<p>I know this question comes up every year, but I am looking for opinions as to whether or not my son should retake the ACT. He took the test in Feb completely cold - no test prep at all despite my considerable urging :o), and scored a 32 composite. His Science, Math and English sub-scores were all 32s, and Reading was a 33.</p>
<p>He had no trouble completing each section of the test, which is as I understand it, the main benefit to be gained from prepping - i.e. time management/test taking skills. </p>
<p>The reachiest school he is considering is Davidson, and a 32 is just above their middle 50% of 27-31. He is well above the middle 50% at every other school on his list. Would we be remiss is taking a 32 and not looking back? That seems so contrary to standard practice that it just feels wrong.</p>
<p>Does he want to take it again? Mine wanted to take it twice just to see if they could do better (one went up a tiny bit, the other stayed the same up in one portion, down in another). If he wants to take it again there isn’t much of a downside. When you send scores you can specify which date if he doesn’t score higher the second time and if he does score higher then…bonus as the kids say. But as a parent, I would not want to send a reluctant kid into a Saturday morning test so ask him?</p>
<p>I would take it again later this year after some prep. Does Davidson offer any merit scholarships? If so, are they desired? If so, your son may want to have better scores. </p>
<p>jcc, congrats on your son’s talent on the ACT exam. You all should sleep well with that lovely score.
I think it is more likely that your son will be considered for merit offers if he makes a 34 in highly selective schools “in general”…to place closer to the tip to top quartile.
A 32 at Davidson is a good solid score but they do have many students with stronger stats each year who are paying full price at Davidson because they are not eligible for aid and are not offered merit…ditto at many fine colleges. So then you must think about if your son has other aspects to his application that swing him into a recruited category in a category of talent of some kind or diversity or just simply knock out references and essays.
I would not bother retaking the test if he has his cap set for
a. a school where he is already way in the top quartile
b. you have figured out that you will pay your full FAFSA rate no matter what once he gets in all his schools (ie there is no merit money laying around to compete for)
c. you already know you have a low EFC so almost all schools are a bargain for your child! If that is true…then there is no reason to hack away at the ACT for a point or two…he is likely to have many admissions and receive good need aid.</p>
<p>He really has nothing to lose by retaking. He only has to report the score he likes the best. My son took it in April and got 32, no prep. He was disappointed by his low showing in science, so he took it again in June, again with no prep and scored a 34. His science score came up significantly.</p>
<p>My D studied a bit and raised a 32 to a 35. If he’s willing to put in the time to do a few practice tests, I recommend re-taking it if Davidson is important to him. It seems to get more competitive every year.</p>
<p>Wait until September for the retake, unless that is a particularly busy time for him. He will be more focused, and six months can make a difference. You probably know that an increase in the ACT would typically be only one or two points, so this strategy shouldn’t change your list of schools much.</p>
<p>So, a little twist to my original question…my son took the ACT + Writing in February, and scored a 32, but only an 8 on the essay. Unbeknownst to me, his school tested all juniors the first week of March, 3 weeks after his first test. He did no prep for either test, and raised his score to a 34 (35m,35e,34s,33r) on the second sitting. For the schools that don’t require writing, it’s obvious he’ll send the 34. Should he now retake the test + writing to try and raise the 8? Will an 8 on the essay raise a red flag? For schools that require Writing, should he send the 32 and the 34, even though the 34 didn’t include writing?
He’s really hoping to be done with testing, and has even indicated he will not apply to schools requiring SAT IIs since he hasn’t taken any yet…any thoughts?</p>
<p>this is all about your child’s college list, your financial needs and your child’s temperament. Doesn’t Davidson like to see SATIIs? Obviously your son will be in excellent standing at scores of great colleges.</p>
<p>Isn’t that lovely that he nailed a 34? I am actually more interested in his skipping the SATIIs than I am worried about his 8 on the essay…(his subscores were strong across the board and he can write essays on his applications.)</p>
<p>If you can afford to pay full price to a reach college where a 34 hovers at the top of the middle quartile or the bottom of top quartile, then there is no reason to schelp to more early morning sittings of exams. But lots of kids who get merit discounts have several good SATIIs and AP exam scores along with the big score on an ACT or SAT.
Or some other unique quality that is being recruited.</p>
<p>If you are quite content with a state school that has a program that meets his needs and he is way up there in their students and will get whatever honor perks a school has to offer…not much reason to get up at 6am and drive to an exam site. </p>
<p>If you son is a free spirit and working on exams oppresses him and he hates that rat race, then be done. The desire to do the supplemental tests has to come from the student but it is a hassle to do the SATIIs in senior year…my son actually retook one in January of his senior year when he was rested…and took one in June of his senior year to place out of a language in his chosen college.</p>
<p>He will up his chances of getting merit dollars with more test scores to show, so unless he is certain he is going to a non SAT II college, I would not let him off that hook without pointing this out to him. I would also ask him to prep well for his AP exams and follow them up with taking one SATII at a sitting in late May and one in June. Most of the Ivy’s require three. Many students at my son’s colleges were waitlisted with that score and many got in. It all depends on what he hopes for…</p>
<p>He tests well! with zero prep. In our household we were really under financial duress with eldest son at a very expensive private school…Younger son realized he could make a difference since he has expensive long term goals for a professional school…and he put a lot of effort in and he did accept a full tuition offer. Perhaps your son…who tests so well cold… should show that again on the SATIIs at least twice to make sure he is not reducing chances of being pulled in to discounts on tuition.</p>
<p>the recession has a big impact on our ability to help our sons for grad schools and for undergrad and has also made large grad school loans less viable and more dicey for the next generation…so keep your eye on that long term reality if your son has long term goals that require gobs of cash or huge loans.</p>
<p>Davidson does superscore, meaning they will take the highest scores on each subsection from different test sittings. You might want to check with their admissions office to see if they include the essay in the superscoring, in which case your son is done with the ACT. :)</p>
<p>I’d prod more at the SAT IIs. Taking them in June, when the course content is fresh in the student’s mind, is very common. If he changes his mind about where he wants to apply, it will be much harder to study for SAT IIs in the fall of senior year after summer vacation. With a high ACT, he won’t even need to send SAT scores when he applies unless his SAT IIs are required and/or high scores.</p>
<p>A friend of mine just got into Brown University and he had submitted his 32 on the ACT as opposed to his 1350 on the SAT I.
As for the writing, I think that saved me. My ACT was only a 28, but I got an 11 on the essay and I was accepted into the school I wanted as well.
Make sure he doesn’t burn out, because it can take a toll on everything else he’s doing or has left to do in the college application process. Even after a few times of retaking tests, scores more often than not do not show any improvement. SAT IIs are meant to show his competence in the interests he plans to pursue, and helps when being compared to other applicants. Play to his strengths because that’s what really needs to emanate from his applications.</p>
<p>I had concerns about my son’s “red flag” ACT essay score of 6 (with 33 composite), and he retook without the essay. Per CC discussions later, maybe I should not have worried. </p>
<p>Note that many students opt out of the ACT essay, so percentage scores seem to look worse than from SAT madatory essay.</p>
<p>our son was admitted to Davidson (excellent place) last year and I do not believe they superscore ACTs</p>
<p>we didn’t get much guidance counseling but the biggest mistake our son made was to skip the ACT essay. He saw that he had a good SAT writing score and didn’t think he needed the ACT essay. Wrong! </p>
<p>His ACT was higher than his SAT and at least one of his schools would have accepted the ACT solo if he had done the writing portion. However no ACT writing meant he had to turn in his SATs </p>
<p>in 2009 there was no score choice, so all of his SATs were there to see along with the required SATIIs as well…our kids went with the Open Book Admission re stats in their years…just had to leave it up to each institution to review stats as they saw fit and hope for the best.</p>
<p>with score choice, you have much more control</p>
<p>Please remember that although you don’t have to prove your AP scores till you enroll in most cases in a college…however your AP scores are requested on the Common App and your son or daughter should prepare for those which takes some doing as busy as they are at that age in April and May. In our town, AP instruction is weak and so AP scores lag//</p>
Was this on a National ACT test date? I am thinking it might not be if it was done 3 weeks after his first test and during the school day rather than a regular Saturday. The reason I ask is that the merit scholarship my daughter has from her school is based on her ACT score but it had to be an ACT taken on a National ACT test date. An ACT taken on a non official national test date would not have qualified her for it. I am sure this rule will vary for different scholarships but is something to look into and consider if you are hoping the score might lead to merit scholarships.</p>
<p>I don’t think they superscore the ACT at Davidson either. I don’t think they will require the SAT IIs if you submit the ACT, but I could be wrong about this. At their talk they consider transcript, grades, recs and ECs first and then they consider the SAT I or ACT and then way below that SAT IIs. </p>
<p>I do think it would be smart to retake it, though…even without tons of prep. He could easily get a 33 or 34 which would be much better and may position him for merit aid. I don’t think a 32 would unless the other parts of the application are stellar.</p>
<p>Oh, sorry, I see he did retake it and got a 34 without writing. Most colleges, as a poster noted, do require with writing. So…I’d still suggest retaking it so you have a 34-type score to send in with writing. That is a very good score and unless his SATs are better, why not?</p>