Scarlett Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 He took it for the second time. He went from 25 to 27. His STEM went down by 2 and his English went up by 6 and his Reading went up by 4. He did the writing this time and scored 6 (that score range is only from 2-12 so it isn't as horrible as we thought at first). Which gave him a ELA of 24. And his STEM was 24 also. Do they schools just pick the one they want to use? Because even though his overall score was higher on the second one his STEM was lower and just under 'ACT readiness' level. This stuff is so confusing to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 Some schools will superstore the ACT and some won't (and even some that superstore the SAT won't superstore the ACT). If the school he's interested in does superscore, they will take the best score in each section, although they generally do not recalculate the composite. If not, they will just take the best score from a single sitting. Does he have time to take it once more? DS took it three times: the 1st with very little prep, the 2nd with a fair amount of prep using the Real ACT book, and then the third time he did an intensive online prep program. His composite score went up 2 points from the 2nd to 3rd time (and 5 pts from the 1st to 3rd time). The third try earned him perfect scores in English & Reading and the composite put him in range for top merit money at his school, so it was well worth the time invested to take it a third time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 Different colleges have different policies. The colleges my dc attended were mostly interested in the English, math, and composite. For many state schools and small LACs, your ds's scores will be just fine and may even be good enough for scholarships. If he needs a lot merit aid to attend, you might consider spending the $8 to purchase the list from this site: http://www.mykidscollegechoice.com/full-scholarship-list/ If I remember correctly, 8FillTheHeart and Kathy in Richmond both recommended it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 Scarlett - Just wanted to say "Way to go" on him improving his Composite score up by 2! :party: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted November 20, 2017 Author Share Posted November 20, 2017 Scarlett - Just wanted to say "Way to go" on him improving his Composite score up by 2! :party: Thank you. :) I wish he could be happier about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted November 20, 2017 Author Share Posted November 20, 2017 Some schools will superstore the ACT and some won't (and even some that superstore the SAT won't superstore the ACT). If the school he's interested in does superscore, they will take the best score in each section, although they generally do not recalculate the composite. If not, they will just take the best score from a single sitting. Does he have time to take it once more? DS took it three times: the 1st with very little prep, the 2nd with a fair amount of prep using the Real ACT book, and then the third time he did an intensive online prep program. His composite score went up 2 points from the 2nd to 3rd time (and 5 pts from the 1st to 3rd time). The third try earned him perfect scores in English & Reading and the composite put him in range for top merit money at his school, so it was well worth the time invested to take it a third time. Interesting. Do you mind to give me a link to the online prep program he did? And I wonder if he has time to take the on line course and then still have time to take it once more. I don't know. The school he wants to go to is not IMO that expensive and his dad is going to pay for it. Ds is going to live at home. So at this late hour I don't know that it would be worth it for him to stress over much about it. He is stressing that he didn't get a 30 anyway and that his STEM fell...so I don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted November 20, 2017 Author Share Posted November 20, 2017 Different colleges have different policies. The colleges my dc attended were mostly interested in the English, math, and composite. For many state schools and small LACs, your ds's scores will be just fine and may even be good enough for scholarships. If he needs a lot merit aid to attend, you might consider spending the $8 to purchase the list from this site: http://www.mykidscollegechoice.com/full-scholarship-list/ If I remember correctly, 8FillTheHeart and Kathy in Richmond both recommended it. I honestly think his score is fine too. I am going to help him with the application process tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Interesting. Do you mind to give me a link to the online prep program he did? And I wonder if he has time to take the on line course and then still have time to take it once more. I don't know. The school he wants to go to is not IMO that expensive and his dad is going to pay for it. Ds is going to live at home. So at this late hour I don't know that it would be worth it for him to stress over much about it. He is stressing that he didn't get a 30 anyway and that his STEM fell...so I don't know. DS used PrepScholar, which I think is probably worth it for someone who can spend at least 6 months working on it, but for short term prep I think it's too expensive. An alternative I've heard good things about is Magoosh, which is $89 for 3 months access. I will probably try that with DD when the time comes. But if your DS doesn't need a higher score for acceptance or merit aid, I wouldn't bother retaking it. It looks like the next available test date would be February 10th, so that might be too late anyway depending on the application deadlines at the schools he's interested in. And there's nothing wrong with a 27 — that's top 15% in the country. :thumbup1: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted November 20, 2017 Author Share Posted November 20, 2017 DS used PrepScholar, which I think is probably worth it for someone who can spend at least 6 months working on it, but for short term prep I think it's too expensive. An alternative I've heard good things about is Magoosh, which is $89 for 3 months access. I will probably try that with DD when the time comes. But if your DS doesn't need a higher score for acceptance or merit aid, I wouldn't bother retaking it. It looks like the next available test date would be February 10th, so that might be too late anyway depending on the application deadlines at the schools he's interested in. And there's nothing wrong with a 27 — that's top 15% in the country. :thumbup1: Yes I think it is a fine score and under the circumstances we will just accept it and move on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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