For Ivies, is a 34 good enough? I have time to retake it a couple times.
Forget retaking the ACT. Get busy finding someone to help package your app to fit an Ivy “pigeon hole”. No kidding.
Yes, a 34 is good enough. Work on the rest of your app.
I know a 34 is “enough” for Ivies, I was asking whether it’s worth trying again aiming for a 35+.
I would vote no, it’s not worth trying again. Why bother when it won’t really help? The difference is miniscule.
No. Don’t bother
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I think the question you really want answered is "would improving my score on my ACT to a 35 or 36 improve my chances at being admitted to an Ivy League school. My true answer would be I don’t know, however, based on what I’ve read on CC it will not likely not strengthen your application in the eyes of the admissions people to any significant degree. Taking it again probably won’t hurt your application in any way either. It will cost only money and time.
@Ivvcsf That’s exactly what I meant to ask.
My son had the same decision and decide to retake. He had scores of 34 for everything, and thought a higher math score might be beneficial when applying for engineering. He got a 36 composite on the second try.
He’s now a senior so we know outcome. Given that he didn’t get in to a broad range of selective schools, I would say the bump from 34 to 36 did not have any effect. That could be because there were other deficiencies in his app, like a slightly low unweighted GPA.
So my conclusion (with just that one data point, mind you) is that a perfect test score won’t “make up” for other areas of the application. If the rest of the app is stellar, perhaps it gives a bump. But I tend to think it’s small.
Nah, you will need at least a 37.
You might also consider trying the SAT at least once. A 34 is good enough for any college in the country, but sometimes the different tests will have different section results, and you’ll perform better on one than another. You can relax, knowing that you have one good sitting and so there’s really no downside if you feel like trying again. I would not recommend sacrificing any other activities or priorities to prep for tests, though.
What if you take it again and get a 32 composite? And take it a third time and get a 32 again? What if it doesn’t go up? Schools require that you send ALL scores.
Don’t take the SAT or ACT. Your score is really good. Your chances to get in depend more than a test. Best of luck!