Will a college accept an ACT score from one's freshman year?

[Hoggirl]

I posted this on CC as well (my first post there!).

 

Ds took the February 2011 ACT as a freshman. When he applies to colleges in the fall of 2013, will they be willing to accept this score, or will it be viewed as "too old?" We'd like to be "done" with this and move on to focusing on other things.

[JFSinIL]

Well, maybe - but might the score be even higher (unless it was already waaay up there) if it is retaken spring of the junior year? If it isn't higher - then go with the first score, by all means.

 

So many colleges offer merit aid based on high test scores.....

[QueenCat]

Ds's school requires it to be no more than two years old.

[Tullia]

Many colleges specify that test must have been taken within a certain number of years, but it varies; the smallest interval I've seen is two years and longest is five.

 

ETA: I'm no fan of "teaching to the test" or of spending lots of time on test prep, but did notice that my son's scores went up noticeably over time. We didn't do a lot of test prep other than brief strategy sessions for the different tests and practice tests. I'd agree with the pp about higher scores on a re-test having the potential for bringing in scholarship money. Unless your child had spectacularly high scores I'd try to re-test in the spring of the Jr. or fall of the Sr. year depending on application deadlines for schools your ds might want to attend.

Edited March 5, 2011 by Martha in NM

[creekland]

I agree with taking it again.

 

My spring sophomore had a really nice score. As a fall junior he had a great score and we expected to stop. However, adcoms have suggested he take it once more in spring of junior year when most juniors take the test because if his great score turns into a super great score the merit aid could be even better. It's worth the $50 gamble to possibly get thousands.

 

Also, one of his top potential schools only has a 17% acceptance rate, so the higher the better. That school is known for good merit aid, so again, the higher the potentially better financially as well.

 

It can't hurt him as we can still use his fall great score if he were to drop down (one of my fears originally).

[Hoggirl]

Many colleges specify that test must have been taken within a certain number of years, but it varies; the smallest interval I've seen is two years and longest is five.

 

ETA: I'm no fan of "teaching to the test" or of spending lots of time on test prep, but did notice that my son's scores went up noticeably over time. We didn't do a lot of test prep other than brief strategy sessions for the different tests and practice tests. I'd agree with the pp about higher scores on a re-test having the potential for bringing in scholarship money. Unless your child had spectacularly high scores I'd try to re-test in the spring of the Jr. or fall of the Sr. year depending on application deadlines for schools your ds might want to attend.

 

"spectacularly high scores"?

[Hoggirl]

I agree with taking it again.

 

My spring sophomore had a really nice score. As a fall junior he had a great score and we expected to stop. However, adcoms have suggested he take it once more in spring of junior year when most juniors take the test because if his great score turns into a super great score the merit aid could be even better. It's worth the $50 gamble to possibly get thousands.

 

Also, one of his top potential schools only has a 17% acceptance rate, so the higher the better. That school is known for good merit aid, so again, the higher the potentially better financially as well.

 

It can't hurt him as we can still use his fall great score if he were to drop down (one of my fears originally).

 

I hate putting the pressure on him. Would you mind telling me the name of the top potential school with the 17% acceptance rate? You can pm me if you like.

[creekland]

The school is Washington University in St Louis. It's great for both Pre-Med and the potential for both merit and need based aid. They had more applications than usual for this year, so the word on college confidential is that their acceptance rate is likely to be less than 17%, but 17% was their rate for the previous year.

 

For us, with middle son, by spectacularly great scores we are hoping for a 35 or 36. NOT all students or schools will need this, nor are all students capable of it, but for the top schools that have merit aid it sure would be helpful.

 

I've found high merit aid in many (decent) schools to be accessible or even automatic with a 32 or 33 or higher. 33 is where middle son is at from fall of his junior year, so he's ok with applications to (and potential merit aid from) many places. He's taking it again solely for better merit aid and to better his chances at WUSL in general. A 33 at this school is only at their 50th percentile for acceptances - hardly a guarantee of acceptance for a school that has a 17% (or lower) acceptance rate and definitely not much of a chance for high merit aid unless he fits a niche they want to attract. For decent chances of merit aid one wants to be in the top 25% of students if at all possible. So, it's worth the $50 for him to take it again at a time when juniors usually take the test rather than go with a (generally considered) high score from an earlier test.

 

However, for other students... my oldest got a 31 and still got reasonable merit aid at his (higher ranked academically) Christian College. 31 was the minimum for 2 schools he was looking at, so I breathed a sigh of relief when he got it.

 

What's a good score depends a lot on which schools and which programs one is looking for. It's higher for highly competitive places and lower for less competitive places. I've heard of students (at my public high school) getting merit aid with as low of a score as a 26, but the academic level of their colleges isn't as high. They tend to still be in the top 25% for their chosen schools. But a 26 won't even get one accepted at a more competitive school if that is one's goal. Middle son wants a higher ranked school as, at this point, he wants to head to med school after getting his undergrad degree. Plus, he is academically talented and would prefer being among his peers academically rather than being bored in less challenging classes.

 

My goal as mom/guidance counselor is to get each of my boys into the school that's right for them. It's not a "one size fits all" situation. My oldest is going to the perfect college for him both score wise and for fit. I'm working on it for middle son now (he'll be applying this summer/fall). I'm even starting to think about it for youngest (9th grade). All three will be going to different schools due to different interests and different academic strengths and capabilities.

 

I wouldn't rest on a 9th grade score unless it were a 35 or 36 or I knew the student could easily get into the college he wanted with their score AND getting merit aid wasn't an issue (higher is always better for merit aid). I also wouldn't test endlessly to up their score. My preference is for testing once or twice. Middle son will have done the ACT 3 times, but in his case, it seems right to do it that way. He's also skipping the SAT since he missed the NMSF cut off for our state. (I'm still bummed about that since he would have made it in 30 states, and it comes with oodles of guaranteed merit aid options, but that's life. He made a couple of bad mistakes that day - one with TIMING that alone blew his chances. It happens.)

 

If your son got a really good ACT score, be sure to have him take the PSAT junior year to see if he can qualify for NMF... It's only offered once, in October, and must be taken junior year to qualify.

Edited March 6, 2011 by creekland

[creekland]

I hate putting the pressure on him. Would you mind telling me the name of the top potential school with the 17% acceptance rate? You can pm me if you like.

 

I just came from college confidential, so can offer some more specific thoughts now. Take or ditch them as you want. ;) It does help to know more of "where" someone stands when offering advice.

 

If your son were mine, I'd have him take the PSAT for practice next year as a sophomore to see how he does. I'd have him go in cold - maybe just looking over the practice test in the booklet they give you when you sign up. When you get that score, it comes with a breakdown of questions missed. If there's a trend, he can "fix" issues before junior year. If not, then he's more or less set and will feel quite confident going in junior year. Tell him to BEWARE of time (clock vs watch). That's what got my guy. He used his watch for timing and it was 5 minutes behind the school clock (that was behind him, so he couldn't turn around to look at it). He likes to check his math work as he's going along (I've warned him about that - now he knows why). He didn't get to 3 EASY questions on the first math section (sigh). It made the difference as it was an easy math year, so a tough curve.

 

Anyway, then, I'd have him take the real PSAT junior year for NMF possibilities and the ACT again in fall of junior year to see if he can up his score or even keep what he has. It will look good to colleges to see it being recent and perhaps higher than what he already has. Pending his score on each of these tests you can then go for the SAT to complete NMF application (well, it comes with an application too, but part of it is taking the SAT) or redoing the ACT in the spring of junior year (as we are) looking for that last point or two if necessary. If he does super well with the PSAT/SAT and ACT, you've got a super competitive applicant. Be certain to have extra curriculars to go with the academics. They are just as important.

 

This does kind of depend on which colleges and majors the two of you are looking at, but I'm assuming more competitive places...

 

Adcoms have told me they like knowing my guy has two scores that are solid, but showing slight improvement. It shows it wasn't just a "lucky" testing day, but more truly matches his ability. I don't know how much they are just saying that and how much they mean it, however, many places will also superscore for admittance (meaning they'll take your highest subscore for each test). They won't usually do that for merit aid consideration though.

[Hoggirl]

Very thorough and thoughtful answer. Thank you very much. I sent you a pm.