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How To Send ACT Scores: Quick Answers for Every Question
01/08/2024•11 minute read
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Quick Answers for Every Question
When Do Scores Get Sent?
How Long Does It Take?
Does It Cost Money?
Sending your ACT scores to colleges and universities is a crucial step in the college application process. In this blog post, "How to Send ACT Scores” we provide high school students with a comprehensive guide on sending ACT test scores to colleges and scholarship agencies. The post covers essential topics such as the process of sending scores, superscoring, associated fees, and timelines. Whether you're sending scores during registration or after, this guide ensures you have all the information needed to navigate this crucial step in your college application journey.
Fast Facts: How To Send ACT Score Reports
- What Are Scores For? Your ACT scores can have many uses. They provide information about your core academic proficiencies. The scores can be used by individuals or their high school counselor for academic or vocational planning. Otherwise, most students take the ACT in their junior year to submit with college applications, and sometimes for merit-based scholarships.
- Choosing Where Scores Are Sent: It's common for students to indicate where they want scores sent when they register for the ACT. But, score requests can submitted online anytime. Eligible score recipients are typically colleges and universities, and scholarship agencies.
- Superscoring: ACT will send an automatically generated superscore when requested, but it's sent along with the full score reports from the tests used to create your superscore.
- Timing: Scores are usually sent out within two-to-three weeks after a test event, but periodically this may take up to 6-to-8 weeks. For completed score reports, the scores are usually sent the same day you request them
- Fees: The cost of sending score reports is usually included in your ACT test registration fees, good for up to four score reports. ACT will assess fees if you need to send additional score reports.
- ACT Policies & Fees Subject to Change: The information in this blog post is intended as a helpful guide, but ACT.org may make changes to score reporting policies, services, or fees at any time.
For more in-depth information on ACT Score Reports — including what’s on them and what they’re used for — check out the following resources:
What Is the ACT? A Complete Guide for High School Students
Sending Your ACT Scores: Quick Answers for Common Questions
How Do Scores Get Sent?
When you register for the ACT, you can choose up to four colleges or scholarship agencies to receive your scores for free. The institutions you select for the your scores to be sent to, become referred to as the score recipients. After your test is scored, these institutions will automatically receive your scores. If you need to send scores to additional schools or agencies, you can do so online, anytime, through your MyACT account.
Who Decides Which Schools Get Scores (or Don’t)?
YOU decide! You have the power to decide which colleges and scholarship agencies receive your ACT scores. You can select score recipients when you register for the test, or anytime after you register through your MyACT account.
Note: If you request a superscore, ACT automatically sends all the test reports containing the individual scores making up your superscore.
If I Make Multiple Attempts, Which Scores Get Sent?
You can choose to send scores from a specific test date, but ACT will also automatically send you a superscore if you've take the ACT more than once.
A superscore combines your best individual section scores from multiple test dates to create the best possible composite score.
You can also send your scores from two or more test attempts to any school that allows you to superscore the ACT.
“ACT provides an automatically calculated ACT Superscore to all students who have taken the ACT more than once from September 2016 to current day. Log in to MyACT to view and send scores.”
- Sending Your Scores, ACT.org
When Do Scores Get Sent?
Scores are sent after your tests have been scored and all scores for your test option (ACT or ACT with writing) are ready. This is usually about two to three weeks after the day you tested, but can take longer.
For a score that’s already available, it's usually sent the same day you request it.
Which Schools Do Scores Get Sent To?
You decide! Scores for any test event only get sent to your high school and to the colleges, universities, and scholarship agencies that you request.
Note: Currently, you may not request a personal copy of your score report, according to ACT's* *General Guidelines for Score Reports.
Are you required to send test scores to schools you apply to for admission?... It depends!
Some schools REQUIRE applicants to submit test scores, and it’s important to know if those scores must be submitted by the application deadline or if the school will still accept them after that.
Other schools have test-optional, test-neutral, or test-blind strategies, meaning that test scores are not required for admission.
Test-optional schools: Applicants are not required to submit an ACT/SAT test score for admission, but at highly selective colleges, most students do choose to submit scores. In general, Crimson advisors will recommend submitting your scores when applying to a test-optional school, but not always, as it depends on a variety of factors and personal circumstances.
Test-neutral schools: Schools that adhere to a “test-neutral” admissions policy want applicants to know that test scores do not influence or impact how applicants are evaluated. Even some test-neutral schools may use test scores, however — typically for anticipating the right levels of individual or school-wide academic support.
Test-blind schools: Test-blind schools do not make any use of test scores during the admissions process. If you submit test scores when applying to a test-blind school, they won’t be considered during the admission process but may be used after you’re admitted as part of your student academic profile.
For more about schools requiring tests vs. test-optional schools, check out these resources:
How Long Does It Take for Score Reports To Be Sent?
Once you request to send your ACT scores, the processing time can vary. Typically, if the score is available, it is sent the same day you make the request. However, it can take up to a week for the receiving institution to process and acknowledge receipt of your scores.
If you've just tested, it will usually take almost two weeks or a bit longer for test scores to go out.
For archived scores (those from test dates three years prior or more), the processing time may be slightly longer due to the additional steps involved in retrieving the scores.
Always plan ahead and allow sufficient time for your scores to reach their destination, especially if you need to meet important application deadlines.
What Is on the ACT Score Report?
Your ACT score report provides a detailed breakdown of your performance on the test. It includes:
- Composite Score: The average of your four test scores — English, Math, Reading, and Science — rounded to the nearest whole number.
- Section Scores: Individual scores for each of the four sections, ranging from 1 to 36.
- Writing Score: If you took the ACT with writing, this section will include your writing score, ranging from 2 to 12.
- Subscores: Additional scores in specific areas within each section, such as grammar and usage in English or algebra in Math.
- Percentile Ranks: These show how your scores compare to those of other test-takers.
- College and Career Readiness Benchmarks: Indicators of your preparedness for college-level coursework.
Understanding your score report can help you identify strengths and areas for improvement, making it a valuable tool for your college application process.
Changes coming in 2025, some changes are coming to the ACT and as a result science will become an optional test, like writing, and will no longer be required and no longer count toward your composite score. If you opt to take the science test the science score will be reported independently.
Does It Cost Money to Send Score Reports?
Yes, sometimes you will need to pay fees when you send an ACT score report.
- $19.00 per test date per report
- A $30.00 archive fee (per test date, per order) will be applied for any score sent from a test date that occurred at least three years prior and is based on the date the order is placed.
Remember, your test registration fee (for ACT without optional writing test) is $69.00 based on most currently available information. When you pay the registration fee it includes reports for you, your high school, and up to four colleges.
Fees apply whenever you make additional requests to send test scores.
How to Send Score Reports When Registering for the ACT
During the ACT registration process, you can select up to four colleges or scholarship agencies to receive your scores for free. Make sure to use valid ACT codes for the recipients you list, which you can find in the College Code List and the Congressional Code List available online, including with the help of this ACT college code search tool.
How to Request Score Reports After You’ve Already Registered for the ACT
If you need to send scores after registering, log in to your MyACT account, go to your scores dashboard, and request to send reports. You can pay any required fees by credit card. Your MyACT account is the portal to use anytime you wish to have a score report sent to a specific college, university, or scholarship agency.
Superscoring After Two or More Test Events
When you request a superscore, ACT will automatically generate the most favorable score, based on your prior test events (you must have scores from at least two test events). Your superscore will be sent along with the highest individual section scores, with all the scores from the test events that make up the superscore. ACT.org says:
ACT provides an automatically calculated ACT Superscore to all students who have taken the ACT more than once from September 2016 to current day.
If you want to send a specific score and its associated reporting category, send a report from that individual test event.
More About Ordering Score Reports Online
Create or sign in to your MyACT account to request score reports.
Ensure you use valid ACT codes when listing your score recipient(s).
Contacting ACT for Questions About How To Send Scores
If you have any questions about your score reports or the process of sending them, you can contact ACT Customer Support through your MyACT account or visit the ACT website for more information.
Final Thoughts
Sending your ACT scores to colleges and scholarship agencies is a vital step in your college application process. By understanding how to send scores, the costs involved, and the details included in your score report, you can ensure your scores reach the right places on time. Whether you're sending scores during registration or afterward, you're now ready to take the next step.
Want help like this for all of your admissions steps and decision making?
To find out how your applicant profile stacks up or to learn key strategies used by top applicants, you should start by booking a free consultation, for personalized feedback or to learn more about the Crimson network!
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About the Author
Keith Nickolaus
Keith Nickolaus is a former educator with a passion for languages, literature, and lifelong learning. After obtaining a B.A. from UC Santa Cruz and exploring university life in Paris, Keith earned his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and then worked for 16 years in K12 education before setting up shop as a freelance writer.
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