Question re: ACT reporting

[Anonymous]

I've been looking through the CDS submissions for various schools that we're considering and noticed re: ACT scores that some report every section relative to enrolled percentages, yet a decent number only report composite, math, and English, and show nothing for reading, science, and STEM.

Asking a potentially obvious question given the above, but do schools value C/M/E above R/S/STEM, and even ignore the latter altogether in some cases?

[Anonymous]

I’ve always assumed those schools started with the SAT and this is the way they hack the ACT to fit into the way they use the SAT.

[Anonymous]

No. They are just aligning composite reporting with the SAT. They look at all of the scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. They are just aligning composite reporting with the SAT. They look at all of the scores.

That might be the case somewhere, but not everywhere. For example Georgia Tech flat out says “We do not use the Science or Writing section.”
https://admission.gatech.edu/first-year/standardized-tests

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. They are just aligning composite reporting with the SAT. They look at all of the scores.

That might be the case somewhere, but not everywhere. For example Georgia Tech flat out says “We do not use the Science or Writing section.”
https://admission.gatech.edu/first-year/standardized-tests

Fair enough. This is not the case at most schools, although presumably science will go away soon given that it’s now optional.

[Anonymous]

I would recommend taking all sections with the exception of writing. Certain schools (and scholarships) still require the science score, even though it’s no longer part of the composite calculation. Many students this application cycle really regretted not taking science. Lastly, be sure to distinguish between composite and the superscore. Most CDS reports reflect the composite, which seems to confuse a lot of students..

[Anonymous]

I agree. Most schools (from our experience - for a non-stem applicant) do not consider writing. For science, they tend to include it if it benefits the composite, but not if it doesn't. Don't forget that the schools want to report the highest defendable scores possible in their CDS for ranking purposes.