<p>Does anyone have any insight to whether adcoms typically view ACT Composite scores simply as a whole number, or do they calculate the exact composite average and use this number?</p>
<p>Asking this another way, is a Composite of 33.50 (34M, 34E, 33R, 33S) viewed as less impressive than a Composite of 34.25 (34M, 34E, 34R, 35S)?</p>
<p>Of course, DD has a 33.50. Her reported 34 puts her solidly in the range for tippy top schools to which she is applying, but if it is viewed more as a 33 then we might decide that it is prudent for her to try one more time.</p>
<p>The composite should have been written on her ACT report as 34, right? They round up–ie they don’t even put down the decimal number (ie 33.5), so her composite is a 34. Now I’m assuming you meant that those 4 scores and the composite of 34 were on one single sitting. If she has taken it multiple times, then some colleges (not all, but many) will “superscore” her ACT: ie they take the top science, top math, top reading, and top English–even if each is from a different sitting (ie different date)–and average those. My son’s highest sitting was a 34, but his superscore (over 3 sittings) is a 35. As you can see in the “Academics” section of the Common App, they ask for the top score in each area and its date–so it is basically looking at a superscore. However, if your daughter has only taken the ACT once, then this “superscore” discussion wouldn’t apply to you! Good luck to her!</p>
I have the same question. I am well aware that ACT rounds up from .5 to get the composite score, but the original question…do colleges look at a true average of 34.25 better than a true average of 33.5 (both are a 34 composite).
