The ACT

[MRN]

How did you guys do, and how did it effect your college chances/where you ended up?

I am a pretty terrible student, I'm not stupid, just lazy. I'm a pretty smart kid, not to sound like a cocky ******, but I just don't do assignments. I'm the kid who turns in half the homework and slides by with A's and B's on tests.

So I have a C average, but got a 24 on the ACT, which is in the top 1/4th of the national average. Any ideas how this will effect me in my college search?

I'll most likely end up going to the local community college for the first two years, but I'd like to hear some stories from you guys.

 

[FirstTimer]

How did you guys do, and how did it effect your college chances/where you ended up?

26...forgot my calculator at home the day of the test..got an 18 on the math portion..............

No effect.

So I have a C average, but got a 24 on the ACT, which is in the top 1/4th of the national average. Any ideas how this will effect me in my college search?

What colleges are you looking at?

 

[Scoot26]

If I recall I got a 23 on the ACT. It didnt affect where I went to college at all (I went to DeVry, which was a stupid decision as I now realize).

I was pretty much like you and lazy, though in the later years I did most of my assignments, I just half assed them and relied on big group projects to bump my grade up.

 

[MRN]

26...forgot my calculator at home the day of the test..got an 18 on the math portion..............

No effect.



What colleges are you looking at?

Mostly schools like University of Illinois-Springfield. Nothing big, I'm just worried my grades will screw me over.

If I recall I got a 23 on the ACT. It didnt affect where I went to college at all (I went to DeVry, which was a stupid decision as I now realize).

I was pretty much like you and lazy, though in the later years I did most of my assignments, I just half assed them and relied on big group projects to bump my grade up.

You sound exactly like me. :beerbang:

 

[Scoot26]

You sound exactly like me. :beerbang:

Yeah, I hated high school and any class I didnt care about thats how I basically did my school work. I found some classes fun or acceptable and usually Ace'd those classes.

 

[HighJump31]

GO TO EIU AND WE CAN BE BUDDIES!

I got an 18 or something like that. Pretty sure I fell asleep reading one of those boring "read this story and answer these questions at the end" parts.

Had no effect on me, I was going Lake Land College regardless and they certainly don't care how you do on ACT's.

 

[Chicagolove]

I'm projected to get a composite score anywhere from 22-26. That's what the practice ACT results came back and said anyways; which is phenomenal, considering I eenie-meenie-minie-moe'd the last half of the Science and Math portion.

 

[Crystallas]

I got a 34 on mine. I forgot what the max was, but I wasn't far off. It did help.

If you are looking to get anything from the ACT back then, you had to score within the top 3% or so to get noticed. I was given a handful of partials, some of which were just buy your own books, to some decent universities. I was expelled for hacking, and I still had a few schools that took a blind eye to my past. So yes, the ACT/SAT can help, just be extremely competitive about it, be in it to "win it".

 

[EnjoyYourTiger]

I got a 29.

The ACT helps balance everything out. I had some fantastic letters of recommendation, which basically leveled out my above average GPA and ACT score. One thing won't keep you out of a school, but a lot of good things working together can get you into a really great one.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

I got a 34 on mine. I forgot what the max was, but I wasn't far off. It did help.

If you are looking to get anything from the ACT back then, you had to score within the top 3% or so to get noticed. I was given a handful of partials, some of which were just buy your own books, to some decent universities. I was expelled for hacking, and I still had a few schools that took a blind eye to my past. So yes, the ACT/SAT can help, just be extremely competitive about it, be in it to "win it".

holy crap...

the thing is...you can flop the SAT and ACT as many times as you want but if you get one great score...then the rest of the crappy scores dont matter as much as that one great score....colleges will usually judge you by your best score....

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

i'm more of a math person...so i think the ACT is easier...SAT is more for english people

SAT math is stupid easy....and the reading is not bad...the vocab kills me tho

ACT math is harder...and the reading is easier

 

[thedude33]

Start stripping.

 

[Crystallas]

holy crap...

the thing is...you can flop the SAT and ACT as many times as you want but if you get one great score...then the rest of the crappy scores dont matter as much as that one great score....colleges will usually judge you by your best score....

I didn't do too bad on the SAT either. The max was 1600, and I was in the mid 1400s. School is a joke compared to the real world. If you don't apply yourself in high school or college, wait until the real surprise comes. You are forced to make an extraordinary work ethic change, or you're stuck. Sometimes it works out for some people, because you have to forget everything you learned just to succeed, but that's life!

Now, the GED test that I took was much harder than the ACT and SAT. But that is an entirely different beast.

 

[Crystallas]

Start stripping.

Only after you learn how to give yourself a *******. Then :beerbang:

 

[Chicagolove]

I got a 34 on mine. I forgot what the max was, but I wasn't far off. It did help.

If you are looking to get anything from the ACT back then, you had to score within the top 3% or so to get noticed. I was given a handful of partials, some of which were just buy your own books, to some decent universities. I was expelled for hacking, and I still had a few schools that took a blind eye to my past. So yes, the ACT/SAT can help, just be extremely competitive about it, be in it to "win it".

Hacking? What'd you try hacking?

 

[EnjoyYourTiger]

I didn't do too bad on the SAT either. The max was 1600, and I was in the mid 1400s. School is a joke compared to the real world. If you don't apply yourself in high school or college, wait until the real surprise comes. You are forced to make an extraordinary work ethic change, or you're stuck. Sometimes it works out for some people, because you have to forget everything you learned just to succeed, but that's life!

Now, the GED test that I took was much harder than the ACT and SAT. But that is an entirely different beast.

I have to take the GED this fall. How hard is it? I haven't heard anything about it because until recently I've been preparing for the MCAT, but with a vocational paradigm shift, I have to take the GED now.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

I didn't do too bad on the SAT either. The max was 1600, and I was in the mid 1400s. School is a joke compared to the real world. If you don't apply yourself in high school or college, wait until the real surprise comes. You are forced to make an extraordinary work ethic change, or you're stuck. Sometimes it works out for some people, because you have to forget everything you learned just to succeed, but that's life!

Now, the GED test that I took was much harder than the ACT and SAT. But that is an entirely different beast.

ya i dont understand how people can slack off in school...and expect to have a good transition to work unless you have an abnormal job...like the NBA or something...even then you still have to be committed

of course our high school is very competitive..like top 500 nationally and i easily stay in the top 10%....so i agree even the hardest of most schools are pretty easy workload compared to the stuff you'll get as a working adult...

 

[BNB]

I gotta 21... and I was kinda drunk

 

[Crystallas]

I have to take the GED this fall. How hard is it? I haven't heard anything about it because until recently I've been preparing for the MCAT, but with a vocational paradigm shift, I have to take the GED now.

It depends. I heard that they have lowered the standards a bit on the GED to boost college and military admissions.

When I took it, the state structure had set it up to be a money pit. You had to pay to take the test, and they wanted people to fail it. There was quite a controversy over it's difficulty. But that might have been linked to some of the affirmative action activists who saw barely any minorities passing the test at the time. I don't know.

If you go in prepared, then you'll be fine. If you fail it, then retake it as soon as you can.

 

[Crystallas]

Hacking? What'd you try hacking?

It's complicated. My parents are divorced, by the existing laws of the time, my dad had to provide me with insurance coverage, and if my mom picked up coverage, she would forfeit benefits. I didn't agree with it, but that was the court ruling and the law at the time. I had no relationship with my dad, and therefore we had to jump through some serious hoops to get the insurance information for emergencies.

I had a pneumonia and bronchitis at the same time. I missed 12 consecutive days of school, and had no doctors note to clear me. That constitutes an automatic drop out, or you fail the semester.

Now I didn't know about free market solutions at the time. Because of being linked with my father's situation, I didn't qualify for any welfare type programs to go to a free clinic. Also, being just 16, I wasn't an expert at that time on my alternatives. I took the BS that people told me as genuine fact.

So after my high school put me into some kind of holding program before I was instantly failed out of all my classes, I hacked in and changed my dates.

I got back in, and finished my Junior year. They didn't find out until I opened my big mouth, and came clean out of my own guilt for doing so. I thought they would understand, but nope. They would have never known without my confession. So of course, I was immediately expelled. Non-negotiable, non-plea-able.