Can up ACT composite by 1 with 2nd set of scores , but risk with a significant drop in reading

My son scored a 27 composite his junior year including getting a 35 in reading. This year as a senior he was lucky enough to get one more chance to take the ACT as he wanted to improve Math. He did go from a 22 to a 27 in Math but his other sections were same or lower for a composite of 25 and a Reading score of 21. He said he relaxed during this section knowing he had a 35 and thought the ACT would only send the best scores - looks like he relaxed too much or maybe even got off by a test question when filling in his answers. It was ACT’s goal to offer a “send superscore only” option this year but with Covid, they never implemented the choice so he would need to send both full sets of scores.

So bottom line question - he can increase his superscore from a 27 to a 28 but will the Reading drop from a 35 to a 21 be a red flag? Should he just send one date of scores that had the 27 composite and 35 in Reading? Wasn’t sure if a one point composite difference helps enough with Admissions or Scholarship to be worth the risk of someone noticing the reading drop.

My son is thinking he should just send the 27. He is applying to Parsons, Pratt and SCAD. I know for SCAD they will want to see above a 22 in Math to allow him to skip a math section freshman year but I figure that 2nd score can be sent later after admissions and scholarship decisions.

Oh, no! That poor kid. I can totally understand what he did - he counted on them implementing the promised superscoring, and so he took it easy during the reading section the second time around, to save his energy and focus for the other sections. And it’s no surprise that the problem-ridden ACT corporation then reneged on their promise about superscoring!

Honestly, if I were him, I’d send it all, along with some explanation that he didn’t push himself during reading during the second administration, due to the promised superscoring that didn’t get implemented. That 35 in reading is great. And the improvement on the math is significant. I would want a college to see both the 35 in reading and the 27 in math, as opposed to just the 35 in reading and the 22 math.

The fact is, at art schools, the most important thing would be his portfolio, I imagine. The 35 in reading shows that he is very bright, has a high verbal IQ, and the 27 on math is 88th percentile, so it shows that he certainly did learn his math in high school. I would think that any admissions committee at an art school would do their own superscoring, assuming that his portfolio is good. They just might wonder why the reading score dropped so precipitously, so if he can put in a brief note about the fact that he just rested or took it easy or maybe got off by one line on the answer sheet in that section, they’ll understand.

Thank you!

FWIW, I don’t believe there was ever a plan for a “send superscore only” option.

ACT’s big “feature” is that they would calculate a superscore and put it on the score report. But all individual test scores that go into that superscore will still be reported - all four section scores for all dates that have at least one component in the superscore.

So even if you choose to only send one test date, if you also send the superscore, schools will get the full scores from other dates that contribute to the superscore.

"Colleges establish their own policies for admissions and scholarship decisions. ACT will supply them at least one full composite score with each superscore, plus all of the scores from the test events that are part of the superscore composite. "

https://global.act.org/content/global/en/products-and-services/faqs.html

Many schools superstore ACT’s and don’t ask for official ACT scores to be sent until you are admitted. My D only had 3 schools out of 13 that she had to send official scores at the time of the application. If that is the case, you can just fill in the best scores now on the common app and then send all the scores once he is admitted. If a school wants the official scores now and says that they superscore, they supposedly only look at the highest scores in each section so I wouldn’t overthink it.

If school is test optional only apply with tests if his scores are at or above the median of last year’s admitted students.

If applying with tests, check to see if the school allows self-reporting of test scores. If so, they school will see the highest composite score, and highest score of each section on the common app, (so they would never see the 21 in reading)

If official scores are required to be sent from the testing agency, only send if they superscore. If they don’t superscore, don’t send the second test (with the 21). Just send the second test if accepted, as you mentioned above.

If you do send the second test, I advise your S to not offer an explanation that he didn’t try hard on the second test. Just don’t do that, it will not help the application at all, and could hurt it.

Good luck.

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