I recently took the ACT and I scored higher in reading so I can superscore. I was wondering when colleges are awarding merit scholarships, do they use your superscore? Thanks!
I was under the impression that most schools do not superscore the ACT. They may superscore the SAT but not the ACT…?
Many schools will superscore either the ACT or the SAT. Some schools will even combine the ACT and SAT for the best overall score.
HOWEVER, I don’t think schools superscore for merit-based financial aid purposes. They only superscore for admissions.
Here is one list of the schools that are believed to superscore the ACT.
I would assume that if a school superscores for admission purposes that the same policy would be used for determining merit awards.
I can confirm that Iowa State will superscore the ACT for the ACE merit awards, but they do not superscore for admission purposes.
@uwalummom Thank you for correcting me. This is good to know.
Some do, some don’t, some do it for merit but not admission, and some for admission but not merit. I think it is rather unfair to do it for SAT but not ACT but they don’t let me make the rules.
@twoinanddone my thoughts exactly! I have never understood why a given school allows for a superscored SAT and not ACT. They should either allow superscores for both, or not at all. Maybe a “rigged” system!
the few that I checked with also do not superscore ACT for admission, if anyone know a college that superscore for merit, please share… On another thread someone posted this link for admission
https://www.princetonreview.com/college-advice/colleges-superscore-act
From what I’ve seen, few superscore for merit. Likely because using single-sittings makes it easier to down-select for competitive admissions. Otherwise, a student could take the SAT or ACT a large number of times and end up with a much higher superscore than their best single sitting. Someone with a superscore of 34 after taking the ACT 6 times is not likely as strong a student as one who gets a 34 with a single sitting.