Have a close relative who has worked in admissions at two select schools - nearly verbatim: "35/36 goes in one pile and 34 goes in another." It's a great score, but it doesn't get in that pile. |
Well, duh. But 33 goes into another pile, and 32 and below in another…. See how that works? |
And test optional is yet another pile. My point is — going test optional when you have a 34 isn’t going to get you into the 35/36 pile. You’re still better off in the 34 pile. |
My three kids (2 w/ 36, 1 w/35) had miserable results with reach schools. The most important lesson for OP's kid is make sure you have good target/safety schools you can afford. |
| Alternatively, they could move down a rung and end up with full rides at some great colleges. At a 34, I think you do a ton of work on sending out lots of apps - the Ivy reaches + places where you could get fully-paid four years. |
DD just told me her 34 is the equivalent of a 1525+ on the SAT. Dunno where she got that number, but a 34 is good enough for any T20 college. |
It’a equivalent to around 1490-1510 which is 99th percentile for the SAT, but otherwise agree. |
I'm sorry, but what??? Do you realize that there are other parts of a college application aside from the test score(s)? At my kids' high school, the kids with the perfect grades and SATs did not get into the top schools. Why? I suspect that they are not all that well rounded or interesting kids. I can think of one girl in particular who is an unbearable child. (She was on my child's sports team.) I can't imagine any teacher writing a nice recommendation for her! But she had a 4.0, and did well on the SAT. The kids I know in the 1500+ 3.6+ range got into some of their reaches and got rejected from others. They're nice, smart, interesting kids who don't focus 100% on test scores and grades. |
Princeton Review says a 34 is equivalent to a 1520-1550. Yes, 99th percentile. No need to retake, and fine for any college in the USA. But of course you need more than a test score to get into a highly selective college, OP. You need luck. |
Here’s the ACt’s own data, which says equivalent of a 1490 to 1520. https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/ACT-SAT-Concordance-Information.pdf I would trust that over Princeton Review. |
Does it matter? The chart you linked is 3 years old. Does that make a difference? 99th percentile is fine for any T20 college. It's not going to cut your kid off as long as he has good grades, recommendations, etc. After that, it's a crap shoot at the top colleges. |
Sounds like you're good at sorting. Relative said it because 34 is great score...but it is not a 35/36, so no need to get out over your skis. I really have no idea why OP would think DC might consider test optional with that score. If the kid is coming from an aflluent school district/family, admissions will probably assume the ACT is 24 not 34 if the applicant goes test optional. |
| A 34 ACT will get you in any Top 10-30 liberal arts college IF you go ED. |
And you are full pay. Strike that. A 34 ACT will get you in any top liberal arts college if you are full pay and go ED...and you are a male. |
| Did he do noticeably worse on any one specific section of the test? If all of his subscores are >30 (except writing) he should be ok. |