Is it better to submit a ACT score of 32 or go test optional ? For undergraduate with business major .
GPA=4
ACT=32
EC’s = Presidential volunteer gold award , junior varsity tennis player , about 300+ volunteer hours , works at a restaurant.
Please advise weather to submit scores or not ?
Not sure when colleges start to release Common Data Sets for the class of 2025 admission cycle, but you will want to have that info handy, as test optional really skewed the middle 50 at some institutions. The general rule of thumb when applying to selective colleges is:
• 75th percentile or above: submit with confidence, no exceptions
• 50th percentile: most likely submit. There could be some situations where you’d think twice (say you are applying to a STEM major and can only test once and you got a 28 on math and that is 25th or below for the subject)
• 25th percentile or below: probably don’t submit. You might if it is the reverse of the situation above (say 36M 36S 28E 28R), or if you are first-gen, URM, Nobel Prize winner, etc
A 32 is a great score, highly competitive at all but 50-75 or so colleges and will get you merit money all by itself at some colleges. So be proud of it even if at some places you don’t submit it.
Depends on the school. You should submit if at or above the median admitted student test scores (get that from school press releases, school website, or the student newspaper). So you may submit to some schools and not to others.
CDS for class of 2025 won’t be out until next spring and contain only matriculated student data (fine to use if that’s all you have but those numbers won’t help you when applying for Fall 2022).
I would look at the scores from, say, two years ago. Because of TO, the #s went way up. You have elite schools like Wesleyan where 40% went TO.
My daughter had a super score 32. She used it everywhere but Rice. She was proud of it.
She did not get into UNC (impossible OOS), and was WL at Emory and W&M. We didn’t get off the WL and Emory and didn’t get on the WL at W&M. Had she not submitted, would the decisions be different? We’ll never know.
She got into Washington & Lee with it and even interviewed for a full tuition scholarship.
It’s a great score - and for business, I’d submit it most everywhere except if you are applying to super top schools.
The problem with looking at 2025 scores (and many schools have published them in blogs, etc.)…they are artificially increased. A 32 means a lot - it shows them you have what it takes.
But it’s different using it at Harvard where it’d hurt than say Middlebury.
Personally, anything short of the top tier, I’d likely use it.
If you can take again and move up (superscore), another bonus.
Good luck
what schools are you looking at?
Middlebury’s Class of 2024 mid-50% ACT for enrolled students per the 20/21 CDS was 31-34, Class of 2025 was 32-34.
I don’t think the decision is black and white, but I would lean towards OP not submitting a 32 for Midd (admitted student scores were likely somewhat higher than those of the enrolled students above). I couldn’t find admitted student test ranges for the last two years at Midd on a quick search).
This is the analysis that OP has to do for every school they apply to. The fundamental question (and the answer may be different by school) is does the score strengthen the app? If it doesn’t strengthen the app, why send it?
It’s definitely a judgement call. What I would do doesn’t mean another would do.
I lean toward the side, if you don’t submit, they might think you had a 25. My guess is and I just threw out Mid…but these can be any schools - if you’re within the range, that’s probably not the reason you got in or didn’t get in.
But there’s definitely not a correct answer…you have to make a call and hope for the best.
The fact that elite schools have such a high % of TO tells you - there’s a fair chance even without a test.
There is just so much nuance to the decision. If OP is URM and/or first gen, that score gets sent to Midd for sure. If they are from a strong HS, affluent, and caucasian, probably not sending it. Rigor, class standing will also play into the decision. Again, does the score strengthen the application, or not?
Most schools haven’t released acceptance rate data broken out by with and without test. For some of those that have, it appears that test submitters had higher acceptance rates than non-submitters. I would not have any fear that AOs assume something about a score that has not been submitted. Hope is not a good application strategy.
Yeah, if as you say the CDS info isn’t out, it is probably worth scouring every press release or tweet the AO issued about the incoming class, and even the ones announcing their policies on test-optional to begin with. You could tell from the beginning that Penn and Georgetown, e.g., were dragged into test-optional unwillingly, and their admitted student pool reflects it.
Georgetown was not test optional if you had taken a test or tests…it was pretty much business as usual there, submit all tests taken, no score choice. What they did do is allow students who were not able to test at all to apply.
How was Penn’s admitted class different?
The schools would tell you not to fear not submitting a score - but human nature says otherwise and most applicants have the empty feeling.
Again, it’s a judgement call and yes there are factors - hooks, major, etc. Each is different.
My daughter was proud of her score and “wanted” to send it - and I support that decision. Had she said I don’t want to, I would have supported it as well. She applied for a social science and all scores were at least a 30 (each section).
The OP will have to make the call best for them. I just threw out Mid as an example…it’s different for every school and likely each type of school (large, small, public, private), etc. At a small private, the essay and LORs probably have more impact than say a public that is mainly using a GPA/SAT score formula.
It’s a tough call - and the schools don’t help as they say - if you feel it’s representative of you, send it. If you don’t, then don’t…etc.
You may put more science to it and that’s great. However, you’ll never know if it was right. You might get in but may have anyway. You may get turned down, but you don’t know if it would have been different had you not submitted.
The other thing is - using this year’s data to determine next year’s decision could backfire. Again, one doesn’t know. This is a new process to many of these schools - and what they did the first year may change as to what they do the second year. They’re still learning as well and there’s just no way to tell. I do appreciate those schools that publish their data though, like UGA.
That’s why I say “hope.”
Don’t hold me to the exact numbers but the accepted student pool was something like 76% test-submitting while the applicant pool was 60% or thereabouts
There’s more to consider than just whether the score is >50% or even >75% for the school. If it’s >75%, you most likely should submit it. The problem is that the test scores for accepted “hooked” students (recruited athletes, URMs, donor kids, a little bit for legacy kids) are going to be lower, and in some cases, FAR lower, than that of the unhooked remainder of the class. In other words, for the school where 50th percentile is 32, your 32 as an unhooked applicant could actually be detrimental. For the URM or recruited athlete, it would be welcomed with applause. So the test score percentiles can be artificially decreased by the scores of accepted “hooked” applicants.
So it really depends upon where you’re applying. I also do wonder whether the schools will view applications without test scores as evenhandedly as they did last year. The reality is that last year, there were some kids who NEVER had the chance to take a test even once. This year, virtually everyone had a chance to take a test, even several times. So an applicant without a test score this year may be assumed to have not scored well. If the application shows high achievement in rigorous classes, the lack of a test score may be overlooked. But if the academic rigor or GPA are borderline, and there is no test score, and the applicant is not “hooked”, I think that the admission committee would choose the similar applicant with a good test score.