If your son or daughter has taken the ACT® more than once — or is planning to — one practical question matters most: which scores get sent to colleges, and who controls that? The answer is more nuanced than most families expect, and getting it wrong has real consequences.
Score reporting policies change. Always verify on each college's admissions page before sending. The notes below are current for the 2025–2026 testing year.
The Quick Facts
- Score Choice is opt-in — the student decides what gets sent.
- Up to four free score sends are available at registration.
- At least 17 schools require all scores from every test date.
- Official score reports take roughly four to six weeks to arrive.
Four Things to Understand Before You Send Anything
Most score reporting mistakes come from skipping the basics. Start here.
1. Score Choice Is Opt-In
Students — not the ACT — decide which test dates colleges see. Nothing gets sent unless the student initiates it. A score from a bad test day exists in the ACT account but goes nowhere unless the student chooses to send it.
2. Sending Has Two Windows
There are up to four free score sends at registration, before scores are released, and paid sends after scores arrive, when the student can make an informed decision. Most strategic families wait until scores are in hand.
3. Superscoring Changes the Math
Many colleges build a composite from the best section scores across multiple test dates. For those colleges, sending more dates almost always helps. Withholding a date with a high section score can hurt you.
4. Some Schools Want Everything
A small number of colleges — including several highly selective ones — require all ACT scores from every test date. Score Choice does not apply at those schools. Submitting a single score is a policy violation.
How to Decide What to Send to Each College
There is no one-size-fits-all answer. The right move depends on each college's specific policy. Walk through these four questions for every school on the list.
Does the college require all scores?
If yes, the decision is made for you. Send everything. There is no choice to exercise. A significant dip between test dates will be visible — not disqualifying, but part of the picture.
Does the college superscore?
If yes, send every test date where at least one section score is competitive. The college will build the best possible composite from what you give them. Holding back a date with a high section score is counterproductive.
Does the college take the highest single sitting?
Some schools simply look at the best single-sitting composite and ignore the rest. For those schools, send the strongest overall test date and stop.
Is the policy unclear?
Email the admissions office. A one-sentence question — how do you handle multiple ACT submissions? — gets a clear answer almost every time. Admissions officers want to help. Follow up if you don't hear back.
Colleges That Do Not Allow Score Choice
These schools require all ACT scores from every test date. Submitting a single score is a policy violation. Policies change — confirm directly on each school's admissions page before you apply. The list below was researched and compiled by Alexander Charles Tutoring; always verify each school's current policy before relying on it.
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Clarkson University
- College of Charleston
- College of St. Benedict
- Duquesne University
- East Georgia State College
- Elon University
- Georgetown University
- Gonzaga University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Loyola University, New Orleans
- Ohio Wesleyan University
- Seattle University
- Shorter University
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of South Carolina
- Yale University
Timing matters as much as strategy. If you want to confirm when results land before you plan any sends, see when ACT scores are released. And if testing accommodations are part of your child's picture, here's how accommodations actually work — they never appear on a score report.