should I take the ACT a 4th time?

ManaManaWegi
Tue, 14 Jun 2016 17:50:47 +0000

Is there actually any evidence that schools who require all scores will be concerned with a student taking a test 4 times? Many people here seem to be saying " you will look like a test fanatic" Now, please don’t take this the wrong way guys, but how do you know how the admissions team at any particular college will interpret the amount of times this student has taken a standardized test? It is true that the higher we are in ACT scores the more marginal improvement is, but this student’s best composite (without superscore) is a 31 (great score btw, you will not be denied entry for this score anywhere, though it is a disadvantage at schools were a 31 is out of the range “very few schools”), a 96th percentile score. The student says he thinks he can get a 33 (a 99th percentile score). Though these scores are just 2 “points” apart, they are 3 percentiles apart. Making that score improvement will set him apart ( however marginally it may be) from many thousands of students scoring a 31-32.

Final verdict: If many of the schools you are applying to require you to send all scores, maybe reconsider (though nobody really knows how they will interpret the information in context) If not many schools require that, consider if you are willing to spend the time to improve your score. Certainly a 31 to 33 jump will take a fair amount of studying (or you could be surprised when your score comes back from June). I believe the next date is in September, you will certainly be busy with application work by then, so consider you will have to be prepared on the day to do well, or you will have wasted your time. Overall, you will have to weigh the options yourself. How badly to you want to reach for your reach schools? Do you have match schools that you really love? I think you could make a case for retaking, so don’t feel bad if that’s the decision you come to.