While it is clear that “many” ACT score increases have been flagged, it is not obvious what percentage of score increases that constitutes. Maybe some other posters can provide their own experiences with significant increases that might not have garnered any negative attention at all from the ACT administrators. My gut reaction is that taking a proactive approach in retaking the test is not a wise or necessary course of action, but ultimately that decision would rest with the poster and her son.
Actually thinking about contacting ACT and confronting them with the issue. Explain circumstances and inquire about likelihood of score review. Point out admission deadlines, merit scholarship applications, monetary harm and immediate need for resolution. Hopefully they will respond with a recommendation. If they don’t, seems like it would help in an appeal situation. I hate to get reengage the tutor, sign up for the test without having acknowledgement.
@Lostcause How do you think he would do on the SATs?
@Lostcause I’m not sure I’d draw their attention to it. But to be safe, if I were in your son’s position, I think I would just schedule a retest.
@Lostcause - I would have your student take a practice SAT and then look at concordance table to see if it is about the same or close to ACT score. I think it’s risky to retake ACT (he had 34 right? duplicating that may be risky), because all that work and you do not make your point if he isn’t close to 34. Unless you think getting 33+ is a sure thing.
He has taken the SAT, but prefers the ACT. Also scored higher on the ACT, per the conversion charts. I think it will be difficult for him to replicate the 34, as it would be for most kids. I only see downside. That score is important given the schools he is looking at and in the process of applying to. By contacting ACT, my goal would be to get advice and assurance that they will treat a subsequent test as validation of the prior test and not wait 6 mos and drop the bomb. If they were to affirm, we would schedule another test immediately. Not sure they will though, per other posts in this forum. Sounds like they want the student to go to a specified test facility, take a non-standard test, etc…
My goal is obviously to take care of the issue now. In a worst case scenario, he could be notified in 6 mos, not score sufficiently, lose an appeal, and get his score tossed. Assuming delayed testing without advance tutoring, I am not sure he could score sufficiently to retain the 34. He needs the 34 to gain acceptance to his top school choices and to maximize his merit opportunities. Application deadlines will have come and gone he could be without a college for the Fall.
For fear of drawing attention to the matter is my hesitation, however, the potential consequences of waiting are huge. On the ACT website, it doesn’t list score variation as a cause to review a score, however, it is obvious they are utilizing an algorithm to flag results. They will come up with an excuse. Cite testing inconsistencies, cheating, advance knowledge… something.
I just feel sick about the whole thing. Wishing to avoid the whole situation. Retaking now makes the most sense, just trying to prevent a situation 6 months down the road.
Again, @Lostcause , pretend you are ACT. A parent calls to say “I suspect you might flag my son’s test and make him retake it.” Pretending I’m an ACT employee, my first thought would be, “hmmm, she is worried we are going to find out he cheated. Now we will definitely invalidate his scores.” Let sleeping dogs lie. Have him retake, and if he gets a similar score, there’s your proof. Most schools will consider the highest score. Most schools don’t ask for all tests, and the ones that do are extremely selective and very difficult to get into anyway. So if you are worried about a school like HYPS, don’t create a problem where none yet exists, because the odds of acceptance are against him anyway.
@lostcause I think you are wise to be proactive in anticipating that 6 months down the road, after college acceptances have rolled in, that the ACT will invalidate the 34 score your son received, despite proof of having intensive tutoring between the two test dates. While it seems reasonable that your son should retake the ACT in order to validate the 34 he received, after following this thread, I don’t think that the ACT folks are reasonable at all and another high score will not solve the issue.
If I were in your shoes, I would forget about the ACT. Instead, I would hire the tutor to work with your son on the SAT and sign up to take the SAT in November.
Good luck with whichever decision you make. What the ACT is doing to these kids is a crime.
@Lostcause Are you thinking of contacting ACT before the score is even questioned? I am not sure that’s a great idea. It makes it sound like you think your son cheated.
Does anyone have a sense of how ACT determines whether a score should be “flagged” for possible cheating? Is it just a significant increase or do other factors need to exist (such as a very similar pattern of answers from the person next to you)? Anyone out there with a notable score increase who hasn’t been flagged through senior year?
If they are just flagging everyone with a significant increase you’d think there would be thousands of kids and their families complaining.
As to re-taking, not sure if it’s prudent; however, someone with a 34 is NOT going to score in the low 20’s again. He’ll likely be 30+ which should be indication enough. Whether ACT agrees with that might be another matter.
@lostcause - I think I remember reading somewhere that if a student retakes the ACT to validate a challenged score , a subsequent score within 3 points of the contested score serves as validation.
I think that proactively having your child retake sounds like good strategy as well as potentially alleviating stress. Should the score be flagged, you will have extra evidence that the 34 was legit.
So I recall on this thread a case where someone had one low score and then two higher scores, and both higher scores were invalidated.
@JBStillFlying I think I read that one reason for flagging a test, in addition to big gaps in scores, is when two students appear to have many of the same wrong answers.
As a test prep tutor, I have an idea about what might cause ACT to flag tests, if indeed they do it based on same wrong answers. Most students are able to easily eliminate two answer choices. The two answers remaining (one of which is correct, of course,) tend to be the two most likely answers. It should be no surprise to anyone when a students have many of the same wrong answers. Unless, of course, two students (one the presumed cheater) have all the same “obviously” wrong answers. My thought is that ACT knows which wrong answers are far off the mark, and which wrong answers are more “plausible.” Perhaps they flag tests when two students have many similar really wrong answers. But then, how do they choose which test gets flagged?
^Thanks for the explanation @Lindagaf. It’s a good question! Wondering if they have some additional metrics (test history, seating chart, eraser marks, etc.) to assist them in determining that. One student might be an innocent victim or might be complicit so they’ll have to figure that out in the process (do they flag both and then determine from the follow-up or can they figure it out beforehand?).
I know someone who is a college professor at a large state uni. His TA flagged two multiple-choice final exams that were eerily similar. Both students were brought in for (separate) questioning. One was visibly astounded, the other immediately offered to re-take the exam. It was easy to figure out who was guilty/innocent there. However, this was more than 25 years ago, was a locally-administred test, and cheaters have only gotten more clever over time. Still, you can tell a lot from an interview, especially with the right set of questions 
I’d think “ ** many ** of the same wrong answers” should not apply to a 34.
The offer to validate a questioned score if the student scores within 3 points is only when the student takes a specially protered individual exam offered by the ACT. Simply taking another test at a regular session will not do it. Also, as has been said before, there are cases where a student has multiple high scores and still been flagged. I don’t think proactiviely retaking the exam will do much good and it could harm you if the student does significantly worse.
^ This is my thinking based on earlier comments in the thread. It seems that once flagged, your only remedy is to appeal or retake the test under specially-proctored circumstances - both pretty awful choices, given the low rate of success for appeals and the ridiculous length of time passed before they notify you of the “flag”.
The poster who reported how they worked directly with the college of admission offered a decent alternative for these situations. Once they were notified of the flagging, they immediately notified the college of admission and laid it out for them. The college did its own investigation into the matter, and concluded ultimately that the score would be honored even if cancelled by ACT. Haven’t looked back at that post but it wasn’t too long ago. Wasn’t there scholarship money also involved?
Re: the seating chart comment. Many of the posters here accused of cheating asked for the seating chart and the student says it was blatantly incorrect. Like the chart says they were in back corner of room, when they were front center.
@JBStillFlying It was post #346. I don’t think I would say that the school launched their own investigation, nor did they decide to honor the ACT score. Instead, they reviewed evidence provided by the student and agreed to honor their original scholarship offer. In fact, the school advised the student to let the ACT cancel the flagged score, as they had obviously decided to side with student and wanted to put the issue behind everyone involved.
^ Thanks for clarifying. They actually DID honor the score since the score was needed in order to obtain the scholarship, unless I’m not remembering correctly. By own investigation I meant they didn’t discuss with ACT - should have been more clear about that. In reviewing the student’s materials, the school actually did a lot more than ACT seems to have done for those who have posted about the arbitration path. It just seemed like a more reasonable course of action. Of course, not all schools are the same.
If our kids found themselves in a similar predicament, we’d probably do exactly what the poster in #346 did.