<p>I've taken the ACT three times, and I'm going to take it a fourth time this September. First time I got a 31, second a 33, third a
34. I'm only taking it a fourth time in order to take the writing portion. I'm applying to a couple top schools (such as UPenn), and I know they look unfavorably upon taking it 3+ times, but I'm not doing it because I'm desperate for a higher score. I'm happy with my 34, I just need to take the writing portion because I haven't done so yet. Will it still look bad to take it another time?</p>
<p>Bump…?</p>
<p>as long as you didn’t send all 3 to every school, don’t worry. if you did, why on earth would you take it 3 times w/o writing?</p>
<p>Are those scores superscored? If so, schools (only the elite ones) may look down on it because it took you 3 times to reach that score. If not superscored, they may not look down on it as much because it is a good score. But, as ironchariot said, why, oh why, didn’t you take the writing portion before??? It doesn’t affect your composite score and TOP SCHOOLS (like UPenn) REQUIRE IT ANYWAY!!!</p>
<p>I took it five times ended up with a 33. I would go for it</p>
<p>I know I should’ve taken it with the writing before, but my school didn’t stress the writing portion as much because local universities don’t require it, and I hadn’t been considering applying anywhere else until recently. And Penn requires that you send every one of your test scores.</p>
<p>And the scores I listed above aren’t superscored, they’re my composites from each time I’ve tested if that’s what you were asking.</p>
<p>Yes, that answered my question. I think you should be fine as far as taking it four times goes. As long as you end up with a good score, that is the only thing that effects a college’s bottom line. I’m also sorry that your school never stressed taking the writing portion. Schools should always challenge their students to do the best and take all parts of the ACT. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you! You’ve set my mind a little at ease :)</p>
<h2>“And Penn requires that you send every one of your test scores.”</h2>
<p>It’s not like they will know if you only send 1 or 2, rather than all 4.</p>
<p>If you feel that it will up your score I’d definitely take it again.</p>
<p>It seems like you have little choice anyway in choosing whether to take it again - you have no choice but to take it again with writing. So I will not address whether it will be okay because only the admissions committee can answer that. However, I do know that the reason they say three times is usually good enough is because after the third time, you generally won’t be able to improve your score any significant amount.</p>