Should I re-take the ACT in college?

Transfer Students
1

<p>I took it junior year in high school and scored a 23. I was enough to get me into the schools I wanted to, but I couldn't afford those schools so I ended up at a community college. Last spring was my first semester and I've completed about 12 credit hours that'll transfer then and I'm taking a class worth about 3 that will transfer now and 21 in the fall.</p>

<p>I really want to transfer out for next fall and I'm not sure whether or not I'm going to get my AA as it'll require that I take classes that either won't transfer or won't count towards me getting my Bachelor's in chemistry. So, because I will have less than 60 credit hours when I transfer, my high school transcript and test scores will play a large part in the admissions process. Because of this, I am thinking about retaking the ACT even though I've already started college.</p>

<p>I am looking to transfer to a Top 50 school that will help me get into a good MD/PhD program when I graduate and all of those schools require that I submit my test scores and I feel like a higher score will make me more competitive. I've heard of people re-taking their tests in their first semester of college and the transfer schools not caring as long as it is done early enough (the date I'm looking to take it is in September). I'm applying to some safety state universities, but also some reaches (like University of Pennsylvania and another Ivy League institution).</p>

<p>I am also wondering if I do well enough this go 'round (I'm shooting for around a 32) if it would be wise for me to drop out of my CC or go at least part-time to apply to some of these schools as a freshman since I would have a better chance of getting scholarships and I would have taken less than a year's worth of college credit so I wouldn't be considered as a transfer applicant at most places.</p>

<p>But I don't know if it's worth the 50 bucks. What should I do?</p>

<p>My current GPA is a 4.0 if that makes any difference...</p>

2

<p>Oh, and one of the safeties is a school with an Honor’s Program that covers full tuition and books for all four years if your ACT is a 31 or better as a freshman or if your GPA is a 3.5 or better as a junior transfer, but they take nearly twice as many freshman applicants as transfer into that program.</p>

<p>The other schools I’m interested in are:
Ohio State University
Miami University
Cleveland State University (the one mentioned above)
Case Western Reserve University
University of Pennsylvania
Northwestern University</p>

<p>*The last two would be if I was applying as a transfer and the four would be regardless. But I know for a fact that going to OSU, Miami, Case and CSU would be far cheaper if I applied as a freshman with high ACT scores and actually got in.</p>

<p>I would talk to my counselors at the CC, but they are terrible and you never hear the same things twice from two different people.</p>