In my opinion, my son is very intelligent and tests very well. He took the ACT once and earned a 34 and has decided not to take it again. He’s planning to apply to Engineering schools and I wonder if he should take the ACT again to try to improve his score, since his competition to these schools is likely to be very strong; surely stronger than Naviance reflects on his relatively small high school’s comparative chart.
Am I right in thinking that colleges will assume he took the ACT more than once to get to that score? Should I try to get him to take the ACT a second time?
I don’t want to drive him nuts with studying for the ACT again if it won’t make much difference. He’s currently at a 6 week Engineering program at Cornell Summer College, has 2 Subject tests to take in August and has to write his Common App essay before Labor Day, on top of Football preseason that begins August 14th.
Leave him alone re: the ACT?
I asked my D2 the same question. Her answer: Why would I want to ruin a perfectly good Saturday.
A 34 won’t keep him out of any school (except perhaps MIT or Cal Tech).
Is cost an issue, and would he be able to get better scholarships with a higher score than what he could get now?
I agree his college energy is better spent on those other priorities, esp. the essay.
Most engineering programs want a 33/34 for the “better” programs out there. If he’s good then let him write an amazing essay. Also it doesn’t matter whether he took it once or 3 times. They end score is the end score.
But…you want his math and science sub scores to be really good especially for engineering. So the only time I would retake it is to elevate those 2 scores. IE:he has a 27 and 29 in math and science but a 36 in reading and 35 in English. (just making this up and didn’t figure out the score here) usually engineering kids have higher math and science scores and lower reading and English scores.
Note that two forum favorites, University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa and University of Alabama - Huntsville, have higher merit scholarships for higher stats, where a 36 ACT may help get a better one than 34 ACT.
While he could improve his score, he could also lower it. It’s a game of chance. Sometimes your better off holding where you are.
Then he wouldn’t send those scores in. I know very few kids that actually lowered their scores.
He got a 5 on the AP Calc AB exam, and recently retook the Math 1 subject test and got 800. He’s also taking Math 2 and Physics Subject tests in August, so we’ll see how he does on those.
I’m pretty sure he’d improve his score if he retook it, but he’s definitely of the mind of @“Erin’s Dad”'s daughter and doesn’t want to ruin another Saturday.
It’s his life. I should probably stay quiet about it.
I do appreciate the feedback! Thank you!!!
And, fwiw, the breakdown was
35 English
33 Math
34 Reading
34 Science
31 English Language Arts
34 STEM
(Not sure where those last 2 came from, but they’re on the results sheet so maybe they’re new.)
^ English Language Arts score is the average of English, Reading and Writing. If his writing score is 8 out of 12 then its equivalent to a score of 24 (out of 36), thus the ELA average (35+34+24)/3=31. Of course, Stem score is the average of Math and Science. The good news is that even the top schools have abandoned looking at the writing score in ACT.
Michigan just did away with the writing portion.
Will he be taking Calc BC senior year? Any AP sciences? Senior course load should be as rigorous as possible. The ACT score seems ok to me. There may be a temptation to raise that math score, but sometimes a retest ends up with other top scores declining, and he may end up with the same composite. I am inclined to agree with the other posts to work on other parts of the application. What colleges is he targeting?
“In the class of 2017, 2,030,038 students took the ACT. The average composite score was 21.0 out of 36 (for more on how the ACT is scored, read our article). This means that a score of 22+ puts you above average.
But if we consider 22 and up good scores (since they’re above average), what would qualify as an amazing score?
To find out, let’s look at ACT percentiles—the rankings tied to composite scores. For example, a 90th percentile score means you scored higher than 90% of test takers.
On the ACT, 34 and up is the 99th percentile. So if you score 34 or higher, you’re in the top 1% of test takers!
But exactly how many students earned a 33, 34, 35, or 36 in 2017? Which score is the rarest? Let’s take a look:
Score # of Students Percentage of All Test Takers
36 2,760 0.136%
35 12,386 0.610%
34 20,499 1.010%
33 26,920 1.326%
Source: ACT.org
No reason at all to retake IMHO. He’s already in the 99th percentile. And only on this forum is a 34 on the radar. Only 34k out of 2mm test takers receive this score. Let him play football work on apps and study for his fall grades.
@privatebanker Thanks for some perspective. My biggest worry for him is that his competition for Engineering schools is that tippy-top group. I need to step back and let the chips fall where they may. He’ll land where he’s supposed to. (I just dread him experiencing the inevitable rejections from his reach schools & hope to prevent him having too many regrets.)
And, to answer @momprof9904 he is taking AP Calc BC. Also taking AP Physics, AP Chem and is dropping Spanish like a hot potato (honors Spanish classes were consistently his only B’s and he now hates the poor language for “tanking” his GPA!)
No need to retake. Relax and let him focus on other things to make his application stand out.
Here’s his list so far.
This particular order happens to be sorted by #undergrads, since he’s currently thinking that Cornell is “too big.” (Cornell is pretty much off this list now that he’s been living there since June 23rd.)
Rice - Reach ®
Lehigh - Target, but “must visit” (Tmv)
Case Western - Tmv
RPI - (unsure, added after college counselor labeled the schools)
UoRochester (Double Legacy) - Likely, mv (Lmv)
Johns Hopkins - R- must visit (Rmv)
Duke - R
Wash. U. St. Louis - Tmv
Northwestern - R
UMiami - T
UPenn - R
Cornell - R
Syracuse - Lmv
UVa - R
Clemson - Tmv
Northeastern - T
VaTech - L
UMd CP - T
UMich - R
Purdue - T
U Alabama - unsure, recent addition by mom
Penn State - L
We’ve visited UMiami (In Feb and he loved the campus), Lehigh, WUSTL, NU, Cornell, Lafayette, Skidmore (sister’s school). Hated Lafayette and Skidmore, so also no LAC’s for him. His priority is excellent education, and he’s leaning toward MechE and/or AerospaceE, but he also is looking forward to having those unforgettable 4 years of college away from home (so no NJ or NYC schools.) He plans to join a fraternity, possibly join a FSAE Club if one exists, thinks it’d be great to go to a school with a lot of spirit/great sports teams (esp. football, his favorite.)
His college counselor says that he likely will not be admitted to any schools she marked “must visit” if he does not visit the campus.