACT</li>
</ol>
<p>It could be any combination of the four. If we saw how she did on other standarized tests as well as her type of courseload and extra curriculars we could form a more better conclusion. But seeing how she has a near perfect GPA but it isn’t significantly higher when weighted, she may not have taken hard courses-- maybe even just one or two honors and gifted so far. In comparison, my unweighted is lower than hers, but my weighted GPA is significantly higher.</p>