ACT Superscoring: What It Is, How It's Calculated, and Where It's Accepted

Thinking about retaking the ACT? Superscoring offers the potential for great admissions benefits while removing almost all the risk from retaking the ACT. This post breaks down what ACT superscoring is, how to calculate superscores, how to use them to the greatest advantage, and which leading universities and colleges are now accepting superscores. Yes, all you need to know about ACT superscoring for admissions success!

Students are allowed to take the ACT more than once, which many students do in order to try to achieve higher scores. The risk, of course, is that whenever a student retakes the ACT, they might end up earning a lower score on some sections.

Fortunately, the ACT allows superscoring, which means you can request the ACT to create a composite score from only your highest section scores, called a superscore. ACT research shows this superscore is actually a more accurate way to represent a student’s chances for success in college. The other good news is that many top universities and colleges now allow students to submit a superscore for admissions. However, not all do.

In this post, you'll learn what superscoring is, how it works, and how to calculate your own ACT superscore. We’ll also share tips on how to get the most out of ACT superscoring, for boosting your admissions prospects, and you'll find out which leading universities and colleges accept superscores, and which don’t.

What Is Superscoring?

Your ACT score is a composite of subscores — the scores you earned for each subject area tested. These  subject areas are: English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science.

Each time you attempt the ACT, you’ll get a score of 1-36 on each subsection. Those subscores are averaged to create a composite score between 1-36.

Each time you attempt the ACT, you are likely to score higher or lower on some of the subsections.

Superscoring offers you an opportunity to create a composite score using the highest score you earned in each subsection across each of your ACT test attempts. This turbocharged composite score is known as your ACT superscore.

That's right, superscoring your ACT allows you to report an ACT score made up of only your best section scores, across multiple ACT administrations.

It’s kind of like the All Star basketball team, which is made up of only the very best players from across a whole bunch of teams. In a similar way, superscoring your ACT lets you pick each of your highest section scores across your multiple ACT test administrations and then average those top scores in order to report a super version of your composite score!

Why Superscore Your ACT?

Superscoring is a great way to boost your ACT score if you choose to take the test two or more times. Across your multiple attempts, your superscore will be based on the highest score you achieved in each section.

According to ACT, students' superscores more accurately reflect academic knowledge and abilities compared to composite scores based on any single test result. This means you don't need to worry about superscoring distorting or inflating your real level of academic readiness; it's quite the opposite.

As you can see, there's very limited downside to superscoring, except that to take advantage of it you need to take the ACT at least two times.

However, if you study in between each ACT attempt in order to raise your scores in one or more sections, the retake process should help you improve your scores, with the potential for an additional score boost when you report to schools that accept superscoring!

How To Calculate Your ACT Superscore

The ACT Superscore is calculated using the top scores in the English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science sections from a student’s multiple ACT test score results.

To calculate your own ACT Superscore, select your highest score from each section across all of your ACT tests. Then, find the average of those scores (add those four scores together and divide by four) and round to the nearest whole number. This number is your ACT Superscore.

Here’s an example of what it looks like to calculate your ACT superscore:

How Many Times Can You Take the ACT?

You can take the ACT up to 12 times. But the real question is how many times should you take the ACT to make the most of ACT superscoring?

We generally recommend students take the ACT two or three times, and at most four times, with enough time between each subsequent attempt to allow for additional review, practice, and tutoring.

For further guidance, check out: How Many Times Can You Take the ACT? Tips for ACT Retakes, and More...

Making the Most of ACT Superscoring

Submitting a high ACT score is one additional way to ensure you apply as a top applicant, and a really good ACT score can help you stand out or be a great way to compensate for any weaker academic metrics that are part of your applicant profile. To get the most out of superscoring, students should have a strong test prep plan in place that includes:

• A timeline for scheduling multiple ACT attempts
• Ample time between each ACT administration for additional review and practice
• Access to high quality test prep resources — study manuals, practice tests, and if needed, expert tutoring support

By taking the ACT multiple times and having rich resources available for review and practice, you’ll have a good strategy in place for boosting your scores and elevating your academic foundations and your admissions profile.

You can access sample test questions on our ACT Mini Practice Tests right here.

ACT Score Choice

Not all schools accept superscoring, but some of these will allow students to have ACT report only their best single test result — score choice — if they have taken the test more than once.

This means that even if you’re applying to a school that doesn’t honor superscoring, you may still find it to your advantage to take the ACT more than once, using the strategy we’ve just outlined.

For example, if you take the ACT three times and boost your scores on each new attempt, you could choose the test with the best composite score, or the one with your best scores in math and science, if, let's say, you were applying to a competitive STEM program.

Colleges That Accept ACT Superscoring

Many prominent universities accept ACT superscoring, but some don’t.

Here’s a list showing which leading schools accept ACT superscores and which ones don’t, broken down for you into three categories: Ivy League schools, top non-Ivies, and top liberal arts colleges.

Reporting Superscores (and What Colleges See)

When you request a composite score for a single test event: colleges and universities will see each section score and the composite score for the test event you want reported.

When you request a superscore, colleges and universities will see all of the following:

• your superscore (calculated by ACT)
• the highest section scores (the ones used to calculate your superscore)
• all of the scores from any of the test events used to calculate the superscore
• the section scores and composite score from you highest test event

In other words, if you ask ACT to send a superscore, ACT will also (automatically) include a full score report for the single test with the highest composite score. This means that schools that don't accept ACT superscoring will nonetheless receive results for that individual test to use instead of a superscore.

Nonetheless, it's a good idea to always understand the test score reporting policies for each school you’re applying to.

For more information about score reporting, check out: How To Send ACT Scores.

Final Thoughts

ACT superscoring is accepted by many top colleges and universities and offers students a ready-made opportunity to report the highest possible ACT scores when applying to schools that accept ACT superscoring.

Even if you're applying to some leading schools that don’t accept superscoring, these may allow you to select which test you report if you’ve taken the ACT more than once. For this reason, most students can get an admissions advantage by taking the ACT two or three times, especially if they allow time to do additional review and test practice between each attempt!

For more personalized guidance on your ACT test taking and score reporting strategies and to learn more about our all-in-one approach to admissions advising and pathfinding, schedule your free feedback session today.

Crimson students are 7x more likely to get into one of their top-choice schools, compared to all other applicants, so why not be as confident as you can be that you're making the most of your college journey? Scheduling a feedback session is an easy way to get started, or to simply find out more about what we offer and if it's right for you!

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