I recently took the June ACT and scored a 34 composite(35E 35M 35R 30S 9W). I’m worried that my low science and writing scores will look weak. I’m thinking about retaking the SAT in August, I got a 1480 20W in March. Is it worth it to retake the SAT again or should I just send my ACT score and spend time on other aspects of my application?
Stick with your ACT if you will be a liberal Arts major, retake the SAT if you are STEM and your are ready willing and able to study for it. Why not retake the ACT in Early September? Honestly your 34 is sufficient for 98% of schools, I’d be concentrating on my essays at this point.
34 is a great score - the writing score is not low, it’s fine - check the percentiles. As for the science score - look back on ACT threads here and you will see that many test takers report lower scores in that section.
A better way to demonstrate your abilities in science (because ACT science section is really more like an exercise in reading comprehension of scientific texts) would be to obtain high scores on AP or SAT II tests in scientific subjects.
Don’t retake. You score will not take you out of the running anywhere.
Don’t retake. 34 is not low for any college. Admissions decision will not come down to that.
Schools rarely care about the writing score at all. I would not recommend my kid waste time retaking. You can apply anywhere with that score.
Thanks for the responses guys! I think I’m going to stick with my score. I took USH and Math II subject tests in June and I’m waiting for my scores. Replying to bostonbredgirl, I’m aiming for a top 20 college(Yale is a my high reach!)
Congrats op on an excellent ACT result! Given that 20.8 is the average score, I’m probably in a minority of cc posters who would consider even a 30 to be a very solid score.