<p>I have a 4.0 uw, ranked second, and taken all the hardest classes in our school, but I have only a 28 on my ACT( hopefully it will rise on the October one).
I worked for about 30 to 40 hours a week to help supplement family needs and have some leadership positions as well.</p>
<p>Do you think I should write an essay explaining why I can’t focus on Saturdays? Or should I write about my job.</p>
<p>A 28 is not low. </p>
<p>Wait to see what you get for the October test. If you do better, send the higher score, and just forget about the 28.</p>
<p>It’s not a good idea to write an essay about why you can’t focus on Saturdays.</p>
<p>It could be an excellent idea, though, to write about your job – why you do it, and what you’ve learned by doing it. Colleges are VERY impressed by students who work. Colleges are even more impressed by students who work to help support their families. Colleges are extraordinarily impressed by students who work 30-40 hours a week. And colleges would be over the moon impressed by students who do all of those things while holding a 4.0, being ranked 2nd in their class, and taking tough courses and having leadership positions.</p>
<p>You could ask your GC to include in their recommendation info about how due to your overwork, your ACT probably underestimates your abilities. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, a 28 ACT is acceptable for entrance to most of the colleges in the country.</p>
<p>agree with northstarmom,
i also think that if you do better on the october one, to send both scores, which may show that even with your rough schedule you were still able to improve your score.</p>
<p>ehhh i wouldnt waste an essay on why you got a 28…</p>
<p>Schools get tired of hearing about excuses. Write about the job. My son just finished an English comp assignment where he talked about all the interesting people he worked with. A single mom trying to finish high school and a woman headed to jail on DUI and drug charges were eye-openning to him.</p>
<p>Lots of kids out there are smart and hardworking and pull down 4.0s in tough courses and cannot score well on standardized tests. Every college and university admissions officer in this country knows that. So, please, please, please don’t obsess about your ACT score! The single most important factor in predicting success in college is your transcript (grades and the courses you took) - in other words things look good for you on that front!</p>
<p>If you absolutely feel that you must take the exam again in order to improve the score, go to your public library and pick up a copy of the Princeton Review ACT prep guide, and any other guide to the ACT that includes sample exams. Read the Princeton Review book for ideas on exam taking strategies, and take a couple sample exams to see where you are doing well and where you are going wrong.</p>
<p>And yeah, like everyone else has said, write about working in the family business. It is something that sets you apart from most of the other applicants.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
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<p>I disagree with that, but agree with everyone in saying that writing an essay about your work is a good idea, but writing about your ACT score is not. Adcoms will either make the connection that since you work so hard, you probably didn’t do quite as great as you could have without your job’s wear and tear on you, or find your ability to hold a full-time job (or nearly that, I forget if it’s 30 or 40 hrs/week that classifies a job full-time) and be your grade’s salutatorian incredibly impressive.
An added remark: kudos on working so hard, outside and inside school! I recently had to take a break from my job (I intend on returning next month-ish) because of all the stresses that first semester senior year holds.</p>
<p>You will waste an essay if you write about your low standardized score. Furthermore, you’re highlighting the fact that you have a low score – why bring all the extra attention to one number?</p>
<p>You all need to realize that the essay requires one to respond to a specific prompt.</p>
<p>Don’t ever think about writing an essay like that. It will make you look bad.</p>