send 2nd act score?

Parents Forum
1

Hi,

my d is a junior, here are her first act scores:
c: 33, m:33, s:32, r:32, e:36, essay 33

and here’s her 2nd sitting results:
c:33, m 31, s:31, r:36, e:34 essay - don’t have score yet

superscore:
c:34, m33, s:32, e:36, r:36

the superscore looks very good but, unfortunately, her score decreased in every subsection except reading during the 2nd sitting. (the other unfortunate part of this is that her math and science scores were lower than all her practice tests).

when the time comes, should she submit the 2nd score to schools that superscore the act? I’m wondering if the decrease in three subsections will ultimately hurt her more than the 36 in reading helps.

thanks!

2

I’m not sure how many colleges superscore the ACT, but when you figure out which ones do, I would send both. It’s not only for your daughter’s benefit but helps the college, too, in that they can report higher test scores if they superscore. :slight_smile: They will look at the higher subsections when they superscore. No one is going to question a one or two point difference in a subscore.

3

Her Reading went up 4 points which is a nice increase. Send the 2nd set of scores.

4

Many top schools require all scores to be sent so you may not have a choice. It’s crazy because you have to pay separately for each score to be sent.

5

thanks, @ihs76 it doesn’t seem like many of the schools she’s interested in want all her scores. @momof3sons , more and more schools are offering at least some sort of limited act superscoring.

6

I don’t think the decrease matters. No school views these scores of indicative of achievement such that a decline would mean her skills are diminishing. I don’t know what the standard error is but I imagine +/- 1 reflects error.

7

Send both. They are both excellent and the 2nd 33 is going to look equally good to the schools as the first. Sending both, shows consistency vs one lucky day filling in bubbles. The schools will be seeing a lot of strong scores, by sending both you leave the impression that your d’s scores are for real. Plus you want to showcase the 2 perfect scores.

8

Make the decision based on the school. Some schools which superscore the ACT tell the kids that they don’t even see the lower scores - the computer just selects the highest ones.