The only thing I have read where it is not good to take it again was in programs that are BS/MD programs. Baylor only looks at one sitting for entrance into that program. But, for the superscore there is no downside. There may be a downside to very difficult universities like Harvard. There is a diminishing return at times. (from what I have read) Also, I think it has potential to lower self-esteem if the score is lower or the same. If your child is close to a 32, then I would encourage them to take it again.
It’s good that you are focusing on your S’s individual section scores to target his prep if he decides to retake. You didn’t say if you ordered a copy of the ACT tests he took and I can’t recall if there is a deadline for doing so. If you can obtain the underlying test booklet, he can analyze the mistakes he made in Math section and target his prep towards those questions. That said, the Math score is the “least forgiving” because each mistake drops the scaled score (IIRC).
You can encourage him by looking at the way his raw scores translate to his scaled scores so that he has a sense of how many actual questions he “just has to get right” to see real improvement. That does help put things in perspective during prep time.
Beefing up Section scores will also help if the target school superscores the ACT. Not all schools do.
My D did well on the ACT and her Science score in particular was 34 - 36 for her two sittings. She said that it was preferable to answer the questions without reading the passage and then go back to the passage if necessary. This strategy allowed her to save so much time that she finished with no time pressure. She prepped with ACT released tests and the ACT Red Book.
Even if he doesn’t study, and you need the merit money, it would be worth it for him to take it one last time (then be done with it, because three times is a lot.)
My D took two practice tests at school, three months apart. First time, got a 25; 2nd, 28; 3rd time, she took the test for real, and got a 31. As far as I know, she hasn’t studied much, but taking the test itself is practice.
She is taking it one last time in June, and like your S, mainly to help with increasing merit. With her pattern, we are hoping for a 32 at least. HOWEVER - she wanted to take it again, I told her she didn’t have to.
But after that, even if she scores the same or less, she is done, unless she really wants to take it again (she won’t). There is only so much testing these kids can go through, imo, before they lose their minds. At some point, they have to enjoy their summers and breaks and just be teenagers.
Seeing as how your S has increased his points by 2 each time, he might be okay with not having to study so much. ? Either way, given the cost of college tuition anywhere, another 50 bucks and a few more hours is certainly worth it.
Maybe treat him to something nice after he takes it the third time, no matter what the outcome? Out to dinner, weekend camping or a weekend road trip, some new clothes, movie tickets for him and his friends, whatever would make him feel better about it.
Adding onto @BeeDAre, is there some incentive you can provide to your son while studying for the ACT? Not getting a higher score but for actually taking practice tests and studying, and of course, taking the exam yet again.
The first two times my daughter took the ACT, she got the exact same score (although the section scores were different). She was really frustrated by this immovable number so she wanted to retake the ACT and get a different number, preferably higher.
Her incentive to study? Me. I took the practice exams with her and we “competed” to see who could get the higher scores. (put another way, if she was going to suffer doing this study thing, she wasn’t going to do it alone.) We focused on her two weakest sections: English and Math. In the first practice section tests, I score much higher in English and we scored about the same in Math. In looking at the subsection scores, she figured out what she needed to study. The first month, we just took practice Math tests. She studied. I didn’t (I should have but, uh, I’m lazy) and it showed. At first, our scores both went up as we became more familiar with the test but then I plateaued while her score continued to climb. The second month she focused on English. Again, I took the practice tests with her - she really didn’t like it when I beat her score; thus, the added motivation to study.
I kind of liked taking the practice tests. I had never taken the ACT (only the SAT and subject tests several decades ago). These practice exams gave me an idea of what she was experiencing. I know I am guilty of saying “well, why can’t you study for the ACT again?” rather carelessly. Going through it made me realize it does take time and mental energy to do the practice exams. I know I usually ran out of mental stamina around problem #45-50 in the Math section.
Her third ACT score was a 31; unfortunately, there was no way I could get her to retake it a fourth time to see if she could get the magical 32… Sometimes, kids are just done. So, D got significant merit aid but she never qualified for the full tuition awards which seem to require a minimum of 32 for consideration.
Thanks to everyone for helpful and witty comments! My son is on the cusp of top 10% and can move up with decent final exams in a few weeks. I also may try a bit of competition (thanks @SlackerMomMD!) in taking some of the practice exams with him. We compete on the tennis court SO…
I concur about the MATH suggestions. It can be unforgiving, but believe that he can come up with some review and practice. Any other thoughts of good practice in addition to the REAL ACT folks?
Good luck to all of you and your children! This site has been a blessing AND fun for me…first with my daughter and now my son.
Have you exhausted all the annual ACT practice tests (they repeat for two years, then a different one is published). Otherwise, you might ask your school GC and among friends to see if they have ACT test booklets from actual tests you can copy. To make the practice really count, especially in Math, it’s best to use only official materials and target the types of questions that resulted in repeated mistakes. Also check the detailed score report from prior ACT sittings.
Edited: like this one and its predecessors
http://cty.jhu.edu/talent/docs/2015actpreparing.pdf
Also, check the ACT website for its online course. It should offer access to official practice tests in the same way the SAT online course offers practice tests.
We have a couple REAL practice tests he can still try. We have selectively used some of the older tests from REAL ACT that have circulated on this website as well. I will have to look at the ACT site as well. Thanks!
@BarristerDad118,
I’ve taken a ton of std tests myself because of my profession and my kiddos have each scored 35 on ACT one try.
Here is my advice.
- It is worth it to take it again if kid wants higher score for merit money. Maybe you can incentivize him with money ($200?) for taking the test one more time
- Most colleges don’t superscore ACT, so don’t count on it.
- So needs to retake ACT with writing
- His time should be spent
a. taking full, real ACT practice tests under exacted timed conditions, including the bubbling
b…going over all missed problems, re-solving them, and understanding his mistake. If he needs to review material to fully understand his mistake, then you can look them up in a review book (eg Barrons or Princeton Review) or look it up on the internet. - My DK2 would not do 4b, so I hired an ACT prep tutor, specifically to make him do 4b. DK2 would fight with me too much to do 4b with me. DK1 did 4a and 4b by herself
- For full, real ACT practice tests, there are 5 in the Real ACT book. There are 4 other practice workbooks that the ACT releases, 1 is on their ACT website as the practice workbook. Others can be found doing an internet search. ACT will use the same practice workbook for many different years, so only 4 discreet ones are available. If you make it thru those 9 tests, I can PM you some additional tests. If you still have a couple of real practice tests left in the 5 real ACT test book, then he definitely needs to take more practice tests. He could do 1 practice test each weekend.
- For writing, there are threads here on cc that tell him how to write a 12 essay in 25 minutes.
Good luck. Merit money is always nice!
Edit to add:
Or you can accept his decision and let the financial chips fall where they may.
If he takes the test in mid Sept, then I’d have him do no studying now and then start mid-August and have him take 1 practice ACT test each weekend. So like 4 tests.
Maybe drop the matter altogether for a month or so while he recuperates from the exhausting school year. Then, encourage him to get a small group of friends together to take retired ACTs together and together work through the appropriate answers. Maybe there is a group incentive that the families help finance, i.e. dinner at a burger joint or a day in the city or at a water park. Their moms will love you!
We needed the money and my DD2 is competitive so she took the ACT three times and I think the SAT twice. It worked. She got a great SAT score that qualified her $1K more/year from the state and $3K more merit/year from her college. That’s $16K more for a $300 investment. Thank you DD2!
Not that it matters too much, but I will agree with others about taking the ACT multiple times… if your spawn is willing. My D took the ACT four times including a first practice test. Her scores were (in order) 25, 27, 28, and 30. Her scores improved simply by taking the test; she did very little studying. As scores get higher, they become asymptotic to 36, so it’s harder to make large leaps in value.
I believe the final test score garnered her an additional $8000 in merit aid over four years at her college choice. A very nice return on investment. As @knoxpatch wrote: Thank you DD!
I think that taking the ACT is September, or even October, of senior year is a great idea, even if the student has already taken it several times. We had the same situtation–S had taken it three times by June of Junior year, with a best single sitting of 30 and superscore of 31. He said that he was done. But, I convinced him to sit one more time in the fall. Without any further studying, he scored a 32 composite, raising his superscore to 33, and bringing all of the subscores over 30. By that time, he had completed more math and was just a little more mature and relaxed. It made a big difference in the scholarship money that he was offered, although he ended up going with the honors program at our state university, which offered him no scholarship money.
DS took the ACT one time, w/ much “encouragement” from me to study for it. His one time SAT was 1920. With an EFC of $1500, we needed great aid, not just good aid.
So I tested him w/ the different sections the week before the exam. We spent a miserable 20 minutes on it. I also told him I would pay him $200 if he got at least a 32. I was shooting for full tuition+ at Temple and Alabama. With federal & state aid, and student loans, we would probably just make it.
He has a weighted GPA of 99.46, and might be salutatorian out of a class of 420+ students.
Pitt offered him a lousy $5k in merit aid. Worst school of those he applied to. Penn State wasn’t much better. He plans on studying ECE.
He got a 33 on the ACT & chose Alabama, Roll Tide!
Imagine what Bama’s scholarship for OOS students is doing for the State of Alabama. A lot of students (I don’t have the stat at hand but it’s significant) tend to stay in the state where they attend college. With so many highly talented kids attending Bama, the state’s economy will change for the better. This is akin to the impact the UC system had on the State of California in the second half of the 20th century. It’s a small investment for a long-term economic impact. Whoever came up with this is a genius.
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With so many highly talented kids attending Bama, the state’s economy will change for the better. This is akin to the impact the UC system had on the State of California in the second half of the 20th century. It’s a small investment for a long-term economic impact. Whoever came up with this is a genius.
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then President, now Chancellor Robert Witt…with some help from Senator Shelby.
I have to wonder how many kids really stay in Alabama. @mom2collegekids - Are your kids going to stay in Alabama?
@lenny2 Thanks for making one of the myriad number of PROS my son should hear about taking the ACT one more time. Since I last posted, our family attended a college consortium and I got to hear from other parents in person. Everyone seems to agree that even a point or two can mean significantly more scholarship money!
@yohohoho Thanks for your insight and encouragement! Any thoughts by any of you of the schools that want to see ALL your test scores? Does it matter? Penn is one such university? *-
I would suggest going for it. Six years ago my son took the SAT 3 times as a junior with little change. We hired a tutor for the summer and he raised his score some 180 points on the 4th try that earned him significant merit $ and an honors program acceptance to his first choice school. He graduated debt free with a great job, $ in the bank, and $ for grad school if he desires.
Some of the best $ I ever spent was for tutoring to raise his SAT score.
Good luck to you.