See how your profile ranks among thousands of other students using CollegeVine. Calculate your chances at your dream schools and learn what areas you need to improve right now — it only takes 3 minutes and it's 100% free.
Get ready for your go-to guide about taking the ACT through your school! This article will talk about all states that require the ACT and how they administer the test. Basically, we’re here to answer when you ask, “Do I have to take the ACT for school?”
Here’s what we’ll cover:
Because the list of states who require the ACT changes every year, we’ll be sure to keep it updated!
You may also want to check out our compilation of official ACT practice tests , explanation of the ACT vs. SAT , and expansive overview of the ACT’s material . If you’re a junior stressed about the ACT, you might want to check out CollegeVine’s free, live advising sessions, Just for Juniors with Giebien Na.
When you think of the Space Race, you may not immediately think of the ACT. But as bland as it may seem, the ACT is a Space Age test : created in 1959, it was part of a national push towards greater college attendance in the US and a massive increase in standardized testing .
Full disclosure: I love the ACT. I could talk for hours about its development, its Cold War history , and (yes) its problems . Despite its flaws (namely, being a test ) the ACT makes a point of offering interesting problems and compelling reading material.
Specifically, the ACT was meant to empower you for college . Its creator, E.F. Lindquist, viewed it as a meritocratic alternative to the SAT: while the SAT in the 1950s aimed to assess an “innate” intelligence through puzzles and logic tests, the ACT was meant to reward “hard work” and the accumulation of knowledge through sustained study. It has three main sections — English, Math, and Science — scored from 1-36. Its optional Writing component (in which you write an essay) is scored from 1-12.
The ACT can be hard for some students to access on their own. There are lots of deterrents: application fees, finding a testing center, traveling to a testing location, and finding the time to take it on your own. By using existing school resources to provide the test, schools can eliminate lots of these barriers and make the ACT easier to access . This way, students can have an ACT score ready to put on college applications.
2. States don’t have to create their own standardized tests.
Developing a standardized test absorbs a huge amount of personnel, time, research, and money. Outsourcing this effort by replacing state tests with the ACT is less of a headache for boards of education.
3. That state’s colleges prefer the ACT.
State high schools often work in tandem with state colleges to make sure residents have a reliable path to college. If a state like Wisconsin has colleges that mainly accept the ACT on applications, it’s sensible to lower that hurdle for in-state applicants who are most likely to attend.
4. It’s a more universal standard.
If a state tests students based on its own standards and materials, it’s a lot harder to gauge how well those students are performing in a national context. (For example, what does a score of 417 on the Florida Standards Assessment even mean to someone outside the state? And how can it be compared to student performance in, say, Alaska? You’d need to do some complicated statistical conversions.) Using the same test as other states (e.g. the ACT) allows results to be compared directly across different states, the country, and the world.
Paying for the ACT yourself would set you back either $55 (no writing section) or $70 (with writing section). If your school offers the ACT for free, it’s well worth it and saves you or your family the headache.
2. You want to save time
When you take the ACT solo, you have to pick from the ACT’s list of testing locations and dates, which can be inconvenient and hard to coordinate with studies, work, and extracurriculars. Taking it through your school, you won’t have to do any of this – instead, you’re simply taking it during class time.
3. You want the practice to increase your score
It’s been proven that the more you take a test, the better you perform. This is true for most standardized tests (even IQ tests!), because you’ll gain a better handle on time management, the material, and the format of the questions.
So if you take the ACT through your school for free, you’re freeing up money to take the test again and increase your score. The U.S. government has found that 57% percent of students improved their ACT scores on their second testing. Almost all students who score a 36 are veterans who have taken the test multiple times . And even if your overall score doesn’t go up, you can score higher on individual sections, improving your Superscore.
4. It’s a comfortable setting
You’re statistically more likely to test better in a setting that’s familiar to you. As much as you may be SICK of high school, the familiar halls can give you a psychological boost and improve your score in a number of ways: knowing your test proctors personally (+.28 standard deviations, baby!), repeated exposure to an environment (makes you feel less anxious), and taking a test with your friends (reassurance and confidence-building). There’s also evidence to suggest that the regions of the brain that process situations of familiarity also contribute to memory recall, association, and perception – in short, good vibes to have on a test! Not to mention more mundane factors, like knowing where the snacks and bathrooms are.
5. You can put yourself out there to colleges
You’ll find when filling out the ACT that you can opt to send your contact info to colleges (known as the “Educational opportunity Service”). While this doesn’t constitute part of an application and has no bearing on your acceptance, this can “put you on the radar” for mailings, promotions, and recruitment. Colleges can also purchase lists of certain scorers from ACT to send their materials to, so the ACT is a good way to invite colleges to introduce themselves to you.
6. You can qualify for financial aid and academic scholarships.
Several colleges and organizations use ACT scores to select students for different scholarships and honors programs. At some schools, your ACT score can even qualify you for a full ride. By taking the ACT for free through your school, you’re effectively winning free money if you score well.
You might be wondering: “If all the juniors in my state take the ACT at once, wouldn’t that make the curve more unfavorable? I’d be taking the test in the same group as all those powerhouse schools from downstate. If they get high scores in the 30s, does that skew the grading curve?”
The answer is, thankfully, no. Your ACT score is NOT affected by other test-takers. Your number is calculated in relation to the test itself, not the distribution of scores across the testing group. If you get a 90%, you get a 90% — end of story. Even if everyone else in your sample group scored a 100% (36), your 90% would remain the same (i.e., about a 29).
The only “curve” used by the ACT are slight statistical corrections that differ from test to test. ACT prepares these curves beforehand based on how challenging the questions are going to be. For example, I once took an ACT exam that bumped everyone’s score up a bit, because a certain math question was deemed to be exceedingly hard. So all you need to do is focus on the material in front of you, not anyone else.