ACT Full Fees & Registration: What's the Total Cost of the ACT? (2023)

FAQs

How many reports for college does the ACT registration fee cover? ›

Free Additional Score Reports

Your fee waiver covers one report to your high school and up to six college choices. After registration, you can request unlimited score reports for free.

For both the SAT and the ACT, a student will receive a waiver if their family meets income requirements for the National School Lunch Program, receives public assistance, or lives in public housing. Teens also qualify if they're living in a foster home, homeless, a ward of the state, or an orphan.

How much does it cost to send ACT scores? As of June 2022, ACT Inc. charges $16 to send a single ACT score report or ACT superscore to one college or scholarship program.

College Costs Vary

Tuition is the price you pay for classes. Along with tuition, you'll probably have to pay some other fees to enroll in and attend a college. Tuition and fees vary from college to college. Other college costs include room and board, books and supplies, transportation, and personal expenses.

If you're not satisfied with your scores, you can retake the ACT. ACT Inc., which administers the exam, lets you take the test up to 12 times, though it's best to take it no more than 2-3 times.

Origin of the Myth

But here's the thing: While there were studies done that showed higher scores in one month than another, those months changed year to year. First experts would cry “December is easiest! Take it in December!” and a few years later they'd swear “May is by far easier!”

ACT: We will “offer a remote proctoring option for the ACT test in late fall/early winter 2020, allowing students to take the test at their home on a computer, or at other safe and convenient locations. ACT will launch this option as part of its national testing program.

Your ACT score can play an important role in helping you qualify for scholarships that can fuel your future and help with college costs! ACT test scores are a big factor in merit scholarships and awards, meaning awards based on academic achievement.

Taking the writing test does not affect your subject area scores or your Composite score. However, without a writing test score, no English Language Arts (ELA) score will be reported.

Do colleges prefer ACT or SAT? ›

Both ACT and SAT scores are used for college admissions decisions and awarding merit-based scholarships. Most colleges do not prefer one test over the other. Neither the SAT or ACT is harder than the other. Different students tend to do better on one test over the other.

The ACT is 3 hours long (technically 2 hours and 55 minutes). Including breaks, the exam takes 3 hours and 30 minutes to complete. If you sign up for the optional essay (the ACT Plus Writing), the test clocks in at 3 hours and 40 minutes or just over 4 hours with breaks.

At a minimum, an ACT score of 25 should qualify you for lower-level scholarship money. However, as the amount increases, scholarships become more competitive and the score ranges increase. Again, the barest minimum to shoot for is the 20-25 score range.

Schools vary considerably in the kinds of ACT scores they look for in applicants. Less selective institutions tend to accept scores closer to the national average (21), whereas more competitive universities often prefer scores in the 32-36 range.

When do SAT/ACT scores expire? SAT and ACT scores both expire after 5 years. Scores must be valid through the start of the term you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for a Fall start date, scores must be valid through August of your starting year.

Total expenses for a given period refer to the sum of all the total gross cash expenditures plus any subsidiary pending, such as operating expenses, incentive fees, interest, and taxes. A company may have considerable total revenues from its income statement.

March is the worst! Avoid it like the plague! Don't you dare take October; that's when the smart seniors are sitting. All the jocks take December, that's the surest bet for a high score!

It's a good idea to take it for the first time in the fall or early spring of your junior year. Doing this will show you where you are doing well and uncover areas where you can improve. There are many advantages to taking the ACT your junior year, plus some very encouraging news about why retesting is so important!

What is the maximum age to take the ACT? ›

People of all ages and grade levels are eligible to take the ACT.

Do You Feel Confident in the Content? Obviously, it's not a good idea to take the ACT® unless you have a good grasp on the content that will be tested. The ACT® Reading and ACT® Science sections are both the hardest and easiest to prepare for.

Two hours a week of studying for two months is a good general goal if you are closer to the test date. If you have four or more months before the test, you could try just an hour a week.

It's possible to reach your ACT target score by studying on your own. While some test takers prefer to study independently, others might have to if they don't have the resources to pursue other prep options. Ultimately, effective self-study for the ACT requires you to be extremely disciplined, organized, and motivated.

If a college or university is “test optional” it means they do not require you to submit ACT or SAT test scores to be admitted. If you submit your scores to a test optional institution, the scores will be considered.

While the ACT online does all it can to make this easy, it still is tougher than with a paper test, which means that many students won't focus on getting all the easy points first.

Overall, my research so far has been surprising in that there are a few schools that will offer full-tuition scholarships starting in the 22 – 25 ACT range, but most full-ride scholarships require a 28 ACT or higher.

With a score of 34 on the ACT, you're eligible for merit aid from both your future college or university and from third-party scholarship providers. On top of applying for merit aid, make sure you apply to scholarships for other things, too, including location, life circumstances, future major, passions, and more.

For example, a 32 on the ACT may earn a full ride at one school but a partial scholarship at another. Also, different sports will have different opportunities. This means you may have a better chance to fill a certain need at a certain school.

Is the ACT essay hard? ›

You can think of it as getting two different English teachers to give you A+s instead of As on the same essay. It's tough. So don't sweat it if your essay score is a bit lower. Remember it doesn't affect your composite score and is really more of a bonus than anything when it comes to college admissions.

Currently, most schools will view your ACT Writing scores if you send them, but it won't at all be an important part of your application. Currently, six schools specifically state on their website that they recommend taking ACT Writing: Colorado School of Mines (CO) Bethune-Cookman University (FL)

Your score in the writing section will not affect your scores on the multiple-choice or your Composite score. The writing section is a 40-minute essay test that measures your writing skills—specifically, writing skills taught in high school English classes and in entry-level college composition courses.

Generally speaking, you need a minimum ACT score of 31 to get into an Ivy League School. The minimum score is 32 at a few of these schools, including Harvard and Yale. The minimum SAT score to get into an Ivy League school ranges from 690 to 730 for the reading section and from 700 to 730 for the math section.

Both of these tests are equally difficult, so regardless of your personal strengths, you can do well on both of them with the right resources and strategies.

Examinees are encouraged to use a familiar calculator, but all problems may be solved without a calculator. Calculators may only be used on the mathematics test, including ACT WorkKeys Applied Math. Sharing calculators during the test is not permitted.

It is recommended to study for at least 10 hours so you are prepared. It is also better to keep your studying within one to six months before the test: Less than one month, the material doesn't have time to sink in.

Each time you register to take the SAT on a weekend, you can send four score reports for free. You can designate your score recipients at the time you register or any time until you take the test. You also have until nine days after the test to use your free score reports.

Do you need to send official ACT score reports to colleges? ›

Colleges cannot get your ACT scores unless you request that ACT send them. This means that you need to specifically ask that ACT send your scores to a specific college. The schools cannot request the scores directly from ACT, and no one but you can ask that they be sent.

Colleges do not have access to your test history unless you submitted all your test scores to that particular college. When you take an SAT/ACT test, you get a composite test score. It is up to you whether to pre-send those test scores to a college or send them the test score after you know what you got on them.

You'll also be asked to fill out details on your classes, grades, and extracurricular activities. ACT gathers this information for its own research. In exchange for your data, ACT will provide you with a section of your score report called “College and Career Planning.”

Usually, ACT scores are reported to MyACT in around 10 days but can take up to eight weeks. Writing scores take an additional two weeks to report. If you took the ACT outside of the US or Canada, expect delays of up to 2 weeks. It takes about two weeks for scores to be sent after you've requested them.

Students need not pay any additional amount for sending the score to four colleges. The fee is adjusted with the registration fee. If you are sending the score for free, you will not have the option to choose which scores you wish to send if you have appeared in SAT in recent times.

Send score reports to colleges after you take the ACT

If you wait to send your ACT score reports to colleges after you've taken the test and received your scores, it will cost you $16 per college. These score reports are typically sent a week after you submit your request, if your score is already available.

The ACT is 3 hours long (technically 2 hours and 55 minutes). Including breaks, the exam takes 3 hours and 30 minutes to complete. If you sign up for the optional essay (the ACT Plus Writing), the test clocks in at 3 hours and 40 minutes or just over 4 hours with breaks.

In general, a good ACT score is any score in or above the 75th percentile — at least a 24. Students should aim to hit or exceed the middle 50% of ACT scores at their chosen colleges. The ACT Writing section is optional and uses a separate scoring scale.

You can take the ACT up to 12 times, and many students end up taking the test between 2-3 times before applying to college. Most colleges are neutral about multiple scores. Many students, in fact, make score improvements by retaking the ACT. Give yourself time to improve before you begin filling out applications.

Although college admissions officers often say that they give much more weight to a student's GPA, even they will admit that your ACT score is of considerable importance. Here's what they won't tell you: your ACT is often more important than your high school grades!

Do colleges take your highest ACT score or most recent? ›

Colleges that superscore the ACT will look at your highest individual test scores and calculate a new, composite score across all your test dates. Your ACT Superscore is the average of your highest Math, Science, Reading and English test scores.