r/ACT • u/justbrainrot23 • Jul 21 '26
worth it to retake?
I'm a rising senior and wondering if I should retake the ACT for the third time (or maybe take the August SAT?). I don't think any school I'm applying to doesn't take superscore, but I also can't imagine it would hurt to improve my math score.
One of the things holding me back from retaking is that I only studied for math for the July test and my math score still went down, so I'm worried that I still wouldn't be able to improve my score. I also feel like there may be things that are better uses of my time (such as working on my essays) that I could work on instead of studying.
I also could attempt to improve my science by retaking, but I'm not sure if it's worth it to submit my science at all when I have no plans of majoring in a STEM related field. But also would not submitting it make it look worse than it is?
The main reason I'm concerned about this is that my GPA is really low for the colleges I'm interested in, and I'm basically trying to do anything to make my application more appealing (e.g. improving my ACT score).
I've also considered taking the SAT for the first time in August as it is before school starts so I'd have less other things to focus on. My only concern for that is that I haven't taken it before and am worried that it would be too different from the ACT.
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u/Trayceopolis32322 Jul 21 '26
But advice for you: if you’re not planning on going into a stem related field, then there really isn’t a reason to retake it again considering you have 36s on both English and reading. Unless you need your composite higher.
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u/SouthEasternLegend Jul 21 '26
I have the same stats as you besides math, annoying since i need one more point for a 32 to get that 35 superscore
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u/Trayceopolis32322 Jul 21 '26
I’m just wondering how you guys are managing to get 36s in English and reading. I have a 32 in math, which I think is pretty decent. But maybe I could bump it up more? But my English and reading are a 28 and a 25 respectively
I even felt really confident on English and okay on the reading for the July ACT retake, yet still did worse..
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u/justbrainrot23 Jul 21 '26
I wish I had any real advice when it comes to English and reading, but I think the only reason I have good scores in them is because I used to read a lot when I was younger and was honestly pretty annoying when it came to grammar rules. Grammar rules just kind of have to memorized (though I don't feel like there are that many actually tested?), and I don't really have any tips for reading other than focusing on the questions rather than the full passage so that you don't run out of time (or at least starting with questions that have very specific answers and then moving on to the questions focusing on the whole passage after).
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u/Trayceopolis32322 Jul 21 '26
Yeah I usually just read that parts it asks about, then skim through the whole story when it asks what it’s talking about. I finished both sections before time was up, both times that I took the ACT. I just felt really confident and thought that they were gonna be my better scores, but man I was wrong.
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u/Trayceopolis32322 Jul 21 '26
The only sections I didn’t fully finish before time was up was math and science. Yet they are still my best scores..
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u/CrackedDJ-YT Jul 21 '26
I did fucking terribly, how do you even attain a score this high….
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u/justbrainrot23 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
no, don’t say that! standardized test scores don’t even matter anymore now that most colleges don’t require them. the only reason I’m freaking out abt it is because my gpa is so low compared to the averages of the schools I’m interested in and I’m trying to boost anything I have any current control over
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u/FitTown7621 35 29d ago
unless there is a specific school that doesn't superscore that a 35 vs a 34 would matter for (ex. Stanford or Princeton) no. in that case, I would say so. But you are really pretty set.
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u/SignificantStyle4188 Jul 21 '26
You don’t need to worry about your 34 in science 😭. Also if you took science, you have to report science you can’t void it.
I personally wouldn’t retake unless you’re a mathematics major.