My daughter scored a composite 35 as a Junior on the Dec ACT, but her writing was only a 31 with an 8 on the essay. She didn’t study much and looked at this mostly as a diagnostic, but now I’m reluctant to have her retake as the only real improvement would be on the essay. She is focused on UChicago, Rice, and maybe Columbia or Brown. I suspect most of the very top schools are going to place more emphasis on their own analysis of essays. So is there anything to be gained?
Usually once you get to the top 1% of test takers, even the most selective schools don’t care anymore (difference between a 35 and 36 could be less than ten questions: is one really more capable than the other?). You are right, most top schools are “holistic”, so they would most likely use other writing examples to see how good she is, not a 30 minute prompt that one has never seen before. I also have a 31 combined english/writing and an 8, although my composite was 34. I am not too worried about admissions based on that to pretty selective schools (Rice included). If the fees aren’t a problem and she feels like she really could bring it up, then go ahead and try again. 35 first try is great though, so again I wouldn’t be worried.
That’s a close call. 35 is awesome for one sitting, but you might want have her take it again to improve a subscore, especially for schools that may superscore, or if it’s in an area that she is intends to state an interest in studying but didn’t do so well. My D2 had a 34 but also scored an 8 on writing. Her GC recommended her taking it again, as did the testing tutor. She did and got a 35 composite with a 10 on writing and also increased her subscores in math english and science. But I certainly can see why your daughter might just want to stand on a 35, which is going to be good enough for any of the schools you mentioned. If she does decide, however, do a retake fast; there’s no reason to wait.
Do not waste your time retaking that score.
I got a 35 with 9 essay; if I don’t get accepted anywhere it’s not going to be because of those scores.
No point in retaking it. For the schools you mentioned, they will look at her college essays, years of English grades, and any recommendations from an English or humanities teacher more than they will look at one insignificant subscore of a timed standardized test
Don’t retake. You also don’t want to come off as score obsessed.
With superscoring,choosing what you report, etc., colleges have made it where there is very little downside risk to taking the test a second time, so that’s why I think that if there is something you want to improve, it can be worth doing, even with a 35. With a 35 composite score, you can still have a 31 or 32 on some subject like math. What if you’re telling Chicago or Columbia that you want to be a math major? That subscore will be lower than some competitive applicants. That’s why I’m saying that there’s no simple answer to this and the OP should look at his D’s particular circumstances to decide. My D’s testing tutor just has all her students sign up for the test a month later after their first test (before your score comes out) so they go into it with the expectation that they will take it twice.
Check if the schools you are considering even superscore the ACT. Most schools do not.
My son applied to colleges early senior year and sent off his test scores. If his EA/ED choices did not pan out, he was going to retake the tests,maybe take some SAT2s for his RD chances. This way if the later test scores turned out lower, he did not have to submit them as the first batch were already at the schools and he’d only have to submit if there was an improvement. The problem with retaking tests when one is already right near the top is that you have a lot more room to go down than to go up.
Some schools give additional merit awards for perfect scores so the answer depends on where your daughter wants to apply. Most elite schools are need based.
Writing score is not part of the 35 composite (English, Math, Reading and Science). Did she lose all her points on one of the other 4?
My son got a 34 first time, 35 second time, but his superstore is a 36. It is not necessary for her to retake, but if she wants to and you can afford it, why not? If she got a 36, that would put her in the very small group of perfect scorers.
My initial reaction is “hell no” but its probably more complicated than that. Was she tutored before and how was she scoring on practice tests? I say that because I know that Yale asked my daughter to submit ALL of her ACT scores after she submitted her best score (a 34, 11 on the writing). While schools typically claim that submitting all scores can only help a student, I can’t help but wonder how an elite school might view a student who took a test 3-4 times (as opposed to a student just taking it once and “acing” it). If your daughter was confident that she could duplicate or beat her 35 and also do a bit better on the writing portion, I would suggest that she go for it (since it enhances superscore possibilities and a better writing score might help a bit with the elites). Good luck.
BTW this issue was discussed in by Matmaven in the following link
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1690095-college-admission-facts-opinions-and-myths-p1.html
My son scored 33 without studying. I told him not to take any more tests.
No. Now your D should focus on subject SAT tests…
My daughter also took the dec ACTs without studying, she just wanted to see, where she needed to improve. She had a 35 Composite ( 34 M, 35 S, 36 CR, 35 E) However she only received an 8 in her Essay, because she ran out of time. I feel like she has nothing to gain from retaking the test ( she wants to be an engineer) , but her school is forcing her to retake the test with her whole class in spring.
There are many things that your daughter could do to improve her chances (having good subject tests, essays, and recommendations) but retaking a 35 ACT is going to have minimal impact
@anitram, how can a school “force” her to take the test again? That seems crazy and unenforceable. Just don’t show up, if she doesn’t want to.
FWIW, visited an Ivy last year, was told by admissions that they make two piles out of the applications.
Those that can do the work (high grades and SAT/ACT scores) and those that can’t do the work (low scores).
Once you are the one pile or the other does not make much difference in the admission process, that’s
where the EC, app essays, recs etc come into play.
All that said, 2nd tier private schools have formulas often heavily based on SAT/ACT scores for merit scholarships.
So if you want to go to a top school and can either pay or qualify for need aid, no need to retake.
If you are middle class, and need merit aid, then a 36 could get you more than a 35.
PS I read stats that indicated a VERY small % of people move from 35 to 36.
Higher your score, less chance of bumping it up. Intuitive yes, but the stats bear out what is intuitive.
I wouldn’t retake it.
That is cray man. I’m over here hoping to get at least a 25 how do you even ace the ACT Math?