Like title says, I’m a junior right now and took my first ACT in April.
Got a 35 composite
35: English
36: Math
34: Reading
35: Science
I’m pretty happy with my composite score. I believe I can score a few points higher on reading: preparing for the APLAC test has helped me a bit. What really worries me is the essay. An 8 is like the 82nd percentile or something and for the colleges and programs I’m looking at, like Brown PLME, everything is super competitive and maybe the smallest things could make big differences.
Relatively few colleges (28 according to Princeton Review) require the SAT/ACT with essay. Even for those schools that do, I would posit that your writing in your essays would be more closely evaluated than your SAT essay scores. Harvard basically gave this as a reason, although not the only reason for eliminating the need to take the SAT with essay.
@skieurope@suzyQ7
thanks for the advice! I guess it’s just cause my demographic (asian male) and intended major make it pretty difficult that I was wondering if I should retake.
You have an excellent score. Think about how much time and effort it will take to raise that to a perfect score. At least 60 hours of studying, I’d think, to go from great to perfect.
Think about what you could be doing with that mental effort. How many books you could read. How many apps you could code. What stories you could write. Online courses you could take. Art you could create. Extra wind sprints and summer conditioning for your sport. Putting in extra hours at the summer job.
I don’t know your ECs and interests, but there has to be something in your life besides math, grammar and interpreting graphs. Spend that time and effort on something to make you more interesting and it will have a greater payoff in the long run.
I got practically the same score on the end of my junior year too.(35+35+36+34+8) And I think the score didn’t negatively affect my application since I never sought to attend HYPSM. If you have the ambition and the ECs that fit these institutions, I suggest you take the time to retake ACT. Otherwise spend more time doing meaningful ECs instead of retaking the test. ( If you are one of the super achievers like my classmate who got gold medal in IYPT, don’t bother retaking the test. You are already good enough.)
That’s what happened to me too, and I decided not to retake it. It’ll probably be more helpful if you work on your college apps or extracurricular activities instead because that’s what the colleges will look most closely at. I was also told that colleges will look more at the writing samples you provide (personal statement, supplements) for your writing skills instead of a timed writing assignment.
It’s not really worth it to retake for the essay score. It isn’t very heavily considered, as compared to the composite score. That’s why colleges don’t report it on their admissions statistics. Your score is good as is.
thank you all for your responses! They are deeply appreciated.
I had signed up for the June test before I had received scores from the April administration because I didn’t suspect I’d do so good. The good thing though was that I took it without any extra prep and just hoped for a little stroke of luck.
@whataboutcollege
Yes I did end up preparing for it. I read through the rubric actually and asked my counselor/checked online guides for solid gameplan. It ended up working out for me.
