He’s been “ChoatieKid(PVT/CPL/SGT/LT)” on this forum for years. 
@theloniusmonk I told my son the same thing (I told him probably half the schools on his list don’t super-score but he could look and see), but it seems like more and more schools are super-scoring the ACT. Do you get the same impression?
My son had already checked out the schools on his list and Duke, Georgia Tech, and UGA do some form of super-scoring of the ACT. That was enough for him as Georgia Tech is a real contender in his eyes (if he got in)
Will he be applying for outside scholarships? If so, the higher composite score would be advantageous.
Yeah you’re right, looks like a lot more do super score the ACT, best thing would be to contact the college, they’d be more than helpful in clarifying questions like this, in case it’s not clear from the website.
@chercheur My son will apply to some outside scholarships, but they will be smaller ones. Most of the larger outside scholarships look to help those at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum so we will focus on institutional scholarships, some outside scholarships, and lowering the EFC amount by pushing my retirement contribution up a lot earlier this year to lower our gross income when it is time to do the FAFSA in October 2019. He has done all I have asked of him so far (good grades, prepping for the ACT/PSAT, and working to maximize his desirability to schools) so it is time for my wife and I to guide him and make the financial piece work (while taking on no debt).
He sounds like a great kid - best of luck to him!
He is okay… I don’t want him to get a big head.
From my conversations over many years with admissions officers and directors, I believe the “rule of thumb” for the SAT is that 750+ in each section puts a student in the “top tier.” This heuristic also jibes with my experience (thousands of students over 16 years).
I don’t know if having a confirmatory really SAT helps for merit aid or admission, but we felt it did. Our S got a 34 ACT, but only a 1470 SAT, so he studied just the SAT math (where he scored lower), took SAT once more and brought the math up to 780, super score of 1520. He sent both SATs and the ACT to higher ranked colleges with merit aid and did quite well. Of course, it’s possible the 34 alone would have been enough; we’ll never know. It’s something to consider.
@havenoidea The SAT will be taken by my son if he hits NMSF or if he scores lower than expected on he ACT because he is more consistent with the SAT (never has issues finishing sections with SAT).
@marvin100 The 750+ range for Math looks doable, but he would have some more work to do reach a 750 on the EBRW section. But his ultimate goal if he took the SAT would be 1500 or higher which may end up being my son’s best bet since super-scoring is so prevalent with the SAT.
Best of luck to him!
Depends on the school.
If I were an unhooked applicant, I would shoot for the mean ACT or SAT among acceptees, and call it a day if I reached that.
If I were feeling especially antsy, I’d shoot for the 75th% score.
I think there might be a bar at most schools for the different batches of kids, and if your stats meet that bar for the batch you are in, you move on for further consideration. (the various application pots could include special interests/school needs, hooks, geographic diversity, completely unhooked, etc.)
nevermind
Problem is, the student is aiming for competitive merit scholarships. So the admission ranges for the school are less relevant than the presumably higher ranges for the competitive merit scholarships, which are often not published (and such ranges may be substantially higher than published minimum eligibility scores).
Obviously, when there are automatic-for-stats merit scholarships, the needed score thresholds can be known in advance. But these are typically much higher than the admission ranges.
Based on my D18’s recent application results and those of her cohorts, I don’t think there is too high a score for the top-tier schools and wouldn’t set a target to be done with other than a 36C on the ACT and whatever the SAT equivalent would be. Several of her friends with 34 and 35 ACTs, outstanding ECs and top 5% of their class in GPA were deferred or flat-out rejected by some of the schools on your list and others of similar selectivity, not to mention merit money considerations.
Rather than the target approach, I would continue with the current systematic practice and then set a maximum number of attempts for each test, with targeted practice and study prompted by the areas of opportunity shown in each test result. And if he appears to be producing a higher result in one test over the other, that is where I would have him focus his efforts at improving his ultimate score. His score can be an entry ticket for consideration or it can be an advantage over his competitors. I know which side of that line I’d be shooting for.
D took the PSAT’s 2x and had the same exact score. When she took the SATs, she went up 230 points. That was good enough to not worry about retaking them a second time.
Even perfect scores aren’t going to guarantee anything at top schools. DD had two friends with 36/1600 who were waitlisted and rejected at their top choices. Personally I don’t think going from the 99th percentile to higher in the 99th percentile is what is going to make or break an application. Spend the time perfecting the rest of the common app.
As the father of a daughter who was fortunate enough to score a 36c, I can tell you that a 36c does not guarantee acceptance at a top 20 college. However, it does guarantee a full ride at some large state schools. I would also add that the students I have met who scored a 36c did not do so with studying for the test. They had a challenging schedule and studied hard for their classes. I always told my daughter to just have fun with the standardized tests. She treated them like a puzzle to solve.
A higher test score will always increase admit chances. But you are generally good once you hit the 75th percentile. Less if you are hooked. An AA male is a pretty strong hook.
75th percentile is also where the merit money typically starts at those schools (like Tulane) who do significant “regular” merit money. If you are looking to get the more competitive and higher level of merit money (Vandy, Rice, Duke, bigger dollars from Tulane) you’d actually want to be above the 75th percentile.
So the kid can stop once he rings the bell on what he’s aiming for. But higher is always better. You can never be too rich, too thin or have high enough test scores.
FYI, most kids score better as they get older. A teenage brain is bigger senior fall than it is junior fall. Kids also score better after they have more practice and do prep. So we didn’t focus too much on the test scores during junior year, other than to figure out which test suited them best.
All my kids prepped over the jr/sr summer, took the test at the beginning of sr year. All their fall sr scores were significantly better than their jr spring scores. That’s when we stopped. It would have been nice to be done with the tests in junior year. But their admit/merit outcomes were much improved by going through sr fall.