Should You Retake the ACT?

Retake the ACT if you are below your target and you have a specific plan to close the gap. Retaking without a plan usually repeats the same score.

Start with your target, not your feelings

Compare your composite to the middle 50% ACT range of each college on your list, and to any scholarship cutoffs. If you are already at or above the range for your top choices, another attempt may not change your outcomes. If you are below, or just under a scholarship cutoff, a retake could be worth it.

Check how your colleges treat multiple scores

Some colleges superscore, meaning they combine your best section scores from different test dates. Others take your highest single composite, and a few look at every attempt. Policies differ and change, so check each school's admissions page. Also check act.org for the current fees, test dates and any limits on retakes.

Ask whether you can actually improve

• Do you know which skills cost you points? A retake without that answer is a coin flip.
• Is the gap in knowledge, in pace or in careless mistakes? Each needs a different fix.
• Do you have enough weeks of focused practice before the next test date?
• Did something unusual hurt your score, like being sick or a rough test day?

What a good retake plan looks like

• Break your score report into sections and find the weakest one.
• Make a list of the skills behind the missed questions.
• Study those skills, review your misses on a schedule and take timed sections.
• Take a full practice test before the real one and compare it with your target.

See the full approach in how to study for the ACT and how to raise your score from 28 to 34. Use the ACT score calculator to check your composite.

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