September 2020 Changes to the ACT Explained

Earlier this month, ACT announced three big changes to their policies around administering the ACT and reporting students’ scores.

This post is intended to bring you clarity on the new policies and their implications, but please go into this post with the awareness that this is a developing story. This post is relatively long. It’s intended to be thorough. But it can’t be complete while some aspects of the policy changes (and colleges’ policies around the policy changes) are in flux.
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First, I’m going to summarize the changes; then, I will talk about some of their possible implications.

​​My sources are ACT’s website and a webinar for educators held by ACT last week.

​SUMMARIZING THE CHANGES

Starting in September 2020, three main changes will take place:

• After taking the full test on an official test date, students who want to improve their scores will have the options of either retaking the full test or retesting 1-3 individual sections on a given test date. Students may retest the multiple choice sections and the Writing Test. It’s still being decided whether students can take the Writing Test on its own if they haven’t already taken the full ACT with the Writing Test. Section retests are available only through online testing (see below!). At the time I’m publishing this, ACT has not yet announced the cost of retesting individual sections.
• ACT will encourage the practice of superscoring and will give students the option of sending colleges a superscore calculated by ACT. The superscore will be calculated by averaging the highest score a student has received on each test section from among all the dates the student has sat for the full test or 1-3 test sections. Scores from official ACTs taken since 2016 can count toward a student's superscore.
• ACT will offer online testing (at designated test centers, using provided computers) in addition to continuing to offer the traditional mode of testing using printed test booklets. Students who take the online ACT with the Writing Test will type their essays. Choosing to take the test online will also allow students to receive their results faster: ACT says, “scores will begin to be reported as soon as two business days after the test date.” Again, section retests are available only through online testing.

There are a couple of points I want to emphasize about the first two policy changes.

First: ACT will allow students to take single test sections only after the student has sat for a complete test. Students do not have the option of taking the test one section at a time from the beginning. 

Second: on a report with a superscore, ACT will include the following:

1. the superscore (the average of the highest scores a student received on each of the four multiple choice sections across all test dates)
2. the highest composite score the student received on a test date when the student took the full ACT (all four multiple choice sections) and the individual section scores from that test date
3. all of the scores a student received on each of the test dates on which a student received a section score that counts toward the student’s superscore

I'll clarify point (3) with a few examples: 

• If a student retests both English and Math in September, and the English score is the highest score the student received in English, but the Math score isn’t the highest score the student received in Math, then even though only the English score will be factored into the student's superscore, colleges will see both the English and Math scores from the September test date.
• If a student retests English and Math in September and neither score counts toward the student’s superscore, then the test date would not be included on the student’s superscore report from ACT.
• If a student takes the full test and then retests each of the subjects on different test dates and does better on all retests, then colleges will see the scores from the full test date, the scores from each of the retests, and the superscore.

The single section retest policy, in particular, is the kind of change we haven’t encountered before. Even when the SAT changed its format over the years, the basic construct of “go in, take a full-length test, receive all your scores in a couple of weeks” wasn’t affected. So we’re all in new territory here.

IMPLICATIONS OF THE CHANGES
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What Probably Won’t Change

First of all, not all colleges currently use superscoring in their application processes, and they won’t be required to do so going forward, even if they are presented with superscoring information from ACT. These colleges will continue to refer to the complete set(s) of scores from individual test date(s), not the superscore composite. So if you’re applying to these schools and you want to raise the score that they consider, you’ll still need to retake the full test.

Along similar lines, there are schools (such as my alma mater, Georgetown University) that require students to submit all test scores. So if you’re applying to Georgetown and you take the Science section five times, you will need to send the scores from all five test dates to Georgetown’s admissions office in order to comply with their admissions policies. (See Georgetown’s policy here under the heading “Score Choice.”) You can verify a school’s policies around superscoring and requirements for score reporting by going to the Admissions pages of the colleges you are considering.

Additionally, while it’s possible to retest individual sections, you’ll probably still want to study for all sections leading up to your first test date, given that ACT will always send out a set of scores from a test date when you took the full test, even with a superscore report. Because we don’t know exactly how schools will use the superscore and the score from the day when you took the full test within their admissions decisions, you’ll want your score from a single test date to be as good as it can be. 

As things stand right now, SAT’s policies haven’t changed. If you want to raise your score in a section of the SAT, you need to retake the entire test. Colleges that use superscoring will superscore the SAT based on the scores included in your score report.

What Will Change

Once students receive their scores from the full test, they can decide whether to begin focusing on 1-3 sections for retesting or to continue working on all sections in an effort to improve their composite from a single test day.

Students and families will need to make choices about whether they want to prioritize a student's taking the test over fewer test dates, doing fewer sections per test date, or having more retests for a given section.

What Might Change

It will probably be easier to improve scores in individual sections because it is easier to retest an individual section than to retake the full test. You won’t need to block out four-plus hours of your day on the day of the official test. It won’t cost as much as taking the full test (though exact costs have yet to be announced). While preparing, you will be able to focus your time and energy on just the section(s) in which you want to raise your score.

​If improved section scores lead to inflated superscores, it’s possible that higher superscores will become less of a competitive edge in the college admissions process as more students submit higher superscores. Similarly, if more students are scoring higher, mid-range superscores might become less competitive at some schools. 

That said, because single-day composites likely won't undergo the same inflation as superscores, it’s possible that colleges will start weighing single-day composite scores more heavily than they do now, as this set of scores might allow for greater differentiation among applicants. 

At this point, it’s difficult for anyone to say how the changes will affect the overall testing timeline for high school students, but it’s certainly possible that families will start thinking about the test prep process earlier to allow students greater flexibility in how they go about retesting.

IN CONCLUSION...

If you’re reading this, it’s because you are aware of the importance of preparing for the SAT and ACT and thinking about how to do so mindfully and strategically. You’ll need to extend that mindset to these policies.

None of us is sure exactly how this will play out, but, as the policies develop, I encourage you to keep in mind that ACT and SAT scores are an opportunity to present your best self within the college admissions process and that you should use the policies to do that to the extent that you can.

You can read up on the most recent published information on the changes for yourself at ACT’s website. More information is available in ACT’s FAQ’s.

If you find this blog helpful, please share it with friends!

If you have thoughts or questions you want to share with me, drop a comment below or write me an email.

Want more guidance from me? Here are a few resources and offerings you might consider:

• Acing It! A Mindful Guide to Maximum Results on Your College Admissions Test: 
  My book, in which I walk you through all the steps of the test prep process from beginning to end. ​(I'll need to revise Acing It! ​so that it reflects ACT's new policies, but 95% of the content will remain accurate! If you have additional questions about how the changes to the ACT might affect your test prep, feel free to reach out.)
• Test Prep Coaching Package: 
  Work with me for 12 sessions to get your SAT or ACT prep into top shape! Includes a review of what you need to know for the SAT or ACT using my Math and Grammar outlines, opportunities to take and review official SATs and ACTs, and opportunities to learn mindset and study habits that facilitate top performance.
• Single Coaching Session: 
  Work with me for a single coaching session. Come with any questions you have about how to perform better on the SAT and ACT. Includes the opportunity to take and review an official SAT or ACT.

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