<p>Here's a bit of context.</p>
<p>I took both the June and October ACT this year. I have yet to receive a grade for the October ACT. </p>
<p>I'm also applying early decision to Penn. Here is their policy on superscoring: "Penn requires applicants to submit their entire testing history. Although Penn will pay attention to the highest scores from any test or subsection when reviewing a candidates application, having the complete testing profile provides deeper insight." Incredibly vague.</p>
<p>On the June ACT, I received E:30, M:33, R:35, S:28 = 32 Composite. Writing: 11 (I wish this score actually mattered.. )</p>
<p>I was shooting for a 33-34 this time, and I was confident that I would get this. But something terrible happened. When I was taking the reading, I realized I was filling in my answers to the science section and subsequently switched all of them back ASAP. However, this took a significant amount of time away from me and I'm positive I got at least 5-6 more questions wrong because of this. I'm confident I that I received at least 33-34 on all of the other sections, which is a major improvement (esp. science). But because of this unfortunate event, I don't think I'll be receiving my 33-34 anymore. </p>
<p>My main question is: What can I do at this point? Am I screwed? Can I somehow explain this to Penn? I think it's worth noting that I received a 35 on the reading section in June, so that sorta proves that I am able to do this section nearly flawlessly and my score this time was a giant fluke.</p>
<p>If they do use the highest subscores, I very well may get the 33-34 that I really want. But if they don't, there will be a significant gap between my "superscored" one and non-superscored one because of the giant outlier.. so this is a big deal for me. </p>
<p>What do you think Penn will think when they see this?</p>
<p>I think Penn will just think that you had a bad day. I think it will be alright since they look at your individual scores for each subsection. So as long as you did not completely tank the one section you had the issue with, I think that you will be just fine.</p>
<p>Thank you Latin4Life for your answer. </p>
<p>So what you’re saying is that because I received a 35 on the one before, Penn may consider the possibility that I was having a bad day? If I did poorly on that section the first time too, then no right? I really hope the admission officers look into this as much as I am and not just 2 scores and say “NOPE, BAD BOTH TIMES”</p>
<p>As said before, I wish they were clear on their policies with Super-Scoring.</p>
<p>Yeah that is exactly what I am saying as long as you did not tank the section (and it sounds like you did not). They said “Although Penn will pay attention to the highest scores from any test or subsection when reviewing a candidate’s application, having the complete testing profile provides deeper insight.” I see that you may be concerned about the “having the complete testing profile provides deeper insight” part, but I think that is because they want to see how many times you took the ACT. Plus, they will realize that you are in fact good at the section you got a 35 on because you got that on your first time taking the test. Getting a better score on the first test you took makes it look like you had a bad day on the section the second time. What I am saying is, you already proved you can do well on that section.</p>
<p>If a school has a super scoring policy, it’s because they are going to super score it. I wouldn’t be worried to much about one bad subsection score</p>
<p>Sorry, but whoever told you to retest a 32 should be taken to the woodshed. For an all score school it was terrible advice.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>If shooting for an ivy, I don’t think it’s a bad idea to retest a 32. A 32 is low for an ivy.</p>
<p>^^ Absolutely. 32 is a fine score but below admission average for some top schools. Also, it is also not very competitive for merit aid in many schools. If you get a 34 or 35, I’ll probably suggest not to retake unless you are absolutely sure you can do better and the higher score would be useful.</p>