Frequently Asked Questions on the ACT

Online registration is your best bet and is strongly recommended by ACT, but standard mail registration is also possible.

In the United States, the base fee covers the three required sections — English, Math, and Reading — and the optional Science and Writing add-ons each cost extra on top of that. International fees are higher. ACT updates these amounts almost every year, so check act.org for the current fees before you register.

Yes, you can make changes through your MyACT account, but extra fees apply. ACT charges a set fee to change your test date or your test center, and if you move to a date whose regular deadline has already passed you will also owe the late fee. Because the amounts change from year to year, check the current fees on act.org.

A headshot photo, information about your high school courses, and a credit card. The registration process takes approximately 40 minutes.

ACT-approved identification, admission ticket, no. 2 pencils with erasers, calculator, watch, and snacks.

Anything you don't need for the test — cell phones, smartwatches and other electronic devices, notes, books, scratch paper, highlighters, and any calculator that isn't ACT-approved. Electronic devices must be turned off and put away. When in doubt, check ACT's current test-day policy.

There is no limit. ACT no longer caps the number of attempts or requires a waiting period between them, so you can retake the test on as many future dates as you like — you just cannot sit it more than once on the same date. Most students test two or three times, and ACT will superscore your best section results across dates.

Seven times a year in the United States, U.S. territories, and Puerto Rico — in September, October, December, February, April, June, and July. International testing runs separately, on fewer dates and increasingly online, so check act.org for what is offered in a given country. Arranged testing may be possible for students who live far from any test center.

Multiple-choice section and Composite scores usually appear in your MyACT account within two to eight weeks of the test date — most within about four. Writing scores generally follow a couple of weeks later.

If you designated score report recipients at registration, the timeline is probably similar (four to 10 weeks for all scores). However, this is dependent on internal university distribution procedures, over which neither you nor ACT have any control.

Your Composite (the average of English, Math, and Reading), your individual section scores, any Science or Writing scores you chose to earn, the STEM score (if you took Science) and the ELA score (if you took Writing), reporting-category breakdowns within each section, national and state percentiles, and whether you met each College Readiness Benchmark.

You can. ACT lets you request that the scores from a test date be cancelled, in which case the record is permanently removed and any recipients are notified. There is also a short window — about five days after the test, before scores are released — to stop your reports from being sent so colleges never receive them.

Yes, if they require a standardized test for admission, your U.S. school will accept the ACT. Most test-optional universities will consider your ACT scores if you send them.

Maybe. Some foreign schools will require ACT or SAT scores from all American applicants, while some will not. We're sorry we can't give you a simple answer to this question; all we can do is refer you to your school's admissions office.

You will not gain an advantage by picking one test over the other. You should therefore choose the test that's best for you.

The most elite universities in the United States report average ACT composite scores of 30 or higher.