<p>I’ve put up a chance me thread and I’ve been told excepting U of Chicago, I could be a likely/match for all my schools— if only I would raise my standardized test scores. </p>
<p>This is easier said than done for me. I’ve taken both the ACT and the SAT twice. I did much better on the ACT with a 27 (the first time I got a 25.).</p>
<p>I know that math score is bad- this is consistent with my classes; but I feel like it’s because of my history of bad math courses at High School. I’ve had six math teachers in three years-- which has made it very hard for me to understand or retain any of the information. Both Freshman and Sophmore years I had teachers leave and get replaced by long standing substitutes. (Freshman year was actually a first time TA; Sophmore year my parents encouraged I try honors math, but the teacher I got was notorious for trying to drive students out of his class, so I switched to a regulars class early on, only to have my teacher leave on maternity.) Junior year I was taking a special vocational program [Graphic design] <em>and</em> I wanted my college prep classes out of the way. To do this, I took a Zero/A hour class. Originally, I was told this would start at Seven AM. However, without telling anyone the district moved the time up to 6:30 AM, which meant I had to wake up at 4:30-5 AM to get to class (instead of six). I was also taking 3 AP classes on top of being exhausted, so I was forced to drop (as I was failing) and I am now completing the class online with no outside help. </p>
<p>Can I explain my scores and grades because of having so many teachers, or will that be seen as an excuse? Should I just suck it up and cross my fingers for a third time? Or is three not a charm for admissions?</p>
<p>“but I feel like it’s because of my history of bad math courses at High School.”
I stopped reading there-- this is an excuse and a bad one at that.</p>
<p>You didn’t answer my other question though- which is if I should retake the test a third time, or if that will look bad.</p>
<p>I realize it could be seen as an excuse, but I rather wish you had kept reading, because that wasn’t the only thing I was asking. Just the main point. :)</p>
<p>You scored high on teh most g loaded section of the ACT- the reading section. The section that you did badly on is the easiest section to learn. Study the ACT math and retake the test. The good thing about the ACT is that it is much more of a skills test than it is a thinking test.</p>
<p>Oooh, I see. Thanks for the link, it’s fascinating. I’ve always been a verbal/visual learner above all. However, I’m not sure if math and english are very comparable. I happen to be abnormally fast at reading which allows me to complete the sections much faster than I would the math section.</p>
<p>Take the test again, there is score choice at almost all schools and they will no longer see how often you’ve taken it. The excuse will not work.</p>
<p>Oh thanks hmom5, I didn’t know they don’t see how many times you take a test any more. All my college oriented books said that taking it more than two or so times looks bad.</p>
<p>“I realize it could be seen as an excuse, but I rather wish you had kept reading, because that wasn’t the only thing I was asking. Just the main point.”</p>
<p>“Oh no, I scored poorly because my teachers suxxxed @ teaching me math. I want to go to a good college and I’m not happy with my scores, should I take it again? or should I just make an excuse and not even try?”</p>
<p>Do you really want me to answer this question?</p>
<p>I never said I had bad teachers I said I had multiple teachers for every year I took a math class- which meant we skipped sections and were unable to have consistent lessons. Please, there is no reason to be rude 3Point7Student; I <em>have</em> tried twice with each standardized test for a total of 4 times. I didn’t say I had terrible teachers, rather I said there were gaps in my math education because I often had subsitutes who had no inkling of math (and were actually english, history, or foreign language teachers), or had no idea where we were at or what we needed to learn. Many things were just skipped over, or ignored that my other friends did learn.</p>
<p>I merely asked some questions. There is no need to dole out sarcasm and rudeness with an answer- it’s not helpful at all. If it’s an excuse, fine. I won’t mention it, and will attempt to retake the test. But there’s no need to act like I’m whining about it- not any more so than any other student with a question here.</p>
<p>I would definitely advise you to take the tests again. As far as the explanation/excuse question, I would avoid talking about it yourself. Rather, I’d consider having your counselor mention it in her recommendation letter while framing it as “he/she managed to overcome obstacles beyond his/her control.” A brief mention of the situation should suffice.</p>