Dear All,
Which score(s) is/are sent with the ACT free report? Is it just the date of the test that you are taking that day or your superscore? Please let me know!! Also, do the October ACT scores ever come out in the regular 10 days or does it always come out in 17 days due to “equating?”
No one here knows?
I always told my kids not to sign up to have scores sent free, but to pay after they see their score.
We only used the free ones because we assumed it was superscore that would be sent, not just that particular date - I am asking if anyone knows what is sent to colleges with the free report.
I believe it’s all scores to date.
ACT will not superscore because not all colleges accept that. I think the free report will just send the score from that test.
I really really hope it is all scores to date.
I just poked around on their website and realized that my information may be dated but I see the reason for the question. It’s not clear what gets sent for free.
Hello all - just incase anyone is wondering how this concluded - I called the universities of his previous free score reports and found out that they got his superscore with the free report (or it could have been every single test he took and they simply superscored it). I also called ACT directly and got conflicting answers from initial operators but then when transferred to a supervisor confirmed it was the superscore that would be sent. Hope this helps someone else who has been wondering!
Log in to the ‘myact’ account, in the upper left click on ‘scores’ and then on the middle right there is a box that says “what did colleges receive” and at the bottom of that box it says “my reports.” Click on that and it brings up exactly what was sent to exactly which schools. The superscore report is always the first one listed.
Thanks hokiemama24 - I did this for the previous test - but heard from someone here that the free report is ONLY that test date. I had spoken to someone at ACT who confirmed what that person here said! I was going crazy because I thought they got superscore. In the end, I called the colleges and spoke to an ACT supervisor and it seems they either get ALL scores or superscore. October should be released anywhere from today through next week, hoping for the best!
I’m happy it all worked as you’d hoped. I am somewhat confused by what you are saying though. If the student pays to send the superscore, ACT will send all of the reports that make up the super score, yes. But if the student tested 4 times and the super score is made up of only 2 of those tests, the college is not getting all 4 reports.
I too would assume that the four free score sends selected on test day only applies to that day’s test. I have never used that though as I prefer to know the score first before sending.
So, what I am saying is that the four free score reports I assumed they were the superscore being sent - not sure why, but I just made that assumption and took advantage of them for our safety school applications for his last ACT and did not think about it - they were sent to those safety schools with their apps about a month ago - he was admitted to two of the schools just did not think about it at all.
DS then just took the October ACT since he wanted to improve his score just a tad and listed his very selective ED school for one of his free score reports (after about a week after taking the test you can no longer edit or cancel who those free four you selected are, and he had passed that week’s mark) - again, we assumed it was the superscore so we thought who cares?
But then, I heard elsewhere that it is NOT the superscore, and it is that test date only. Obviously, that would matter for this selective school since it is not the super score, and his score may be lower from that single test date.
Turns out, though, after checking with the safety schools that we sent the previous four reports to and calling an ACT supervisor that it is in fact the superscore or possibly ALL scores - but not that date alone. I was having trouble finding ANY information about this online, including on the ACT website- there is no clear answer anywhere, and the lower-ranked reps at the ACT hotline do not know and gave conflicting answers.
Four free score reports over 2 tests is 144 dollars saved, and that is important to me even though we are well off.
I would be interested for you to come back after the October test score is released and update with where his “myact” score reports indicate they went. I am sure that there is a release by the student when they are gridding that allows the superscore to be sent with the free score send of that test date score and that is why it wasn’t easily found. The superscore is still fairly “new” so it feels like this hasn’t had all of its i’s dotted and t’s crossed just yet on that and perhaps why you had a hard time narrowing in on that.
However, I have to believe in no case would just the superscore be sent without the test date score even if none of the four sub scores from that test end up factoring into the superscore because that is in fact the reason for the free score send afterall. And perhaps its not a worry for everyone, but in general some may not find that prudent because that doesn’t mean those schools aren’t seeing the other scores that are sent to them, and despite what they say about only using the highest sub score, most people tend to not want to even give a super selective school anything that they can’t ‘unsee’ regardless. So there is still a risk involved…
But I agree of course, money saved is always a good thing.
Most schools will allow you to self-report your scores, and then you only have to pay to send scores to the school your student decides to attend. Of all the schools my D23 applied to, I believe only one required an official score report.
I know this now! I did not know this before 
You said you spoke to ACT, is that right? Did they tell you scores should be released anywhere from yesterday through next week? Asking because they have said it’s a week longer due to equating which would be 11/14.
I did speak to them, but I did not ask about score release since that is written on their website as 11/14 earliest - 17 days, and I am pretty sure this is accurate. I have had three of my kids take October ACTs for three years in a row (2021, 2022, 2023) and 2021 and 2022 were true to ACT’s word of 17 days minimum due to “equating.” Normally we receive them in 10-12 days, but October has always been a minimum of 17 days - at least that has been the case with us.
That was my impression too but your post from yesterday said “October should be released anywhere from today through next week” so it made me wonder if you’d heard something different when you spoke with them. Thanks!
No, there is just this tiny part of me that is hoping that this year will be different but I highly doubt it.