chezman0

Hello all. First post, by the way.

Anyway, to my question. Would it be a benefit for me to retake the ACT from a college admissions and a scholarship perspective? My composite was a 33, and subscores as follows:

English: 32
Math: 32
Reading: 30
Science: 36
Writing: 8
Reading/Writing: 29

I have taken an ACT prep, but it was rather rudimentary, and only for the math portion of the test. We just looked at the three tests in the official ACT prep, and worked through the problems afterward. Also, I did study from a Barron's 36 ACT book to familiarize myself with the test, but I didn't actually take any whole practice tests except for the mathematics portion. No idea how I got the 36 on science, honestly, except that I feel that my strengths are more analytical, such as interpreting the graphs and data from the Science section versus the rote memorization of properties and tactics for the math and english. However, I have heard that these two test subscores are more important. Is that true?

So, basically, I wish to know if it would be of any benefit to me if applying to MIT for economics, or an Ivy, to give it another shot? I am also half Asian, half White, so the fact that I'm dealing with thousands of Asians with professor parents that also have 34-36 ACT's isn't helping me. I don't mean to be stereotypical, but I have seen quite a few that have fit that block, and those are most likely going to be people I must compete with to get into these schools.

Lastly, I have one possibility for taking the SAT I. Should I maybe try that, because a more logical strength versus speed strength in test taking is needed for the SAT versus the ACT, respectively?

Thanks in advance for any insight you are able to give.

36actbrah

Let me get this straight. In the first paragraph, you want to retake the ACT for, understandably, economical and ethical reasons. Who doesn't want more scholarships!? Although, a score of 33 is entirely sufficient to obtain an adequate endowment for any University. Perhaps it is the parsimonious Asian way of life to maximize didactic monetary rewards in achieving unreachable scores; yet I digress. In the following paragraph, you assess that it is your right, as an Asian-American, to score parallel among your Asian peers. Perhaps your ambitions aren't forthright. I can understand your justification for potentially receiving more scholarships. However, the acumen behind the latter issue is unjust and petty. Feasibly, you should accept the fact that you're half-white and not a pure-blood Asian. Therefore, you'll never be as good.

My 2 Korean won,
36actbrah