How To Send Your ACT Test Score To The Colleges Of Your Choice

At last, you’re done with taking the ACT test. Well, you’ve hurdled half of the battle! With a copy of your ACT test score report in hand, what do you do next? If you’re satisfied with your score, you can consider sending it to the prospective colleges that you want to enroll in. Otherwise, if it falls beyond par of your requirements, then you might think about retaking the ACT test. Your decision will be based upon what you deem to be a “good ACT score”. So before you carry on with your next undertaking, you have to know how to interpret your ACT score.

Are You Happy With Your Score, Or Do You Need To Retake The ACT Test?

The ACT test is comprised of 4 different sections which are English, Science, Reading and Math. Each of these is scored according to a scale of 1 – 36 points. Your composite score for the ACT test is derived from taking the average score of these sections. The average ACT test score is 21. If you score higher than this, it denotes that you are above the national ACT average. Another way of measuring your score is by percentile, which means that if you fall within the 75th percentile, you have scored higher than 75 percent of the high school students who took the same test. The highest ACT percentile is 99%.

Does your score keep up with the requirements of your chosen colleges? Are you contented with it? If you’re not, you could decide to retake the ACT. But, if your score is exemplary and you’re happy with it, your next step can be to send it to the colleges of your choice.
There are two ways to send your ACT score report to your chosen colleges. First is on the same day that you are taking the test, and second is after receiving your ACT score report. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these options?

Sending Your Score On The Day Of The ACT Test

You can send 4 free score reports to your chosen colleges if you send them on the day of taking your test. This option can be carried out at a certain time frame, and that’s from your registration day until noon of Central Time of the immediate Thursday following your designated test date. Going by this option will not give you an inkling about what scores will be sent to your prospective colleges and scholarship programs. Then again, this alternative makes you save money because all the 4 score reports of your ACT test will be sent for free to your target schools. The hitch to this option is that you are not able to enjoy the benefits of the ACT score choice policy. It means you don’t get to choose which of your scores will be sent to your preferred colleges. So if you did badly on the test, these schools will know. You can remedy this problem by using the option where you get to send all 4 free reports to the colleges that you choose.

Sending Your Score After Receiving Your Score Report

Your other option is to send your score after receiving your ACT test score report. This task is done through your ACT online account. By logging in to your account, you create reports of all your ACT scores and send them to your target schools. The advantage of going by this route is that you can create and send customized reports that accord to the requirements of the colleges and scholarship programs that you’re applying to. Your upper hand to this is that you can avail of the ACT score choice policy and its benefits. However, the fees do accumulate and this endeavor can be costly.

These are two of your basic options about what to do after getting your ACT score reports. Being in-the-know can help you make informed decisions that will bring out the most viable results for your college and scholarship applications.