Do I send scores to colleges when available or do I send it with application?
Send them when they are available you can send them through collegeboard or ACT depending on which test you took.
There are varying approaches. A lot of students wait until they apply, and send them then. You don’t know what scores you have until several weeks after testing, so sending the free ones risks sending a bad score. You might change your mind and not apply to a school, too. But it costs more to wait until you know your scores.
Schools usually do not consider your application complete until they have all the pieces (scores, etc). I’d send them a month before you submit your app – it does take a few weeks. If they get them early, they just hold them.
@Needyourhelp Our school college counselor recommends waiting to send scores to colleges until after you see them. Costs more, but, if you do poorly on the SAT, you may decide to just submit your ACT score, or vice versa (or send no scores at all to colleges which are test-optional). Basically, if timing allows, just see what you get on the tests before sharing. But, as suggested above, once you have decided which colleges you are applying to and which test scores you want to use, send the test scores early.
Not sure if anyone knows, but if you are happy with your scores and know the schools you will be applying to in the fall, is there any benefit to sending the scores early (like now)? Could that be a way to show interest? I’m wondering if the college’s computer systems use the scores that kids have sent early to market to them or invite them to special events. My son is sitting on a very high score and is done testing… wondering if sending them now possibly gives opens him up to more attention from his top choices.
I don’t think ending scores way ahead of the application is going to generate much extra interest from the schools but it may generate more mail.
We used free score reports for our state schools that reliably only look at the highest scores and award scholarships automatically–where accidentally sending a low score wouldn’t cause real damage.
The one thing to be sure about is to send scores well ahead of any important deadlines for applications or scholarships. This past year there were some delays from college board in sending scores and people who had waited to send scores or were depending on the results of the October SAT were really in a bind for the November/December deadlines.
@suzyQ7 I would go ahead and send scores to the schools now. One less thing to do this fall and no apparent down side. I sent all of my son’s ACT, SAT, & subject test scores in August to all schools he planned to apply to, even those that didn’t require subject tests. His scores were decent, so the colleges could choose to either review them or just ignore them. We did lose a little money in the end, though, as a few schools dropped off his too-long application list after we had sent the scores.
Don’t spend $ sending AP or IB scores now. Those are self-reported in the apps. Send those scores next summer just to the school he decides to attend. (This may be different for homeschoolers. Not sure about their requirements for various colleges.)
More college emails & mailings may result from sending the scores, but, yes, sometimes invitations come for local admissions events or counselor visits to your child’s school might that he might not notice otherwise during the busy senior year. Invitations about how to apply for merit scholarships and honors colleges can be helpful too.
Regardless of how holistic some colleges profess to be, colleges do seem to like those high scores. And being an early bird can’t hurt.
Thanks. His high score is on the ACT - I’m not sure if ACT sells the mailing lists like SAT does so not sure if schools were ‘notified’ of his high score via the marketing lists… I know SAT does.
I sent his scores to the UCs through ACT website and got a confirmation of paying for them but I want to make sure UCs received them, Do I call them?
Some schools require every SAT and ACT score (SLU and UofSC are two that D is interested in that have this requirement). For these schools, I’d definitely use the free reports that go out as soon as scores are available.
http://blog.prepscholar.com/colleges-requiring-all-sat-scores-complete-list
http://blog.prepscholar.com/which-colleges-require-all-act-scores-sent
Can you imagine 100,000 people calling to see if the UCLA got their ACT score? If I worked there and parents called to ask that, I would put a little black star on the file. 
Relax, they got em.’ You also self report them on the application.