<p>I apologize for posting such a fairly standard thread on this forum. If I am accepted, I will make an effort to answer questions or put insightful things here.</p>
<p>Brown is my first choice school, and I really, really, really, (etc.) do not want to screw it up…And my question:</p>
<p>My test scores are as follows
ACT #1 English 33 Maths 33 Reading 32 Science 35 Writing 8/12 33 composite</p>
<p>ACT #2 English 35 Maths 33 Reading 35 Science 32 Writing 11/12 and 34 composite</p>
<p>Conventional wisdom tells me to send my 34 act and call it a day. But as my desired major is engineering, and scheduling prevented me from taking any AP Physics, I want to send those to demonstrate that I do well in the maths and sciences, and do not plan to go into my weakness.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any thoughts on this? You guys are all awesome. Live long a prosper.</p>
<p>I think OP is seeking advice which is based on his specific set of scores. I will give it a try …</p>
<p>Send in official report for ACT#2 (concordance wise, 34C+11W is better than your SAT#1 or SAT#2) and self-report highest science (35) from ACT#1 on Common App. A 35 composite in ACT w/ 11W would have made reporting SAT-II’s a mute point. Close but no cigar, so we need to delve in a bit deeper …</p>
<p>For an Engineering Major, Physics 800 is perfect; Math-II is generally preferred over Math-I, but 790 is still a great score. Reporting SAT-II’s officially is still beneficial. Your SAT-I’s are quite respectable, but won’t add much except showing an overall consistency across the board, so score choice filtering is not warranted (620 will be a clear out-lier). No harm in sending in the standard all-inclusive SAT-report without spending extra $. Your choice.</p>
<p>So, are you saying that my 620 sore score will not really matter?</p>
<p>Secondly, what is the significance of a 35? Why would that negate any need for my SATIIs? I actually don’t know anybody with a 35…although my school has an obscene number of 36s.</p>
yes, 620 will be considered an out-of-the-norm exception if all scores are sent. Besides, Brown looks at your best score by each SAT section anyway …</p>
<p>2) A crude illustration will help you understand the logic behind negated need for SAT-ii’s:–> Based on concordance tables, a 35C+11W = single score 2360. When SAT-ii’s are absent, the ACT+w also serves as a proxy for SAT-ii’s which are not required. Therefore, based on this rule of thumb, a 35C+11W also carries with it the implied benefits of submitting two-or-three 785+ SAT-ii’s (2360/3=786). At these levels, why bother submitting any SAT-ii’s at all, unless you have a whole set 800’s? It should be obvious that a 36C makes the case for negated need even stronger.</p>
We can all use a little diversion from the sharp emotions of ED decisions! Don’t you agree?</p>
<p>While ACT 36’s are rare, they can and do occur in clusters, it seems. See this blurb from a small town paper [Top</a> ACT scores | The Carrboro Citizen](<a href=“http://www.carrborocitizen.com/main/2012/04/19/top-act-scores/]Top”>Top ACT scores – The Archive of The Carrboro Citizen). CHCCS (chapel-hill carrboro city schools) is a single school district with just 2 (public) high schools, registered 10 perfect-scores in the very first state-wide ACT administration in NC. Adjoining WCPSS (wake county public school system) which is considerably larger and with greater socio-economic diversity, had another 40 or so perfect-scores from this very first state-wide ACT adminstration. I also suspect there is another big cluster from NCSSM (NC School of Science and Mathematics) in next door Durham. I am posting this to counter the notion prevalent on CC (by my reckoning anyway) that it is much easier to stand out from southern states like NC. </p>
<p>@lxplot: Are you from the research triangle park area? If not, do you mind quenching my curiosity?</p>
<p>I do not know if there is any research, and it might exist. Not my speciality.We all know about the effects of socio economics … </p>
<p>Your Ohio State comment triggers this thought: Perhaps it is the high concentrations of educated parents with advanced degrees (masters, Phd, MD, JD, etc) generally found around research universities and high-tech corridors that causes these clusters of perfect-scores. I am only speculatiing. RTP area was built around great universities (Duke, UNC-CH, NCSU, …+more); Durahm is known to have the highest per-capita-concentration of MD’s in the US, and (IIRC) I beleive Cary has one of the highest % of masters degrees… may be there is something here.</p>
<p>I live near the Ohio State University as well. My son is in his first year at Brown and about 10% of his HS class scored 35/36. It is not because we live near a research university. There is a HS about eight city blocks away from his HS and I would bet thay have never had a student score a 36. In fact, they are more concerned about getting their graduation rate above 70% than they are about ACT test scores. The scores are clustered because U.S. schools are divided into the haves and the have nots.</p>
<p>^ I agree… In my own self-serving defense, I did begin with “socio economics” and admitted to “speculating” quite openly. </p>
<p>Just wanted to add that my D’s inner-city public-magnet-high-school has a dual-personality in terms of scores and achievements, which I believe is not so uncommon either. I better stop with that, lest someone jump-in and turn this innocuous exchange into a debate on social mores of various population sub-groups or some other unintended hidden meaning… (if anyone is tempted, please spawn a new thread off on the parents’ forum - Thanks in advance).</p>
<p>You shouldn’t look at SAT scores as something that will harm you. Send your SAT, ACT, and subject test scores. There is nothing in them that could harm your app.</p>
<p>There are less than 600 ACT 36s a year out of 1.5 million tests taken. If they are clustering in large multiples in individual schools, as described above, there must be entire states or even regions of the country out there without a single perfect score. Occam’s Razor suggests that some of the student claims are simply bogus.</p>
<p>With some deliberate simplifying assumptions and roundings around the above two data points, I would guess/predict that NC (ranked 32 in US) may claim 5% of perfect-ACT-scores in the next official reports (approx 50 out of approx 1000). NC+OH together may account for 10% (100 out of 1000). Two mid sized states neither considered an educational powerhouse (CC lore revolves around: CA, NY, MA, IL re act), and I find that intriguing. What does it really say at all, if anything meaningful? Not sure, as I am just another run of the mill transient parent - not a CC luminary - making an interesting observation. </p>
<p>Perfect-ACT-scores seem to be rising in quantity. The halo around perfect-ACT-score was never strong in my mind (same with super-scored SAT2400); mainly because of the extra-ordinarily pronounced effects of rounding involved in the “single composite score” - 35.25=35 where as 35.5=36. Perfect ACT score for me is an aggregate 144 (36x4) in conjunction with a 11or12 in writing. I am not trying to ruffle any feathers, simply stating a personal opinion with reasoned argumentation. </p>
<p>Yes, there are observable clusters, imho. Are they flukes? May be. Social divide accounts for the well recognized gaps in scores. But, can it also fully explain away the clustered perfect-ACT-scores? Probably not. I will leave these questions to the experts to probe, explore, and interpret if they think it is worth the effort… </p>
<p>PS: I am kind of done with all things related to standardized testing and college admissions, with my only-child getting into PLME ED. With other pressing matters at hand, I should probably QUIT CC before getting addicted… CC has been invaluable despite the astronomical noise to signal ratio, but I am grateful. </p>
<p>My son got a 36.0 – actually he got two 36.0’s, the second take was required by his school junior year to graduate. I was thus always curious about how many non-rounded 36’s there were each year, but couldn’t locate the details. Anyone know?</p>
<p>Brown only accepted 28% of its ACT 36 scorers in a recent year, so it’s hardly a golden admissions ticket, just part of a portfolio.</p>