Question in the title. When is it too late to take the ACT again? My goddaughter had over a 4.0 GPA in high school, yet for some reason scored only a 21 on the ACT, either because she wasn’t prepared or because her blood sugar was incredibly low (she’s a diabetic). The score is in no way indicative of her abilities. She’s currently enrolled in a community college. Can she retake the ACT for a better score? Or is it too late once you’ve graduated high school?
Her performance in community college will count for a lot more on her college applications than an ACT retake, so she’d be better off focusing more on that now.
ACT’s FAQ page is here. I see nothing to indicate that a college freshman couldn’t take the ACT (and “People of all ages and grade levels are eligible to take the ACT” under “Who can take the ACT?” certainly seems to suggest they can). Whether or not there’d be any point to it is another matter.
Yeah, after a year of community college a 4-year school isn’t even going to ask for her high school transcripts or standardized test scores.
College admission counselor checking in.
The goddaughter can take the ACT again; whether or not the four-year school she is interested in transferring to will accept it is a question of institutional policy. At my current institution, once a student has completed 24 hours of college credit, high school grades and ACT/SAT scores are not part of the admission/scholarship review process. My previous school had the threshold at 30 hours; most schools are somewhere between those two numbers. Students enrolled at another institution but with less than that amount of hours complete at the time of application have their high school info as well as any completed college coursework considered as part of the admission/scholarship review process.
In this particular case, if the student wished to transfer here after one semester at the community college, it would be a good idea to take the test again in either Sept. or Oct., to be sure the score got here in time for scholarship review. We would use the highest composite ACT/SAT the student recorded, be it the most recent score or an earlier one. She should check with the institution she is considering to verify their policy.
Thank you all so much! Survey1215, is it okay if I copy and paste your reply in an email to her?
After the 2nd year, she’ll take the CLAST (I believe, depending on the state), which is essentially the ACT equivalent for college sophomores.
Nevermind, it was Florida test, discontinued as of last year.
Sure.
Thanks again! She is much relieved.