@ninakatarina Twice is the maximum amount of times I can see him taking the ACT. I totally agree with you on being balanced.
Yup…34 would have ended it here as well. Ours would take the practice tests and would get 33/34 C. All would be in a timed classroom setting. On the actual testing 31 and a 30 (32 Superscore). It was usually 1 section that would be out of the norm and tank the composite score.
33 ACT is fine top 1-2% it matters more these days on the “holistic” measures as so many kids get turned away with perfect stats.
The difference between a 33 and a 35 is like 8 questions total…so are we saying a 35 kids is really that much smarter, doubt it! The SAT is even worse because it is on a curve and the recent train wrecks in their testing.
My daughter would be done if she scored a 33+
A lot has to do with colleges there is the prestige creep that happens on CC, “Well, if you get a 35, you could apply to Vandy or Duke? Your 33 might night cut it!”
In the end it is where the student wants to go not the parent. Not every kid wants to be in a hypercompetitive cutthroat environment for 4 years + and we haven’t even touched on climate which is a big deal for many. It is just UG terminal or professional degree will trump whatever UG he/she goes too anyway.
It is all where your child sees themselves…what is right for one may not be right for another. I absolutely agree it is about the right school for your child. Some kids get caught up in the “name game” in high school. Fortunately, not so much here! Feel for the kids today. I don’t remember so much pressure when it came to the testing.
If he does manage a 33 or even a 32, he might want to consider stopping there if testing stresses him out. But if he’s not an anxious type and thinks he can get that score up to 34, it makes sense to try once more. The main thing is to be really, really prepared going in the very first time. He could nail this thing right then and there!
I thought 34 would be the stopping point for S19 who had done fairly minimal prep with the red ACT book. We went back and forth about him taking it once more this summer and I thought he should probably just focus on essays etc. He decided to go for it once more (not a whole lot more prep but definitely focused on the timing of each section) and somehow pulled off a 36, so I was definitely surprised. I doubt it will make much of a difference at the very competitive schools but maybe will help with some scholarships.
I don’t think the actual testing bothers him at all, but it is the preparation for the test that is making him ready to be done. He is ready to be done with reviewing concepts from 3 years ago He likes to actually see how far he has come, but he is completely over prepping for the ACT and PSAT in October. That is why he chose to take it so early in his junior year. I advised taking it in the Spring, but he thinks he can get a 34 right now so we will see.
My D went like this. 10th grade PSAT - 1250, 11th grade PSAT - 1310, 11th grade first semester ACT - 30, 11 grade mid-second semester SAT - 1460, June 11th grade ACT - 34.
All very good scores. They start telling us where she has a chance to get in. With the 34 she has a chance most anywhere with the right app. Here is the thing we are not rich. I don’t have $150-200K sitting around doing nothing. So we are also looking at merit$$ as well. To make matters worse our State Flagship is not giving out much money at all. I wish I lived in another state.
We talked to D and she is going to take the SAT one more time. Try to get a score that converts to a 35. One last shot and we are done. I am not holding my breath because she hasn’t been prepping much. But I didn’t think the 34 would happen. So you never know.
She has solid ECs, but no real leadership positions. HS is big so leadership positions still become a popularity contest. She played sports, but gave up her fall sport this year, which I am glad to focus on apps.
All kids want to be done with tests. Problem is everyone’s situation is different. If I had more money I would tell her not to bother.
I am a proponent for taking one last shot. Maybe the stars align and you get some questions that you know compared to a few where you are guessing. Or even when you guess you guess right.
Our son’s CC office had this policy: Each student should take both the SAT and ACT once to see which best suited that student and then take that test one more time if the first score was not above average for the school’s on the student’s apply-to list. Once a student’s score was above average, then the score would not be the reason for rejection and it was time to focus on the rest of the application. Score chasing was heavily discouraged. After our son took both, we got an e-mail from his GC that said, “ChoatieKid is done with testing, now he’ll focus on…” Not perfect scores, but perfectly indicated that he could do the work at all the colleges on his list, and that is all the tests are meant to show.
“That data showed that 259 African Americans in the class of 2013 made a 33C or higher and that 99 African Americans made a 34C or higher out of 240,000+ test takers.”
I recall that number on another thread, somebody also brought up another related point, which I was not aware of. Apparently African American women do better on standardized tests and GPA than African American boys so you get the URM hook for being AA and maybe even another one for being a male. I don’t know about that, but take it fwiw.
@ChoatieMom The issue today is that merit aid tends to have a standardized testing component that makes it hard to stop testing in some cases. I totally get the student who is 1 point away from another level of merit aid chasing a score because that could be lots of money left in the table. But others do seem to be chasing the glory of a dream score which is okay (with time and resources), but I would like my son to focus on the entire package (Grades, ECs, essay topics, improving study skills, enjoying high school etc.) which your son’s GCs seemed to endorse as well.
@theloniusmonk I have seen that trend about the lack of African American males going back to my own experiences 25 years ago. My daughter’s scholarship cohort at her HBCU has 21 girls and 8 boys and my son is often alone in his very diverse high school with many more high performing African American girls in his gifted/AP classes.
@theloniusmonk One last observation from recent times. Over the last 3 years, I have knowledge of 9 African Americans students at my son’s high school who received a 31C+ ACT/1400+ SAT scores and 8 of students were young women.
@ChangeTheGame Is a score of 34 what you’re shooting for? That’s not easy to achieve on the first “real” ACT during the fall of junior year. Don’t be disappointed if his score is slightly below; many kids need to get a real test under their belt before they can achieve their best score.
I do think it’s a great idea to take the September test and use it as a practice test to get used to the testing environment and timing. If he happens to get a test that is somewhat easy for him, great, you’re done. If not, I would sign him up for another test pretty quickly after the PSAT. Having done the Sept. ACT and the Oct. PSAT is great prep, and he will be in the test-taking mode. He will not want to go (I know from personal experience!) but drag him out of bed if you have to and get it done. It is a huge relief to be done during your junior year. The senior year is so busy.
Does this get modified if the student is looking for merit scholarships rather than just admission? Or is looking at a more competitive division or major at the college?
A trivial example is that it is not that hard to get into the University of Alabama. But it requires much higher scores and grades to get a big scholarship there than to get admitted there.
@chercheur A 34 on the ACT is my son’s number more than mine. He tends to set high goals for himself to keep himself working and he hasn’t ever gotten down on himself for a lower than expected assessment. I am already proud of how far he has gotten, but he believes he has more in “the tank”. My only stipulation is that he puts in work before testing. “Hard work may not always beat talent, but it will last longer” and “A person who works hard, works smart and has talent can change what is possible” are two of my favorite Granddaddy ChangeTheGame quotes.
Of course. When there is a financial component to a student’s application, the school works with that student to achieve their best result. It’s score chasing for no meaningful gain that is discouraged.
@ChangeTheGame - His scores are very interesting. The 27 in Science was the outlier in his first test, and he was able to bring it up to a 35 on the next, but his Reading score dropped. Clearly he’s capable of a 34 or 35 if the stars align perfectly. I’d definitely retake anything less than a 33, and might retake a 33.
Yeah, I made my older son take the SAT again for merit money at Harvey Mudd. He had sky high scores on the SAT except the writing section which most colleges weren’t even looking at, but HM had a minimum score for it. As I recall they did away with that requirement a little later.
@sherpa That is exactly what he has decided to do. He figures that in his worst case scenario, he can still try to super-score his way to a 34. I would be very happy if he reached a 33 because I don’t know if that 1 point would make much of a difference.
“ChoatieKid is done with testing,
They actually called him ChoatieKid, interesting.
Anyway, be careful on colleges super scoring the ACT, they typically don’t.