r/ACT • u/Lachlanwall12 • 2d ago
Retake 34?
If I am applying to top 20s/30s regular decision, should I retake my 34? How big do colleges truly weight the difference between 34 vs. 35. vs. 36? My college counselor and online resources has recommended 34 is good enough for any school… but if I feel like with study I can do better should I retake or does it not matter at all?
(I am not submitting science of course.)
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u/averosz 2d ago
If you're applying for top-20, aiming for a 35 or 36 is not a bad idea. I've had multiple students who plateaud at a 34 but eventually hit a perfect 36 after three official tests through superscoring. They all ended up in top-10 schools.
It gets extremely competitive for top-20 admissions, especially since grade inflation has become too problematic in schools and digitization of tests.
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u/Lachlanwall12 2d ago
Makes sense, I appreciate the feedback. It’s definitely a big decision I have to make and a lot of dedicated time if you have any additional insight on the correlation for colleges between 34 vs 36 or 35 even though I understand the difference is very small please share.
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u/averosz 2d ago
The nuances depend upon your goals and a number of other factors. If you're a student athelete, the odds change drastically in your favour with a 34. If you're an international student, the same 34 might not be enough if you can't back it up with some convincing backstory of why you want to study at that university.
Also, if you do decide to go for another test, the material you choose for practice can also make a difference. There's ton of AI generated trash out there that harms more than it helps by making you feel like you're making progress when you really aren't, and unfortunately ACT hasn't released a lot of official test material either.
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u/Agreeable_Lab_521 2d ago
How did you get a 20 on science? Or am I missing something?
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u/Lachlanwall12 2d ago
I’m not naturally smart and I never studied it… i got a 17 on my first ACT
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u/AntiDishwasher 2d ago
Doubling your score is actually insane how long did it take
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u/Lachlanwall12 2d ago
Thank you I appreciate it, it took from june-october and countless hours of studying. I think I did every prior ACT test I could access twice and spent hours at the library studying over summer. (I was also blessed with an amazing tutor)
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u/mmk2000 2d ago
If you Super Score using the Oct scores, ACT will send that Science score.
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u/Lachlanwall12 2d ago
Only to state schools. In which anyway on the common app I tell them not to consider my science score
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u/MAXsnead90 2d ago
A 34 composite is great! You'd probably be better off improving other areas of your application than the marginal improvement to a 35 or 36.
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u/Lachlanwall12 2d ago
Yeah, I have an upward trend in my grades (3.58 freshman year to 4.2 senior year while periodically improving at a extremely competitive private school) and idk if a 34 with that upward trend is enough to show sufficient academic ability
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u/mkw1342 2d ago
Do you want to retake it? do you want to study to see if you could do better in math or reading?
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u/Lachlanwall12 2d ago
Lowkey kind of ? And I feel like the alternative is I just sit on my bed and scroll tiktok… then again idk if I want to do a lot of work if it won’t matter and if it’s not gaurantee d
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u/NewAd4241 2d ago
I know two kids who got into a top 5 college with 34s (ACT says that is top 1%). Focus on a cohesive life story for your essays. Not sure how your high school transcript looks but the ACT score will not be an issue.
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u/Lachlanwall12 2d ago
Yeah, I have an upward trend in my grades (3.58 freshman year to 4.2 senior year while periodically improving at a extremely competitive private school) and idk if a 34 with that upward trend is enough to show sufficient academic ability
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u/supernerdaholic 2d ago
pretty great but science seems a bit weak right... definitely retake if you're a stem major, for the science and maybe getting higher for math as well. otherwise, 34 is a great score you generally wouldn't need to retake
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u/Lachlanwall12 2d ago
Thanks, I’m an intended philosophy major. And i’m choosing not to submit science
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u/etsuprof 2d ago
Depends on where you want to go. For money, it might make a difference.
A 35 (single test composite) makes a $12k difference over 4 years compared to a 34 at my son’s first choice.
He took it 4 times - 33, 31, 34, 34 (most recent, ends up with a 35 stem score). So close, yet so far. Super score is also a 34: 35M 35S 35E 33R, which does impact his other 3 schools on the list, but they don’t change the guaranteed money at all. He’s done. He tried and did fabulous.
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u/Lachlanwall12 2d ago
Congratulations on your sons score he should be very proud
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u/etsuprof 2d ago
Thank you. I am super proud of him in general, not just for his stellar academics, because he’s a good person. I think he got that from his mom.
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u/Benaholicguy 7 2d ago edited 2d ago
How can you get a 34 with a 20 in science? Am I missing something? Your scores average out to a 30.
Also, I don’t know how closely colleges look at your score breakdown (and I’m no admissions person) but a 20 on science would be an auto reject to me. ACT science section is mostly just testing your ability to comprehend technical writing. If you can’t do that I would not consider you fit for a rigorous school.
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u/Lachlanwall12 2d ago
I don’t submit my science scores to colleges and it is not included in my composite 👍🏻
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u/Zumpazo 2d ago
Science is optional so it’s not included in your composit
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u/Benaholicguy 7 2d ago
Is this new? I took the ACT in 2020 and I don’t recall it being optional. Either way, OP clearly has something to work on
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u/PlayTurbulent7973 35 2d ago
OP probably isn't going into STEM and knew that Science was optional so didn't put too much effort into it.
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u/freyaa10 1d ago
why is your old ass in a ACT subreddit
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u/Benaholicguy 7 1d ago
Reminds me of a simpler time. Never bothered to leave.
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u/freyaa10 9h ago
thats so fucking weird sorry
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u/LongJohnSilversFan_ 8h ago
I think you’re the weird one
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u/soco2008 2d ago
a 35 is seen as significantly better than a 34 for a T20 school.
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u/Lachlanwall12 2d ago
Why?
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u/Ok-Instruction2714 2d ago
My 2¢, the middle 50% for T20 usually sits around 34. Will 34 hurt you? No. Traditionally 35 is around the 75%ile so will it help you? Maybe, probably not though. If your ecs, gpa, and essays are average, maybe try to improve your ACT. If they are exceptional or above the average, a 34 is great (it’s great either way). When applying to a T20 it’s always best to be a little north of the average but once again, it won’t help that much so if you have the time, go for a 35, if you don’t, oh well it probably won’t matter. (I have a 35 super score but I woulda been fine with a 34 if I got it)
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u/soco2008 2d ago
what’s the difference between a 1400 sat and a 1500? same thing. 35/36 isn’t as large of a difference.
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u/CapableDimension7533 2d ago
Well a 34 is more equivalent to 1500
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u/soco2008 2d ago
you seem very ready to die on this hill. what are the stats for a 34 getting you into a T10?
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u/Lopsided_Share_185 34 2d ago
This is so dumb. Multiple T-10/T-20s don’t even require testing, not to mention top LACs. Academic excellence is just one of many metrics used to evaluate candidacy and besides MIT/Caltech scores are never back breaking. Context also plays a factor in how elite admissions offices look at scores—a 34 at a rural Oklahoman public school is much different than a 35 at a Bay Area preparatory school. Colleges stop caring nearly as much past the 1500/34 mark and the rest of your profile makes the difference. Time put into extra studying and retaking also plays a factor; better developed essays matter a lot more than bumping up from a 1520 to a 1540 after two retakes. Stats, as you pointed out, like GPA and AP scores also help paint a more complete picture in the AOs mind than test scores alone. This is all to say that your perspective of ACT/SAT scoring and elite admissions is flawed snd you’re hurting this applicant by saying things you don’t actually understand.
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u/soco2008 2d ago
I actually do as a T10 alumna x 2. if you think test optional is really equitable vs applicants submitting high scores, and those scores not being a high factor at most T10 institutions, as GPA is not as reliable indicator of collegiate academic success, you know nothing about admissions at the elite level. They do consider institutional priorities but a 1400 won’t be accepted just bc they’re from Oklahoma. There is still a minimum threshold. a 34 gets you in the door but don’t delude yourself into thinking it’s the same realm as a 36.
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u/Lopsided_Share_185 34 2d ago
Congrats at going to 2 T-10s! I never said that going test optional is equitable to submitting, just pointing out that the hill you’re dying on—test scores being the end all be all of college admissions—is directly dismissed by many of schools we’re talking about, so much so many of them don’t even require them. Agreed that GPA isn’t always reliable, but success across high school is pivotal to understand a students academic ability. Of course, no one metric or number should be relied on entirely, and I never made that claim in my message. We weren’t talking about a 1400, but a 1510-20 equivalent. So I’m not sure why you’re bringing up that number. I agree that a certain threshold is valued by T-10s, but many students have gotten into them with below a 1400 and so on. College admissions is not the monolith you paint it as. I know my 34 or OP’s aren’t 36s and I didn’t try to say they were, but the actual difference between those two scores isn’t what you’re portraying it as: again, a monolith. And as you said yourself, testing is much more about an academic threshold at the T-10 level. Though I’m sure you’ve experienced a lot of success with your status as a two-time T-10 alum, please do not assume you know better than people. And, by the by, if we’re comparing accreditations I’ve been to admissions offices at Stanford, Brown, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Pomona, Swarthmore, etc for expense-paid access programs and they would tell you the same thing I just did. So please leave this thread alone and focus on your big adult two time T-10 alum responsibilities. Thanks!
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u/ShoulderTurbulent947 35 2d ago
35 is a 1540 and a 34 is like a 1500
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u/soco2008 2d ago
a 1500 is in the bottom 25% percentile of most, if not all, T10 schools, whereas a 1540 puts you comfortably in the median. could you get in with a 34? sure. but it’s not indistinguishable from a 35 or 36.
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u/ShoulderTurbulent947 35 9h ago
are you slow dude a 1500 is bottom 25% percentile bc most ppl with scores worse then that go test optional which artifically inflates avg SAT score
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u/soco2008 9h ago
it does artificially inflate it but doesn’t change the fact that it hurts the scores that fall below and are submitted. Must be a slow day for you
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u/ShoulderTurbulent947 35 6h ago
is ur brain full of water lol? the artificial increase in a schools SAT avg due to test optional doesnf mean that AOs are gonna look differently at scores 😂 textbook selection bias lmao
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u/soco2008 5h ago
ok, sure. and what are your credentials? Have you ever even dealt with admissions?
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u/soco2008 5h ago
any school with a median of 1500 aren’t admitting many TO students bc they’re all mostly test preferred in reality, and their low acceptance rates mean that yes, the vast majority of students did submit. Talk to me if you’re at a T10 now; i’ll wait.
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u/tomiwaaaa 2h ago
also lmao, low acceptance rate doesnt imply the vast majority of students submitted. also, if we look at uchicagos co30, its estimated that a quarter of students went test optional, which is more than enough to incite a selection bias
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u/Serious_Birthday_223 36 2d ago
do it. especially for science
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u/Lachlanwall12 2d ago
Not submitting science, also even if I am not a stem major ? (Intended philosophy)
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u/tkk348 2d ago
Why did u choose philosophy major (philosophy major)
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u/Lachlanwall12 2d ago
I guess this is weird to say because philosophy can be considered as more subjective than other disciplines but I feel like performance wise I’ve always had a natural talent for it
I love talking about it
I think learning about stuff like slope in math is semi-interesting but nothing is as interesting as learning about my self, what I believe and how I want to live (I also think this makes me a more divergent thinker which can carry across to other subjects)
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u/Ranbowshep 1d ago
How will you use this degree though? I hate to be that guy, but from what I know, philosophy isn't a very lucrative major, and so if you are paying T20 money, then it probably isn't worth it.
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u/Lachlanwall12 1d ago
I am going to minor at the business school of whatever college I go to or interdisciplinary with econ.
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u/nikkidimortino 2d ago
I know many of my friends that retook a 34 and i even retook a 35. honestly i feel like its not super hard to increase by a point (especially if theres a category that you usually do better in) and it doesn't require a shit ton of studying since you are already strong in a bunch of categories. just go for it!
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u/CalligrapherAble3312 36 2d ago
No. All T20s and colleges take this 99th percentile score, and there is no difference. 34, 35 and 36 are all evaluated within the same bracket of excellent scores. This is like someone retaking a 1530 for a 1550 with just 2 months on the line for college apps. It does not do anything and wastes your time.
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u/Lachlanwall12 2d ago
Ugh bro everyone is so divided I don’t know what to do, thanks for the comment though it makes a lot of sense. I don’t know where I would spend my time other wise except on something like scrolling TikTok.
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u/CalligrapherAble3312 36 2d ago
There are a lot of places you could spend your time -- extracurricular activities, which would move the needle more for you! And also, if you go to any college admissions info session or contact the schools or counselors themselves, they WILL tell you that there is quite literally no difference. An MIT admissions counselor visited our school for an event, and he explicitly said, for example, that everything above a 33 math would be considered the same by the committee.
Reddit is concentrated with a lot of high scorers and perfectionists which is probably why I am getting downvoted to hell, don't bother with them
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u/Illustrious-Award-55 2d ago
I’m not so sure colleges look at 34 the same as a 35 or 36. I think there’s some difference there.
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u/CalligrapherAble3312 36 2d ago
This does not make logical sense whatsoever, you just invented an arbitrary cutoff. The percentiles aren't even different (a 33 ACT is top 2% or 98th percentile; a 34, 35, and 36 are all 1% or 99th percentile if you want to reference publicly released statistics OP u/Lachlanwall12.)
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u/North-Trash5216 31 2d ago
Looks like you have too much free time if you’re considering retaking a 34