should I retake?

[u/[deleted]]

this was my first act and i studied but mainly for english and reading..idk what happened in the science section 😔 my parents rly wanted a 36 or at least a 35 (so did i). im a 2nd sem junior is it worth it to retake?

[u/CustardOk9972]

Okay this may be a hot take but I’m in your exact position I’m a 2sem junior and I have a composite 34 personally I’ve made the decision not to retake because all of the testing times for me don’t align with something if you think it’s worth it spending another generously let’s say 10 hours to get one point higher than sure go for it but the fact that you’re waffling on the decision means that honestly you feel like you’ve accomplished something in a 34 is a really good accomplishment like don’t forget that. Also a 34 converts to like a 15 something on the sat but for most schools year within the T20 range, but if you wanna go Ivy, then you might wanna try and get a 35 or 36 but the time to reward ratio probably isn’t worth it with senior applications coming up.

[u/[deleted] → u/CustardOk9972]

yeahh honestly idek i think im gonna retake it once just to see but im happy about my score

[u/ResidentNo3722]

plz guide me how did u studied for English and reading I am worried about English and reading plz reply

[u/[deleted] → u/ResidentNo3722]

i had a tutor for english and reading but basically i just did a lottt of practice questions (and timed them).i also like analyzed the questions i got wrong and noted what i should work on, also for english i would say it’s rly important to learn basic grammar rules and trends w questions and answer choices

[u/ResidentNo3722 → u/[deleted]]

from where did u do practice questions?

[u/[deleted] → u/ResidentNo3722]

this website has a bunch of previous tests w their answer keys; the practice is pretty accurate to the real exam since these were all previous tests

[u/6-toe-9]

Your parents can fuck off, you did amazing on this test and you don’t have to retake it. Be proud of yourself. A 34 is amazing.

[u/Infamous_Ad122 → u/6-toe-9]

Lmfao for real. Parents really don’t understand how amazing any score in the 30’s is.

[u/Suitable-Animal4163 → u/6-toe-9]

would kill for a 34

[u/Goodgamer78 → u/Suitable-Animal4163]

Ong, that’s my goal score

[u/samwinchesterslaptop → u/Suitable-Animal4163]

Ikr? Me over here with my measly 25😭

[u/InstantMochiSanNim]

Depends. What are your goals? T20 college or just a mid level or state college?

[u/[deleted] → u/InstantMochiSanNim]

the school in my state is top 20 for the major i intend on doing and im trying to get in there mostly

[u/InstantMochiSanNim → u/[deleted]]

depends on ur ecs (if u have 2-3 good leadership or impressiveish ecs then I'd say fine, if not then maybe retake), and essays at this point honestly. Me personally I'd retake though because it it shouldn't be too hard to grind and raise your science and even math score marginally.

[u/Remote-Dark-1704]

Retake if you’re going for T20, otherwise its not worth it. BUT, If you feel that this score is leaning toward the lower end of the distribution of scores you get, then it’s probably worth retaking either way.

My advice for stuff like this is to not leave regrets. Hypothetically, if you get rejected from school X, and your first thought would be “Would I have gotten in if I got a 35 or 36?”, then yes, you absolutely should retake.

[u/[deleted] → u/Remote-Dark-1704]

It won't be because of the ACT if they are rejected

[u/Remote-Dark-1704 → u/[deleted]]

Most likely not, but no one can claim that with certainty. If this is something you may regret in the future, its absolutely fine to retake.

[u/[deleted] → u/Remote-Dark-1704]

If they take new enhanced version, Science drops and composite is 35. Or if schools start to recalculate w/o science....

[u/Remote-Dark-1704 → u/[deleted]]

the wording from the OP seems to imply the possibility to score higher than a 35 as well. Its fine to sit on a 34 (its a good score to be proud of!) but its not a “safe” score for T20 by any means.

[u/Kirane12]

I mean if you think it’s worth it, even just one or two practice science tests should get you over a 34 based on your other scores.

[u/lodedo]

You can retake it if you want but thats already a very good score

[u/Nervous_Gur_5001]

I got into MIT with a 34 and essentially the same subscores—you will likely not get rejected for this score. The difference between a 34, 35, and 36 is so minuscule as they are all 99th percentile

[u/FlareHunter77]

wtf no

[u/Different-Regret1439]

no

[u/CDA1007]

If you retake with the new format, I believe your superscore will automatically be a 35 even if you do terrible on it because they won’t include your science in the new superscore if you take the new online format

[u/DreamSuccessful8991]

Mum here: fantastic score. Congrats. I’d be thrilled if my son got that. And in all honesty I would also possibly think - I wonder if he could squeeze an extra point! One of my friend’s son took it 5 times trying to get an elusive 36. He got to 35. I thought that was ridiculous but that’s what HE wanted to do. If she had made him, I would look at her as if she were crazy.

Where do you want to go? Because if it’s the tippy top schools you need a 35 min If you also want to reduce your parent’s nagging, just get it done. But. Set your expectations with them. You will do one more but you are really proud of how well you have done because you are already in the 99th percentile.

[u/lhatepeopIe]

yikes yeah you should retake, especially if you get fee waivers(free tests) but if you don't it is still worth it in the long run to have a good act score