How do colleges usually look at ACT scores?
I’ve heard many things. I’ve heard that they take the median of scores, that they look at all of them including test dates, details, etc., that they only look at the highest, and that they only look at the ones you send in.
Which one is true? Is it different for different colleges?
Thanks very much 
It depends on the school. I would say that most schools allow you to pick and choose which scores you send. So for these schools you would just send your highest ACT, and that would be all they consider. For other schools, all scores are required. In this case you need to send all test scores. Since they require all of them, I would think that they are all considered-- though they understand that most students improve after their first time taking it and they take that into account. I have never heard of a school taking the median of scores.
All in all, it depends on the school and you should look on their website for specific information and requirements. Good luck!
You can choose exactly which scores to send in. If you don’t send the scores from a certain date, it’s like you never took that test. I think there are some schools that want you to send in every test you took, but I have no idea how they would know if you actually did.
Some schools will take the highest subscore for each section and combine them to create a superscore. However, most schools will only use your highest composite score.
As a general rule, schools will just look at your highest score and ignore the rest.
There is a list of which schools superscore the ACTs and which don’t (http://blog.prepscholar.com/colleges-that-superscore-act-complete-list).
Different schools look at the ACTs in different ways.
@lostaccount @wlester @CDOESenior2k16, thank you all very much your response, it helped a lot! Would it be wise to take the ACT as least number of times possible then?
I think it depends on the scores that your getting. If you’ve already taken the ACT three times and your scores haven’t been improving, don’t take it again. If, however, you took it once to get acclimated to the test and did okay, you should practice practice practice and take it again! There’s some statistic (I can’t remember the specifics) that says students scores usually don’t improve a lot after the third time taking the ACT.
All in all, it really depends on you and your scores. If you think you can improve, take it again.