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I posted this on the test site but wanted to get more input. How do most colleges calculate the ACT scores. My D recieved a 27 composite score which is not better then her other test but she brought her English up from a 25 subscore to a 30. On her summer ACT test she recieved a 31 in math but on this test it went down to a 27. If you take the best subtest from each of the two tests she would have a 29 score. I know that Brown takes the best of each subtest as does Redlands and Trinity University. My D is also especially interested in Claremont-McKenna (reach) and Puget Sound. Does anyone know how they figure the tests. I could not find it on their websites. I have heard that some colleges only look at math, english as well to better compare with the SAT. Any insight would be appreciated. She still has a 2nd sitting for the SAT to go so hopefully will fare better.

By Arizonamom (Arizonamom) on Tuesday, October 05, 2004 - 07:33 pm: Edit

bump

By Destinypath (Destinypath) on Wednesday, October 06, 2004 - 12:38 am: Edit

Here, this is from the College Board's website: http://www.collegeboard.com/sat/cbsenior/html/stat00f.html. In the left column, it gives the ACT score, and in the right, the corresponding SAT score. Hope that helps you! :-)

36 1600
35 1580
34 1520
33 1470
32 1420
31 1380

30 1340
29 1300
28 1260
27 1220
26 1180

25 1140
24 1110
23 1070
22 1030
21 990

20 950
19 910
18 870
17 830
16 780

15 740
14 680
13 620
12 560
11 500

By Arizonamom (Arizonamom) on Wednesday, October 06, 2004 - 12:51 am: Edit

I was actually wondering if colleges would use the 29 score or the 27 composite. Thanks

By Wjb (Wjb) on Wednesday, October 06, 2004 - 05:12 am: Edit

The good news with the ACT is that you can choose the scores you send to colleges. So you can take the test as many times as you like, then send only the scores from the sitting(s) you choose. (For SATs, every score is sent, unless you cancel immediately after taking a test, i.e., even before the exam is scored.) The bad news with the ACT is that generally, colleges will not cherrypick the best subtest scores from several tests. They look at the four scores from a single sitting. I know there are a few exceptions (add to the list Wash U.). I would suggest that your daughter e-mail the colleges she is interested in to see if they will combine subtest scores. And that some schools look only at specific subtests of the ACT and ignores others is news to me, and especially because a number of schools accept the ACT in place of both the SAT and SATII.

By Anonymom7 (Anonymom7) on Wednesday, October 06, 2004 - 11:06 am: Edit

I know most schools will not take the best of the sub scores, just the composite. However I found it interesting that last year when my son was filling out applications several schools asked the applicant self report the sub categories. So who really knows what goes on in admissions... Good Luck

By Arizonamom (Arizonamom) on Wednesday, October 06, 2004 - 12:28 pm: Edit

Thanks Anonymom, she is not a good stand. test taker but has a good GPA and the rest of the package. At the very least is shows that she has the knowlege base to score better by sending both tests.