April scores are coming out. For some of you, yesterday. For others, ACT sent emails about shipping delays, and you’re waiting a little longer. Either way, this is the week where families open a score report and try to figure out what it means.
I’ve been on the other side of that conversation for almost two decades. Here’s what I tell every family.
Your composite — the number at the top of the page — is an average. Under the new Enhanced ACT, it’s the average of three sections: English, Math, and Reading. Science is optional now and reported separately. That matters more than people realize, because each section is a full third of your composite. One weak section doesn’t just drag you down a little. It drags you down a lot.
A 28 composite could mean three 28s. It could also mean a 33 in English, a 28 in Reading, and a 23 in Math. Those are not the same student, and they don’t need the same plan.
When you open your score report, skip the composite for a minute. Look at your section scores. If any section is three or more points below your highest, that’s the number that matters. That gap is where your points are, and it’s where your prep time goes if you retake.
Most families I work with don’t know about superscoring until I bring it up. Here’s what it means: most selective colleges take your best section score from each sitting and combine them into a new composite. Your best English from April can sit alongside your best Math from June. You don’t have to beat every section again. You only have to improve what was off.
That changes the retake conversation. Instead of “I need to do better on the whole test,” it becomes “I need to raise Math by four points.” The second version is a project with a clear scope. The first version is anxiety with a test date attached.
Not every school superscores. I wrote a full guide on how superscoring works and which schools do it. If you haven’t read it, start there; it changes how you think about retaking.
A retake isn’t always the right call.
It probably is if you’re below the middle 50% at your target schools, if one section dragged your composite down, if you had a bad test day, or if you didn’t prep the first time. Students who take the ACT cold and then do real preparation improve three to five points.
It probably isn’t if you’re already within the middle 50% and your time is better spent on essays and activities. It also isn’t if your score hasn’t moved after three or more attempts with prep. At that point, you’re looking at a ceiling, not a floor, and the honest conversation is about whether the SAT might be a better fit. Some students score meaningfully higher on the SAT because of format differences: different pacing, different question style, different rhythm. If the ACT isn’t budging, a timed SAT practice test is worth an afternoon.
If you are going to retake, here’s what I’d do differently this time.
April is an ACT MAK (My Answer Key) administration, which means you can order a copy of your test and answers. Start with your wrong answers. Go through the ones you missed and sort them: content gap, careless mistake, timing issue, or misread. That diagnosis is your prep plan. Most students skip this step and go straight to practice tests, which is like going to the gym without knowing which muscle you’re training.
Focus your prep on your weakest section. If Math was four points below English, most of your prep time goes to Math. Splitting evenly across all three sections feels fair but it wastes time. You’re not trying to maintain your strong sections—superscoring protects those. You’re trying to close the gap on the weak one.
Practice under real conditions. Timed, full length, no phone. A practice test isn’t a learning exercise. It’s a dress rehearsal. You’re training yourself to perform under pressure, and that only works if the conditions actually feel like pressure.
And put in the hours. Five or more hours a week of focused prep over four to six weeks is what it takes to see a real score change. Less than that and you’re going through the motions.
The Enhanced ACT is still new enough that a lot of families are navigating it without a clear map. Science being optional changes the strategy for STEM-bound students. English being a full third of the composite changes the priority list for almost everyone. I’ve written about the English traps that come up most often — comma splices and sentence structure are the quickest wins if English is your weak spot.
If your child is a sophomore and hasn’t taken a standardized test yet, this is the conversation to have now. Seven of the eight Ivies require a test score starting with the Fall 2027 cycle. Columbia is the only holdout. The test-optional window is closed.
One more thing.
I talk to families every April who are devastated by a score that is, by any objective measure, fine. And I talk to families who are relieved by a score that actually needs work. The emotional reaction to a test score is almost never calibrated to the strategic reality. That’s normal. That’s what the first 24 hours feel like.
But after the first 24 hours, the question isn’t “is this good enough.” The question is “what do I do now.” The second question has an answer.
If you want help figuring out yours, reply to this email or reach out at info@katefishertutoring.com. I read every response.
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