<p>Hi! I came to the United States a year ago (am Korean)
I am preparing for applying to the top ranked schools such as harvard and MIT
but the problem is my standardized exam score!!
Well… since I got 114 on toefl and all As for my college-level English classes, I didn’t worry too much about my English ability --at least until I took ACT few months ago.
I got 31 for the composite score but it is lower than it could be, solely because of the English section.
The score for the English section was 23, while my math and science scores are close to 36.
I am so worried because I don’t think that I can boost up my English skills in two months and I read that the students who got accepted to ivies got the average score of 32 or higher for the English section. </p>
<p>Do colleges consider the international students’ English scores for ACT/SAT in the same way as domestic students?
Another question is do they look at the subscores too? not just the composite? do they even look at out essays that we write during ACT or SAT? </p>
<p>All of the statistics I have seen suggest that international students’ scores as a group are on par with the scores of domestic students at the most selective colleges. I would suggest that you retake the ACT and aim to improve your score. </p>
<p>Did you struggle on the English or Reading section? I remember the English section being mostly about grammar, so non-native speakers (who have studied English grammar in much more detail than native speakers) should actually have an advantage. I personally struggled a lot on the Reading section; I couldn’t finish it within the time limits. But a bit of practice on reading speed and test taking strategies took care of that too. (e.g. do you answer all of the questions while you read, or do you read first and then answer the questions afterwards?) I went from finishing 2 out of 4 reading sections in the time allowed to finishing all 4 sections with about half an hour of practice each day for a month. </p>
<p>It should definitely be possibe to raise your score significantly with 2 months left to practice.</p>
<p>I agree, you can definitely raise that English score (it’s just about a dozen grammar rules for you to memorize then apply consistently) and that Reading score (that requires more practice, but it’s doable).
Even if you go from a 23 to a 26-27 on these sections your composite score will be within range.
They do not read your ACT Essay, UNLESS there is a clear discrepancy (ie., you scored a 15 in writing but sent a superb common app essay… then they’ll get suspicious :p)</p>
<p>A piece of advice: do not just apply to “reaches” and “reaches for everyone”. Build your college list reasonably.
Include at least 2 colleges that you’re sure you can get into and can afford (therefore, that have 40%+ admission rate - this would mean your current state’s flagship, probably its honors program, unless you live in Virginia, Michigan, California, or North Carolina where you’d have to apply to both the flagship’s Honors program and another big university’s honors program. Add other universities/LACs that value internationals and admit more than 40% applicants). Once you’ve found these two colleges, look for at least 3 (preferably 5) colleges that admit 25-35% applicants - these may be taken from the elite LACs (Nescac, Whitman, Macalester…) or from national universities. outside the top 25. Once you’ve found these schools, you can add as many reaches as you wish. </p>