Is there any disadvantage to taking the ACT multiple times?

Test Preparation
1

<p>I have already taken it 3 times and got up to a 31. I still think I could get a 32 and maybe a 33... should I keep trying to take it 1,2,3 more times or is there a disadvantage. I understand its like $50, but besides that...?</p>

2

<p>Take some practice tests and if you don’t consistently score higher, dont do it. Colleges say that they only look at your highest score, but then again colleges are full of bs.
Obviously 33 highest out of 5 attempts looks worse than 33 out of 1 attempt. </p>

3

<p>@NothingImportant
Well what if I only send my top score to them? could they ever find out about the lower scores?</p>

4

<p>It hurts your pocket and it costs you time too. Just get it prepared thoroughly and then take the real test as your only attempt. If the score comes short of your practice score, then retake it. You really don’t want to take it when you have not reached your plateau yet.</p>

5

<p>The good thing about the ACT is that it offers perfect score choice -you have to send each score individually, so you can pick and choose which scores you want to send. That being said at some point you’ll just be wasting your time. You should also make sure you have enough time to focus on your essays and extracurriculars. </p>

6

<p>^ @saif235
It is just the opposite. Most schools do not superscore ACT, while many schools do superscore SAT. In addition, unlike SAT, you need to pay for each test report for ACT.</p>

7

<p>@billcsho
You misunderstood my point.
I was saying that because you have to send each ACT score report individually, you have a choice as to which scores you want to send. Of course you can’t send individual section scores, but colleges will never know how many times you’ve taken the ACT; they can only guess based on your scores.
Colleges are moving towards superscoring ACTs as well as SATs, but it is true that superscoring SAT is much more prevalent. </p>

8

<p>SAT also offer score choice, so I don’t see how it is special for ACT. Not sure if schools are moving towards ACT superscoring. I have not seen much change in that regard in the recent years. Here is a list from 2012:
<a href=“http://www.freetestprep.com/blog/resources/list-of-colleges-and-universities-that-superscore-the-act-test/”>http://www.freetestprep.com/blog/resources/list-of-colleges-and-universities-that-superscore-the-act-test/&lt;/a&gt;
I have not found any update on that yet.
For schools that do superscores ACT, paying for each ACT scores from each test separately is not such a “good thing”. </p>