Hi, my HS junior got 35 ACT composite (33 science subscore, 35 subscores in math/Eng/reading). His first sitting. Next year, he will likely apply for CS/Datascience programs in top 20 (including the ivies). I realize there is more to college apps than just test scores, but I am wondering whether the 33 science subscore hurts him. He had 4 in AP chem in 9th grade, 5 in AP bio in 10th (just for additional context). He is not really into standardized test taking (spent 4 or so hrs/week in October for 3-4 weeks before taking it on the 28th and prep time mostly spent on Eng/reading). Next ACT date is in December. Should he retake given the major and type of college he is likely to apply?
Agreed. It’s a waste of time to focus on prep when the margin for error is that small. You run the high risk of it not improving his score and being an overall waste of time. He should focus on doing well in his junior year, which is far more important than a 1 point difference on the ACT.
I agree with everyone else, you are done with this part of college applications, which is great.
If it matters, the experienced college counselors in our feederish HS say the same thing about 35s, and they specifically do not think one lower subscore actually matters to colleges. That makes sense because there is enough variation that you could take the ACT 10 times and get 10 different combinations of subscores, but that really isn’t proving anything.