Sending ACT Scores (and Score-Choice)

For SAT scores, CollegeBoard publishes a list of colleges and their score policies, so it’s pretty straightforward.

However, I only took the ACT and ACT does not publish such lists (unless I’m just not looking hard enough).

Some colleges do specify their score policies, but a few of the colleges I’m applying do not indicate if I should send my highest sitting or all of my scores.

Should I just send my highest sitting? This would be also more economical for me, since I think the ACT charges separate fees for separate testing dates.

You can find each college’s ACT score policy on each college’s website.

Be aware that the College Board’s score choice list of colleges is one the worst pieces of misinformation that CB has ever published. CB should have the good sense to take it down but it has not. For example, it lists an abundance of colleges that supposedly have an “all scores” rule that never had such a rule, including four year and community colleges that require no tests and even foreign universities that have likely never even seen an SAT. Do not rely on the list without checking any particular college’s actual rules as published on the college’s site.

As to the ACT. the following colleges are the only ones I have found that actually require all ACT scores if you send any ACT test: Yale, Penn, Stanford, Georgetown, Carnegie Melon, Harvey Mudd, Pomona, and possibly Bernard (rule is ambiguous as to ACTs). Some believe the UC’s also require all ACTs but my reading of the UC rule indicates they do not and you can send just one. There are a number of coilleges that do not require you to submit all ACT scores but recommend you do so because they superscore ACTs (take your highest section scores from multiple ACTs to determine admission). Obviously for those, and assuming you can afford the cost of sending multiple ACTs, you should consider sending more than one ACT if you have taken more than one and superscoring would give you a higher score on all sections than any single test. However, most colleges do not superscore ACTs but instead use that one with highest composite and thus sending one ACT will do. College’s will usually tell you on their sites if they superscore ACT and if they do not mention doing so, they most likely do not superscore ACT. There are some sites that purport to have lists of the colleges that superscore the ACT. I have not verified the accuracy of any of those lists but you can easily find them by searching on Google for: superscore ACT list.

Can you send ACT scores from more more the one testing date to a single school, with a flat $12 rate rather than a $24 price. (sorry to hijack a thread)

No, ACT requires a separate order and separate fee for each test you send to a college.