Lower ACT score on 3rd attempt

Applying to College
1

Hi all,

I have a few questions about ACT scores. I’ve taken the ACT 3 times , scoring a 31 (29,31,32,33) on my first attempt, a 33(34,33,33,30) on my second, and a 32 (35,31,31,31) on my final attempt.

So I was wondering, would colleges, whether they request all scores or superscore, look down upon the fact I did worse on my 3rd attempt on the ACT than my 2nd? I did score my highest on the English section (35) on my 3rd attempt, but my composite score dropped a whole point from my previous attempt.

If I do send all 3 of my scores to colleges that superscore, I would have a superscore of 34 (35,33,33,33), but would I be better off only sending my 2nd attempt, in which I received a composit score of 33, in order to hide the fact I did worse on my 3rd attempt?

Thanks

2

Depends on the school. If they superscore, then don’t retake it. A 34 is extremely commendable congrats. If they don’t superscore and your below average for their score range only retake if your fairly certain you can score higher. That’s my input at least haha

3
  1. I don’t think you really have to “hide” any attempt since they are all so close. It’s not like you went down 5 points or anything.
  2. Many schools don’t superscore ACTs, some do. You have to look at each school you are interested in individually.
4

Thanks for the replies! Thanks for mentioning the drop isn’t significant since it was only 1 point, I was just worried because I heard before that drops in SAT/ACT scores on 2nd or 3rd attempts look very bad to colleges