What does Veeky Forums think of the ACT? For those who have taken it, what score did you get?

What does Veeky Forums think of the ACT? For those who have taken it, what score did you get?

Can you take the ACT or SAT at any age? Say someone in the Military wants to go to a top 25 Uni and didn't do well in highschool. Could good scores on the tests allow you to be accepted into the schools?

Basically the same thing as the SAT, especially the new SAT. Although the difficulty is actually identical for all intents and purposes, compared to the old SAT at least it was easier to get a score "of note" because the scores fall into much more broad categories. There are basically 6 upper level scores you can get 36, 35, 34 etc. while with the old SAT and somewhat the new SAT its more continuous. In other words it can make you look better than you actually are when you get like a 34, and it could be a low 34 or a high 34 or whatever, and since theres only two scores above that it looks impressive relatively. This is all just meta shit but hopefully im making some sense here. my score was 35 btw.

Much prefer it to the SAT because of the 1/4 point penalty for wrong answers on the SAT, the way the ACT is organized (four sections then essay as opposed to like essay then 10 small sections or some shit), the ACT goes o higher math, and the fact the the college board administers it. Fucking hate CB

"college board administers it" refers to the SAT

I got a 33 like the brainlet I am

Ivy League schools and such look at your application holistically, while an outstanding test score would put your foot in the door, tons of other things weigh against all the other people you're competing with, better have done some pretty interesting shit in your life to make up for bad grades.
If you don't score a 30+ it's either because you didn't try or you're brain dead.

I got:
>English: 28 - 91st Percentile
>Mathematics: 24 - 76th Percentile
>Reading: 24 - 70th Percentile
>Science: 26 - 90th Percentile

>Composite: 26 - 86th Percentile

Chemistry Major btw, Sophomore with 3.46 GPA

Scored a 34 in high school. Had a 2.8 GPA and only one extra curricular. Had an entire year of straight f's. Ivy league doesn't matter, although that would be the best - but a top 25 in the nation would be preferable, considering the GI Bill will cover so much a year. Hopefully UCLA, Berkeley, Duke, U of Chicago, NYU, and hell, even Stanford and MIT are all the places I am hopeful for

I think I got a 26 on my ACT. It's been a while and since I went to a public university it hasn't effected my life at all, honestly.
Honestly don't fall for the "Ivy League" meme that Veeky Forums likes to push. Going to a high end school only matters if you're in business or economics or some other field where connections measure competence (don't get me wrong, who you know is important, but less so in science and engineering). I would suggest finding a university that your GI bill will fully cover, preferably with enough left over every month to treat like an extra paycheck. Also, as with any portion of the VA, expect things to get fucked up on a regular basis. I'm sure as a prior member of the military you understand that everything's fucked up, and nothing goes as planned.

both of you could have scored higher for sure, the test means nothing really, all that i mean is with some study anyone could get an "elite" score really

Another dude here, I usually don't have to study any more than reading the material and doing homework and I do well on tests. Yet, I've tried to "study" and never felt that I gained anything at all from it. While it does seem to be the case that SAT/ACT is all about preparation, I don't necessarily think "anyone" could do it, I think your learning style has an impact. I got 88-98th percentile in everything on SAT without any prep, and have significant doubts I'd have been able to accomplish near-perfect from studying, largely because I went 17 years prior to it without needing to learn how.

This is so true. The things that matter for engineering are:

1. # of labs/workshops. More labs means that the university puts more money into the engineering department. You never want to go to a school that doesn't prioritize the department you're in.
2. # of student design teams. Design teams are key to getting your foot in the door at top 5 engineering firms. Good schools will have >15 teams. If you have a chance, go to the national design competition.
3. Frequency of course offerings. How often does the school offer upper level courses? A good shit test for a school is to check how often they offer multivariable calculus. I've had friends go to smaller schools and get their entire graduation plan fucked up because the school decided to not run key 4th year technical electives.
4. # of international students. A large percentage of international students cheated their way through the admission process and will cheat their way through the degree. They'll apply to local companies through co-op and lower the reputation of your degree because of how illegible and shit their resumes are. Avoid schools like this like the plague.

33, currently a sophomore in an unimpressive Uni. Didn't do extracurricular much, generally kept to myself and didn't network for a good college application.

The ACT is okay. If you actually put in work, a 36 is very doable for pretty much anyone. You just need the initiative to seek that score.

I took it years ago and I think I got a 32. It's not that hard. The science actually surprised me and ended up being one of my lowest scores (28 or 29?). Trying to decipher and understand everything under a time limit made me panic a little. I think my math score was a 35 or 36. That was easy.

Took the SAT
800 on CR, 770 on Math
English is my third language. I still regret not blowing math TFO.

Standardized Testing is a huge waste of my time, I'd rather be doing actual studying. Got an 1840 (2400) on the SAT which is equivalent to a 27 on the ACT. I'm really edgy when it comes to just studying for a test alone.

I want to work in finance though. I know it sounds nuts, but engineering has always been an interest to me, but working around numbers and finance is what actually excites me

>Didn't do extracurricular much, generally kept to myself and didn't network for a good college application.

FYI if you don't do these things in college then next it will be your job application that suffers.

Got a 25 or 26 I don't remember, planned on going to local state school anyways, since it was only 5 minutes away.

Did pretty okay in undergrad, didn't study hard for first two years, wasn't sure what I wanted to do, didn't do well until I found my passion and research opportunities.

Buckled down, learned how to study, did very well, got into top 5 chemistry graduate school.

It's what you make of it. My state school sends tons of kids to MIT, Caltech, etc. Undergraduate doesn't really matter as long as you make it great.

36 when I was 16, fite me.

Really? The science part was easy as fuck

The science section requires basically 0 knowledge of actual scientific phenomenon and is almost completely based on your understanding of graphs and to some degree the scientific method. I've taken it 4 times now and I've seen exactly 3 questions testing specific knowledge.

I had a 27(35 in math though) when I took it 5 years ago. Currently working on my masters in applied math at a top 30 school. The ACT is a terrible indicator of how well you will do in school. There were so many assholes during orientation that thought they were hot shit because of their ACT and ended up being shitty.

34. I'm kind of bad at English testing, but on the SAT, I did better with the reading than math. With the ACT, reading was my lowest score as it should be. The SAT is (was?) such a ridiculous test.

>I've taken it 4 times

t. brainlet

I went to the wrong school when I went to take that test and ended up never taking it, lol.

I got a 28

But that's only because I scored a 22 in the grammar section.

Got into my uni no problem.
Spent a couple years working as an act/sat tutor. Had to retake it to prove I could teach the material, got a 34.

Act and sat are tests about ability to reason more than knowledge/memorization.

They're good tests to determine how well you can internalize and rationalize what you read. That's about it.

31, regret not studying but i was an idiot with a 3.5 anyways

somehow still made top 10% in my states graduating hs class, pretty sad

what is the brainlet cutoff ACT score?

36 master race here.

ACT saved my high school self's ass. Did shit comparably on my SAT. I recommend it to all prospective college students

lol the act is 99% a reading test with 1% being able to answer math up to an 8th grade level

if you can look at a graph and deduce information accurately, science shouldn't be a problem. Any fucktard can do that if they give a shit.

If you can read quick enough and know some basic vocab (as well as the fact that the ACT doesn't ask you to interpret anything) than reading shouldn't be a problem.

Math and English on a standardized test like the ACT have to follow some universal conventions, meaning that the material CANNOT be difficult, just the presentation.

If you train yourself to "read" and "understand" what the ACT is REALLY asking for, than both those sections should be logic if you've read more than a few books in your lifetime and have done math reasonably well up until sophomore year of high school.

If you don't get a 36 you should kill yourself.

ITT: American idiots doing multiple choice tests to get into Universities.

Try germany. You will not get your typical A+'s and 4.0 GPA here. Education is business in 'Murrica. Why would american Universities/College doing it more difficult for them to earn money when they just can give out A's like candies and earn their 5 digits out of you.

Also Chemistry major

English: 29
Mathematics: 24
Reading: 29
Science: 25
Composite: 27

> rising sophomore with a 2.67 GPA tho feels bad man

because standardized testing is done by a third party?

I actually like the German (and French) system better. Wish we could handle that here.

Who the fuck cares about hoop-jumping tests

Never took the ACT/SAT and don't give a fuck, never took an IQ test and don't give a fuck, this pointless dickwaving and pseudoscientific measuring against other people should be from a bygone era

Nothing matters but what you can actually contribute to a field of study

35 here. Got me into Uni but I regret not applying Ivy because I did all this state swimming and state math club BS and didn't realize my potential. Currently physics and math at Notre Dame which is pretty cool despite Catholics because 35 is pretty average.

I got a 29 or 30, cant remember. Just graduated with a Comp Sci degree

i think i got a 33 when i took it. it was good enough to get me some of the scholarships i have right now at uni. one year left boys!

>Implying any of us here are even employed
>Implying things we achieved in high school aren't the only motivating us to keep living
>Implying most of the people here have jobs in science and aren't NEETs trying to feel smart

>no writing
good luck getting into college

They changed it now, there's not a penalty and there are only 4 or 5 sections.

Long time ago but I got a 32 overall. basically the english section fucked me (29). That being said, it prevented me from going to top tier undergrad and consequently grad programs. Yet here I am building circuits to study cQED. So fuck that exam and you can still make your dream come true if you want it bad enough.

UChicago doesn't require it, desu.

literally who?

I go to Harvard