Bump for “pure” 36 on ACT?

Is there any bump in consideration if D scored a 36 composite ACT score with all four subscores also being 36? Does it matter that she did that in her first sitting?

It might matter to some admission officer, but generally no, a 36 is a 36.

OP.I don’t think it matters whether she did it in her first sitting as I don’t think the admission officer knows she did it in her first sitting.

What do you mean, first sitting? You mean only sitting right?

If so, then yes, single sitting ACT with 36 in each section is impressive to AOs. If your kid retook the ACT with a 36 - that is bizarre.

Yes, there is a bump for all four component scores being 36. No one can tell you how much, but it’s there.

I don’t think the first sitting matters, though. I suspect that that information is lost somewhere between the initial file coding and reading at most admissions offices.

The common. App has a section for self reporting your ACT subsection each with its own date. It’s very clear when you look at the Common App if the student has gotten a 36 on all four sections plus the composite all on the same date. It looks something like this:

Highest Composite - Date of Test
Highest score English - Date of Test
Highest score Reading - Date of Test
Highest score Score Science - Date of Test
Highest score Math - Date of Test

For OP’s child (or anyone with a really strong single sitting) this will be very impressive:

36 - 2/2018
36 - 2/2018
36 - 2/2018
36 - 2/2018
36 - 2/2018

A 36 superscore could look like this:

36 - 2/2018
36 - 6/2017
36 - 12/2017
36 - 2/2018
36 - 10/2017

Which one is more impressive to you? It’s not hard to see that the single sitting all around 36 is impressive, unusual, and note worthy.

It’s less “impressive” when one considers that each year every top college will reject a host of 4.0/36/1600 applicants while accepting those with lower stats. The ACT score is but one part of the process.

Students (and their parents) need to eliminate the words “impressive,” “better,” “best,” or similar words from their vocabulary until after college admissions decisions are made. It is the rare application/course schedule/EC that will “impress” admissions. Perhaps the AO that read Malala’s application was “impressed,” but she set the bar high.

To the OP: if the young women in question did achieve this, congrats. Now she needs to move on to other aspects of the application. Good luck.

^ Agree - but from a test section component factor (knowing this is only one part of the app) a single sitting 36 is top marks for that part of the app… which was the original question.

Does it mean the OPs child is a shoe in for Yale? No.

36 on all four sections guarantees that you will be a candidate for Presidential Scholar. I don’t think this is announced until January, so it’s too late to put on college applications. Even if you could, probably not a big deal when you are applying to top schools. Still, it’s an honor that very few people achieve.

There were more than 2700 ACT 36C last year. With 36.0 being one of fifteen combinations of 36C there were about 180 ACT 36.0 a year. If you include SAT1600 you have about 680 perfect SAT/ACT scorers/yr. Vast majority of them will be applying to the same schools. From what I can observe these perfect scorers enjoy around 30% success rate at top schools. Considering most of them are unhooked and the average rate is around 5% I would say that is pretty significant bump in statistical outcome. But that is just pure correlation, I have no data to support whether there is causation.

There is an omitted variable that is causally related to both the 30% figure and the perfect score that we are not allowed to mention :wink:

Sure, but is that how AOs will see the app? I feel like I’ve read descriptions where AOs at some schools simply see a summary screen wherein the SAT/ACT is automatically superscored. Not that they couldn’t click and check the dates, but my general impression is that at the most selective schools SAT/ACT for unhooked applicants is more of a first screen, or checkbox—get the 35 or 36 and now let’s actually look at the app. The things that will actually distinguish the applicant are not in the score box.

I should have said only, not first. Obviously, that would indeed have been bizarre.

They would know it’s the only attempt if it’s a school that requires all scores be sent which are very few.

A 36 is probably more of a boost at schools like Vandy, Rice, etc that like to boost their Student Profile and could mean a higher chance at merit at those schools.