8
2 years ago
Admissions Advice

Should ACT subject distributions match major?
Answered

I'm applying to be a biology major, but my ACT scores were better for the humanities sections.

For reference, my ACT distribution was 33 math, 33 science, 35 english, 35 reading

I'm just a little worried because although I have STEM extracurriculars, my letters or rec are from my psychology and history teachers.

Will this affect my application?

stem
ACT
8
6
🎉 First post
Let’s welcome @fawnf to the community! Remember to be kind, helpful, and supportive in your responses.

Earn karma by helping others:

1 karma for each ⬆️ upvote on your answer, and 20 karma if your answer is marked accepted.

3 answers

-1
Accepted Answer
2 years ago

It shouldn't as long as you have a lot of outstanding extracurriculars, classes and shown interest in what major you are taking. If possible I would recommend trying to get letters of rec from teachers in the STEM field, but even if you can't as long as your grades in the classes related to STEM are good, you should be fine. I also don't think that an imbalance in your ACT scores should matter since it is only 2 points and all of them are amazing scores. Hope this helps!

-1
2
2 years ago[edited]

A 34 composite is an excellent 99% percentile ACT score so I wouldn't worry about it wherever you apply to (unless it's MIT/Caltech) The Reading / English are always curved higher so your 35, 35 are 99%, 98% scores while your 33 math, 33 science are still 98%, 97% percentile scores. If you had a 31 or 32 in your STEM subjects, I'd recommend re-taking them.

I think its entirely up to you if you want to retake the ACT exam and aim for a 35 superscore. I don't think it matters much.

Have a great summer.

2
0
2 years ago

Your scores are already very strong (honestly a 2 pt difference equals one or two questions less) so I wouldn’t worry about it.

0
What are your chances of acceptance?
Your chance of acceptance
Duke University
Loading…
UCLA
Loading…
+ add school
Your chancing factors
Unweighted GPA: 3.7
1.0
4.0
SAT: 720 math
200
800
| 800 verbal
200
800

Extracurriculars

Low accuracy (4 of 18 factors)

Community Guidelines

To keep this community safe and supportive:

  1. Be kind and respectful!
  2. Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
  3. Don’t ask “chance-me” questions. Use CollegeVine’s chancing instead!

How karma works