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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There is no advantage for a one sitting 35 vs a 3 test 35.  Just none.  Once you are in the right range for that school they no longer look at test results.  No school goes back and says well this person had a 36 and the other had a 35 so we will take the kid with the 36.  The 35 and the 36  qualified them and the decision is on other things.  No one looks at that 36 again.[/quote]

That is straight-up bullshit. Continue to live in your fantasyland where nobody cares how much test scores are frankensteined to get to the finish line, but no self-respecting AO from a Top 50 school is indifferent to the 36 vs. 35 comparison. They’re just not.

It matters. One-and-done 36 is better than one-and-done 35, and both are better than a super scored 36.[/quote]

You are wrong.

Admissions officers don't care how an applicant gets to 34 or 1500. Get there, and then they can consider the rest of the app. They really don't give a damn if you get a 33 or 1450 on the first pass. Hit 34 or 1500 ultimately. It doesn't matter if it takes a couple of attempts.[/quote]

- said nobody, ever, whose own score or whose kid’s score was a 1600 or 36 in one attempt[/quote]

DP. My kid got a 36 in one attempt, and PP is right. The score is just a threshold the kid has to cross for further consideration. [/quote]

Untrue, and the evidence of that is right there in the CDS. Schools want the reported 25th to 75th percentile range to be as high as possible, and the pathway to achieving that goal is to accumulate the highest scores possible. Suggesting they are indifferent when choosing between two applicants who are identical but for the fact that one has a 36 and the other has a 34 or 35 is obviously incompatible with what we know of their agenda to boost their 75th percentile.

If all of you[b] “34 is just as good as 36, the schools don’t even check once you meet the 34 standard”[/b] experts were right, why would the standardized testing portion of the CDS simply state that the  “minimum threshold” is X?

As far as one-and-done, the poise to nail a 36 in one setting, given the pace of the ACT, absolutely has significant meaning over another a student taking four or five administrations to cobble together a 34 or 35. Cannot even believe this needs to be re-stated …[/quote]

Any score 34 and above is [b]99th percentile [/b]

Good enough for serious consideration, don't you think?[/quote]

In 2023, 1.39 million students took the ACT. The breakdown of top scorers is as follows:

ACT 36: 2,542 students (0.18%)
ACT 35: 8,694 students (0.62%)
ACT 34: 11,630 students (0.84%)
ACT 33: 14,612 students (1.0%)

For the SAT, approximately 2 million students took the exam, with the top 1% representing about 20,000 students. Combined, this gives us roughly 43,000 students in the top 1% of standardized test-takers each year (ignoring any overlap between ACT and SAT).

Now, consider the number of available freshman spots at elite institutions (One can sub schools in from the below list, but know that most elite schools are around this class size.)

Princeton University: ~1,300 spots
MIT: ~1,100 spots
Harvard University: ~1,650 spots
Stanford University: ~1,700 spots
Yale University: ~1,550 spots
University of Chicago: ~1,700 spots
Johns Hopkins University: ~1,400 spots
University of Pennsylvania: ~2,400 spots
Caltech: ~235 spots
Duke University: ~1,700 spots

The total estimated freshman spots at these top 10 schools amounts to approximately 15,000–16,000 each year. When you compare this with the 43,000 students in the top 1% of test-takers, it's clear that many highly qualified students are competing for a limited number of spots.

Even if a student is among the top 1% of scorers, they are still facing incredibly stiff competition. The reality is that these schools are not just selecting from top test scorers—they're also considering extracurricular activities, personal essays, recommendations, and other factors. The limited number of available spots at elite colleges means that even those with stellar academic credentials may not secure admission, further highlighting how difficult it is to stand out in such a competitive landscape.

In short, while scoring in the top 1% is an impressive accomplishment, the number of available spots at elite schools is far smaller, underscoring just how competitive the admissions process has become. With so few spots available at top schools and many applicants vying for the same places, a student with a 34 or a superscore must bring something truly great to the table—something that student with a perfect 36 in one sitting may not need to have to be admitted.

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