When I was in high school, I thought a perfect ACT score would open a lot of doors.

I got a 36 ACT and was nominated for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, one of if not the most prestigious general academic award a high school student can achieve. Perks of winning include an all-expense trip to D.C. that involves going to museums, hearing major policy addresses by senators, cabinet members, officials from the Departments of State and Defense, and other federal agencies, as well as participate in meetings with the president and a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. You also get personally awarded a medal by the President of the United States of America, even if it's Trump currently.

I did the full IB Diploma with HL Math AA, Chemistry, and Physics. I spent two summers doing computational biology research, tutored standardized tests, volunteered for years, and had strong extracurriculars.

My cumulative high school average at the time I applied an A.

I still got rejected or waitlisted from every T40 school I applied to.

The rejection that hit me the hardest was Texas A&M. As an in-state student, I genuinely thought I'd get in. When I didn't, I was devastated. For a while, I honestly thought that if I couldn't get into A&M, I wasn't going to get into college anywhere I wanted to go.

Now that I've had time to reflect, here's what I've learned.

1. A perfect ACT is no longer a golden ticket. Thousands of applicants have near-perfect scores. It's impressive, but it's just one piece of the application.
2. Grades over four years matter more than one test. Even though my cumulative average before applying was above a 90, admissions committees care about trends and consistency. My junior year wasn't as strong as I wanted it to be, and a 36 ACT couldn't completely make up for that.
3. Admissions are holistic, whether you like it or not. Essays, recommendations, course rigor, institutional priorities, geography, intended major, and plain randomness all play a role.
4. You can do almost everything right and still get rejected. That's probably the hardest lesson. A rejection doesn't necessarily mean you weren't qualified.
5. Prestige means something, but definitely not everything. I ended up committing to a top 70 university with a half-ride. It wasn't where I expected to go, but it's still a place where I can build relationships with professors, do research, prepare for medical school, and create opportunities for myself.

Looking back, I spent too much time believing that admissions results determined my worth. They don't.

If you're applying this year, don't make the same mistake I did. Aim high, but build a balanced college list. There are far more qualified applicants than there are seats at highly selective schools.

Your acceptance letters don't define your potential. What you do after you enroll matters much more.

I'm still ambitious. I still plan to work hard. My path just looks different than I imagined a year ago.

I'm putting together a list of free ACT resources for a few students and realized something.

Every tutor seems to have one resource they swear by, but it's usually buried somewhere in an old Reddit thread, has that one free resource they recommend over and over, but it's rarely the first thing that shows up in a Google search.

Sometimes it's a YouTube channel. Sometimes it's an old Reddit post. Sometimes it's a grammar guide or a calculator walkthrough that explains something better than anything else.

I'm hoping to turn this into a thread people can actually save and come back to.

What's one free ACT resource you've recommended so many times that you know it works?

As someone who has taken both SAT and ACT, I must say I think the ACT is much easier. I got a 1520 SAT and a 35 ACT, and the ACT is both a better score and took less practicing. I think as long as you can get around a 32-33 math on the ACT, a 34 is easily achievable, because the reading and English is so much easier on the ACT. I have friends with 34's who wouldn't break 1370 on the SAT. Does anyone here disagree? I think the only caveat is that there is far more free SAT practice then free ACT practice, but I used free one prep for all my ACT studying and got a 35.

It seems everyone posting here got 30+.
Anyone actually get less?!

My son got 24 (much worse than all his practice exams) and is devastated. He thinks he will not only never get into any college on his list, but into any college at all now!

do they still give out letters for getting a 36?

I scored a 35 on the June ACT. Here's my top tips!

1. Learn how the test works. The Black Book by Mike Barret is worth it, even though it's old.

2. Practice only with tests made by ACT.

3. Focus on learning from mistakes rather than taking more tests.

4. Read everything carefully. Every question counts.

5. English tests mostly grammar rules and is an easy section to improve on.

6. Most math questions are simple but presented in a complicated way.

7. Every reading answer should be found in the text.

8. Know your calculator and use it to your advantage.

9. Bring an analog watch and set it backwards so it counts down time remaining. For example, English has 35 minutes, so you would set the watch to 11:25 and start it at the beginning of the test. Your time will be up when the watch says noon.

Good luck!

How do I fix reading? I mainly screwed up for time as I literally didnt have time for one passage, I though passage 2 was field and did passage 3 first. Do yall think it is fixable to get a 34-36 overall?

I took the July 11th act and got a 25/27 on the reading. I've seen posts from other people who had that same score but ended up with a 35. For context I had the passage with albert and the music lessons, the dude comparing translation and making crossword puzzles, a lady watching as a new couple moves in and paints the house white, and the duel ab one about cells and memory.

I am a rising senior who spent the last year trying to improve her own math score. I got it up from a 17 to a 31. Im still stuck at a 21 on the English and I can't get out. First time I took it I got a 23. The past two have been a 21. How can I increase my score on the english? Also, feel free to give me tips on the reading because I want to at least get a 33+ on the reasing.

Tips? Advice? Pep talk?

On my ACT I got a 31, with good english and reading scores but a 24 on my math. I want to do something STEM in college, so should i retake the test one more time?

1. English 30. Reading

Still haven’t gotten my June scores back where I feel I did significantly better on. But how tf do I get my math up? My parents have been paying sm money on tutoring and I was scoring in the 30s then. I scored higher overall every-time during tutoring idk how my score is this bad

Hi guys I am curious about the ACT deletion process. For context, I have a 34 from July and it is my highest score for all sections, but my superscore still shows a very poor writing score from June as I only took writing then. If anyone has deleted a score, can you give advice? Thanks

Hello, I'm a rising senior, and I'm wondering If I should retake. I have a composite score of 30, and have taken the test 3 times. Each test I have taken my score has gone up; however, the issue I have is that my highest scores in all my subjects are scattered around all the tests I've taken. While my composite has risen my other subject areas have been decreasing. Will this super score negatively impact my college decisions? I feel as if each test I take I only do particularly well on one subject. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Hi i have done countless hours of prep for SAT, know the format and scoring in and out. I am wondering as someone who knows nothing about the ACT how much overlap there is. What tips would u give me? Should i even try to take the ACT?

Hi im a rising senior. My dream school is UIUC in Illinois and im in state. I have a 3.75 UW and a 4.95 W gpa and pretty mid extracurricular. Im in state and i REALLY want to go to urbana and i was wondering if i should spend the money to retake the ACT. I think i could probably improve my math section but is it worth it? I dont think i could score higher in the other sections as this is the best i have ever performed. Is a 33 good enough to help me get into UIUC? if not whats the score i need to get to improve my chances to get in if i want to apply as a biology major. Thanks!

One of the main places I was looking for had a minimum score needed of a 27, (and ap scores that I already have) but I’m feeling a bit defeated. I’m not good at standardized testing, but my gpa is a 4.0 unweighted and my extracurriculars are fine. As a raising senior should I try again or set my sights for college lower/ to test optional schools? Thank you ^_^

Bro I'm so scared, I got this long message just 2 hours after I got my actual score, and it said that my scores are delayed. Please tell me that the score I saw earlier is definitive, because I got a 32 and the score is still on my portal😭

guys am I cooked? I just took a math practice test on the official act website, got a 28/45 which I think is around a 19-20??

anyways I really need a 36 composite when I take the real act because it will get me a full ride to my top college choice, but I have only finished geometry so far (taking alg 2 this coming school year) so I’m behind in math.

Is this possible?? Btw I am a rising junior so I have like over a year to study

I am currently stuck at a 24 math score both times I have taken the ACT. Both raw total scores were 29 and my superscore is 30. I have to bring my math up to a 28 to have a 32 superscore by March to be eligible for a huge scholarship in my state. I have tried taking practice tests and got the same scores even though I felt I better understood the material. I have my answer key from the June 13 test as well. Are either of these a good way to study? Or what would be better? Thanks!

I'm so annoyed. I've studied like an hour minimum every day and have gotten 34/35's on all my practice tests. I would do 2 practice tests a week as well, so I don't know what to practice with now. If anybody has any tips, please let me know since I do want to get this over with as soon as possible.

I'm not gonna be doing the science section btw so you can just ignore that.

Finally got the score I wanted !!!!!!

I'm a rising sophomore and I really want to get a 36 and improve my score. Any tips would be greatly appreciated