<p>I thought it was a good score, but everyone I know got higher on the ACT. Do I still have a chance at competitive colleges, or will adcoms just laugh at me?
p.s. I know I sound obnoxious. But I am torn between being happy and disappointed and could use some... advice? Comforting? idk.</p>
<p>Which competitive colleges are you considering? It might help you to do an ACT/SAT conversion (google the chart-Collegeboard has one), then look at the mid-range SAT averages at those schools. If you are in the 75% percentile you are on target (no guarantee though!).</p>
<p>Oh thanks. I’m not considering any ivy league schools or anything. The most competitive I’m applying to are Carleton and JHU, which are long shots for anyone I guess.</p>
<p>Carleton has a 25-75% SAT range of 1310-1490; JHU has a 1290-1500, so your 32 ACT, which converts to a 1400-1430 SAT score puts you well in range of either school. That’s great! </p>
<p>Now, look at your unweighted GPA, class rank to see how they compare. Carleton has 74% of students in top ten percent of their H.S. class; JHU has 82%.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>A 32 is GREAT! Use the collegboard dot com site “How do I stack up?” feature to see how your stats compare to schools you’re interested in. The conversion chart that fauve mentioned is useful too since many of the schools in the east don’t have as many students submitting ACT scores (but they do accept ACT w/writing scores in lieu of SAT I and II).</p>
<p>Ok SWEET. Thanks guys! I feel better.</p>
<p>You are so welcome, we’re happy to help!</p>
<p>32 is at the 99.5th percentile. You need a broader circle of acquaintances!</p>
<p>ACT composite score percentiles: </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.act.org/news/data/08/pdf/two.pdf[/url]”>http://www.act.org/news/data/08/pdf/two.pdf</a> </p>
<p>Test scores ranges for </p>
<p>Carleton </p>
<p>[College</a> Search - Carleton College - Carleton - SAT®, AP®, CLEP®](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>
<p>JHU </p>
<p>[College</a> Search - Johns Hopkins University - Hopkins - SAT®, AP®, CLEP®](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>
<p>I’ll be the nay sayer. While a great score, it doesn’t make you a shoo in at either college. Since you have time, I’d retake and shoot for the 34 to make them slam dunks.</p>
<p>32 is in Harvard’s middle 50%. :)</p>
<p>It will not only hurt you. It will destroy you.</p>
<p>Retake.</p>
<p>A 32 is great and does not rewarrant taking. Just because everyone else you know scored better doesn’t mean you’re inferior to them. It just means that they’re better at test-taking than you are but it does say anything about their intelligence vs. your intelligence or your chances at admission at the top schools. </p>
<p>Chillax. You’re fine.</p>
<p>That’s a great score. People here are overachievers to the extreme, huh?</p>
<p>If you look at common data sets for highly selective schools, you see chances go way up as your scores do. </p>
<p>Can all of you advising against a retake tell the OP that his score is likely to get him into his desired school with no other info? He’s already told us those around him have higher scores so we can guess he goes to a competitive school and his first line of competition is his classmates.</p>
<p>Um, no. It’s a good score.</p>
<p>no that is not bad…</p>
<p>Carleton and JHU have about a 25% acceptance rate. My S had a 32 and this year got in to Cornell, Vassar, Tufts and Wesleyan - all with acceptance rates in the low to mid-20s. He retook once and got the same score, although he ran out of steam the second time when science was the last section he wrote. If he had stayed focused he would have had a 33, so although it might be worth retaking. But still a 32 plus and A average with a rigorous (for his small school) courseload got him into some great schools, plus 5 other schools which were also good options.</p>
<p>A 32 on the ACT is an excellent score, indeed an outstanding score. The question whether it warrants a retake is entirely dependent on the context. If you’re shooting for the most selective schools and upon examining your results you determine that there are a few sections where on a retake you might be able to get a couple more answers right and push your score up to a 33 or even a 34, then it might be worth retaking. Take a look at the score distributions to which tokenadult published a link in post #9 above. Fewer than 10,000 graduating seniors in 2008 scored a 34 or higher on the ACT. Almost 36,000 scored a 32 or higher. That’s a huge difference. Even the difference between a 32 and a 33 could make a difference at some highly selective schools, e.g., if it pushes you into the top quartile of their admits. Note that only 20,000 2008 seniors scored a 33 or higher, as compared to the 36,000 who scored a 32 or higher. That’s a big difference.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you’re not applying to the most selective schools, or if upon examination of your results you think it’s unlikely you’d do better on a retake, then it’s not worth the effort. For roughly 99% of the colleges in the United States, a 32 is as good as a 33, and both are outstanding.</p>
<p>I got into Emory with a 31 if that helps at all.</p>