When will colleges make decisions on new ACT section retests?

With ACT’s current position/opinion that the test should be superscored, when do you think individual colleges will make a decision to superscore or to continue not to superscore the ACT for the Fall 2020 application cycle?

My daughter is happy with her Math/English scores, but if colleges were to superscore, she’d strongly consider retaking Reading and Science in September with the 2 day turn around.

Many colleges already superscore the ACT, so check websites of the colleges on your D’s list.

Colleges that currently don’t superscore the ACT will likely discuss this spring/summer how to handle ACT’s new policy (Sept 2020) of allowing students to only take 1, 2, or 3 sections (once they have taken a complete test). More colleges may allow superscoring due to that, and hopefully they will have decided before their applications go live for 2021/22 cycle.

Your D can always reach out to AOs and ask, but probably should wait until the summer to do that.

Interesting that you say that many schools already superscore because out of the 6 schools that we are visiting over Spring Break, only one superscores the ACT currently.

I thought it was very rare for a school to superscore the ACT. Maybe it’s just the schools my D is looking at.

I would characterize it as many…I think it’s well over 100, but certainly not as many as superscore the SAT.

Note there is a type of hybrid policy…some schools do look at the highest subsection scores but do not formally recalculate a superscored composite. Students do enter their highest subsection scores on the common app, which makes it easy for colleges to see subsection scores.

Colleges are quite busy with admissions right now. I suspect any changes due to ACT’s new processes will be considered in the Spring and released over the Summer.

It will be interesting to see how schools that don’t superscore deal with the new section-only retesting. If the vast majority of schools that don’t superscore stay that way, the new testing may not have many takers.

My son(Junior) took the ACT without writing and is happy with his composite score. He just learned that one of his top choice schools wants the ACT with writing; does he need to take an entire ACT to get the writing done or will that be one of the sections which someone may take individually come September? He is worried that after so much time , the other subscores could suffer and he will be forced to send those scores in totality due to the need for the writing…

I would reach out directly to ACT to ask this question. Note that by the next application cycle, the school that currently requires the essay could also change that policy. Good luck.

@DBB6599 , you need to ask ACT. I suggest you call them. You also need to see if the college will accept a separate writing score.