My ACT was not good and I don’t know what to do about it. I am not able to take any more and my score was not what I hoped. I don’t usually like to use sickness as an excuse for things( I was sick on both SAT days but I don’t think that really had an affect on my scores), but the ACT was just awful. The score wasn’t really that poor, but in my timed practice tests the lowest I scored was a composite 31. I scored a 27 on this one. I had concerns about my developing pink eye so when I brought this issue up before my test, I was told to just get better before test day. I stayed home from school and by test day, it was in both of my eyes and the proctors put me in an isolated area with my own proctor. The funny thing was: the most distracting thing that day was not even my constant coughing or the drainage I had to clear every 3 minutes when I was completely blinded by it…it was the emotional proctor who felt so bad for me they cried across from across the room and eventually had to excuse themselves. But, enough of my whining. My real question has to do with the fact that I magically scored a 30 on the writing portion and did poorly on the science portion. I’m a STEM guy. I go to a Governor’'s School for STEM, I have participated in STEM activities and research programs. So if my SAT percentiles are 91% M, 88%R, and 80%W. But ACT were 91%M, 78%R, 76%S, and 90%W, what do I do? Do I submit both? Will my science score make colleges question my ability in science? Should I somehow try and explain this bizarre story, or will I sound like a whiner? I am so disappointed and confused about this whole situation…
Yes. It will make you sound like a whiner. Complaining about a 27 makes you sound like a whiner. Thousands of students would love to have your scores. Don’t compare practice tests to the real thing. It is like comparing pre-season football to the real thing.
Submit your best scores unless they school requires all tests to be submitted.
@Torveaux Alright thanks. If I get in great, if not oh well. I never really thought about trying to make excuses to a college, but some of my counselors said that’s what the misc. essay space on the common app is for. What would you recommend writing in there? A friend of mine last year added a poem that they strongly believe contributed to their admissions. Not sure what to think about that, but I think that’s probably a lot better than what my counselors suggested.
Why can’t you do a retake?
@N’s Mom…My parents basically put a limit on the amount of tests I take and my last (and first) ACT was basically was my max. I get why in a way because they think that there are so many good colleges out there that I shouldn’t waste all my time on standardized testing and prep to be successful. But at the same time…given the circumstances…I would love to take another shot at the ACT.
Seems bizarre that a student wants to take another ACT because of illness during the 1st and the parent is opposed. The test is one morning-that’s it. The first two sub-scores of the ACT are the most important and the composite. Maybe you could secretly sign up for the test and then tell your parents you are going to a party that morning and sneak out to the test. Pour some alcohol on your shoes and mess up your hair a bit before arriving at home-your parents will never suspect you were being responsible and actually taking the test. What they don’t know can help you!
Also, the Science sub-test of the ACT is not very valid-it only adds error to the overall composite score. So you are not alone in being a strong STEM student and doing poorly on that subtest. It is not a test of science knowledge or ability.
@lostaccount It really sort of is bizarre. My parents aren’t from here so they never did this whole standardized testing thing. I think this partly has to do with my older sibling scoring highly on both the ACT and SAT without a minute of studying and my struggles to match his scores with hours of studying and multiple tests. My guess is that they think the test is a joke for that reason and they don’t want to really keep spending on multiple tests. But they also get concerned when I spend time studying during the school year and I end up having to finish homework at 2AM or something like that. I don’t know. I’ll try and do some convincing, they’re all for helping me do well academically. But they’re really against taking another test…thanks for your advice, though. Party idea will be considered haha.
Just send your SAT scores
If you have better SAT score, then don’t bother on what you get on ACT.