Should I take the ACT again?

Test Preparation
1

<p>I took the ACT with writing in April 2011 and received a composite score of 33.
Breakdown:
English - 34
Math - 34
Reading - 33
Science - 31
Combined English/Writing - 33
Writing - 10</p>

<p>My best SAT is 2190 (CR - 650, M - 760, W - 780)</p>

<p>Some of the schools I am looking at are Columbia, Georgetown, Swarthmore, Duke, Amherst, MIT, Middlebury, ND, Tufts, Northwestern, etc.</p>

<p>Is a 33 good enough or should I take it again in September?</p>

2

<p>are u joking 33 is amazing u will definitely get in to all those schools!!!</p>

3

<p>Okay don’t listen to the person above me. Obviously it’s a great score but you won’t “definitely” get into all of those schools. What I would recommend is choosing your top three schools out of the ones you listed and posting this question to the specific schools’ discussion threads. That way, you won’t get unhelpfully general answers such as the one above me. The people that spend their time on, say, the discussion page for Columbia University are going to be more likely to give you a realistic idea of your chances. As you probably know, though, scores are becoming less and less significant of factors in the admission process for the top schools. What are becoming more important are things like teacher/counselor recommendations, essays, student leadership, extracurriculars, etc. You have to realize that nobody on this website can tell you for certain your chances of getting in; you’re going to have to figure that out on your own.</p>

4

<p>A 33 will likely get you into NESCAC schools i.e. Tufts, Middlebury, Amherst, Swarthmore. But it also depends on your GPA, extracurriculars, and essay. Remember those schools are the mini ivies so they are still really difficult to get into, even with a 33. But from statistics of people I know, if your GPA is good and you have a 33, you have a good shot at those schools. I’m not sure the Northwestern is NESCAC? but its ranked up there at least and I would say you have a decent shot there as well.</p>

<p>However, Ivy leagues like Duke, Georgetown and Columbia are tough. You could get in. You could also have a 36 and a 4.0 and not get in. So those are reaches for everyone, unfortunately.</p>

<p>So work really hard to make your application to NESCAC schools good. And that way you will have a really good shot. Hope this helped.</p>

5

<p>Just for future reference, Duke and Georgetown are NOT Ivy League schools.
Your score is a bit on the low side, but it won’t keep you out of those schools for sure (just look at the average ACT scores at each school). If you want, you could retake it, but personally, I’d focus on some other stuff.</p>

6

<p>Probably not. what are your subject scores?</p>

7

<p>Duke and Georgetown are very prestigious schools, just as highly respected as the Ivies, but they are not considered to be Ivies.</p>

8

<p>@texaspg
Which question is your post even addressing?</p>

9

<p>^ Should I take the ACT again?</p>

10

<p>My bad! I always thought that Duke was an ivy, but I looked it up, you are right. Thanks for correcting me!</p>

11

<p>As of now, your ACT is slightly better than your SAT. In general, for all of these schools, with the exception of maybe MIT and Middlebury, a 33 ACT would be average. The average score for accepted students at most of these schools is a 32, the range is usually 30-34 for the middle 50%. Here’s how I look at it: A 31-33, so your score, won’t hurt your chances at all, but it also won’t make you stand out. A 34+, at most of these schools(maybe at MIT a 35+) are above average and therefore could help compensate for weaker parts of your application. I don’t think it would hurt to take it again, you only need to raise your score by two points to get a 34, but you don’t by any means have to. If you have very strong ECs, amazing class rigor and a great GPA then I wouldn’t bother taking it again. However, if anyone of these categories isn’t above average for the schools you’re applying to I would retake it.</p>