The first time I took the ACT I got a 25 (34 in English, 28 in reading, 20 in science and 17 in math). I retook it this July and improved by 4 points to get a 29 (32 in English, 32 in reading, 26 in science and 24 in math). I am contemplating taking it a third time as I think if I worked hard enough I could go up a point or two more, but I am wondering if it is worth it. I would have to study a lot over the rest of the summer and I already studied for the entire first half of it so I am not particularly eager to hit the books again as I am doing a lot of other things this summer as well. That being said, if a 29 is not a good enough score, retaking the test again is always a possibility. I am not interested in any over-the-top competitive schools, but some are relatively selective. So far I am looking into the University of Madison, Wisconsin, and Colorado State University (possibly the University of California Davis as well, but I feel that could be a reach). So far I have a pretty solid GPA of 3.94, but that being said my classes haven’t been extremely rigorous (a lot of honors classes but no APs yet, I will be a senior in the fall and plan to enroll in two APs as of now but have not taken them yet). I am very involved in extra curriculars as well (varsity cross country and track, NHS, other clubs, etc), and have done an internship at the UW. Given my situation, would anyone recommend I retake the ACT again to improve my chances at getting into these schools (or ones similar to them), or is a 29 a satisfactory score? Thank you!
It depends on the school you apply to. Check each school’s Common Data Set to find the median ACT score of the recent entering class as a starting point.