What is superscoring?
Superscoring means a college takes your best score from each section across all your test dates and combines them into one new total. For the SAT, it adds your best Reading and Writing score to your best Math score. For the ACT, it averages your best English, math and reading scores. Whether it counts is up to each college.
In more detail
Say you take the SAT in spring and again in fall. If your Reading and Writing score goes up and your Math score drops, a college that superscores uses the Reading and Writing from fall and the Math from spring. A bad section on one day does not hold you back, which is why a second or third attempt often pays off.
The ACT version averages instead of adding. ACT takes your highest English, math and reading scores from any test date, averages the three and rounds to the nearest whole number. Since 2025 the Composite leaves out science, which is now optional and reported on its own. Older tests with a science section still count: ACT picks the best section scores from legacy and current versions.
Superscoring is a college policy, not a test rule. Some colleges superscore, some use your single best test date, and some ask for every score. College Board's Score Choice lets you pick which SAT test dates to send, but a school that requires all scores will still see them. Check the score policy on each admissions site.
How the SAT and ACT superscores are built
| Test | What gets combined | Example |
|---|---|---|
| SAT | Best Reading and Writing plus best Math, added up | 700 Reading and Writing (fall) + 680 Math (spring) = 1380, higher than either single sitting |
| ACT | Best English, math and reading, averaged and rounded to a whole number | Best scores 30, 30 and 29 average 29.67, which rounds to a 30 |
Step by step
- 1
Look up the score policy of every college on your list: superscore, single best date or all scores.
- 2
Plan two or three attempts, since each extra sitting is another chance to lift one section.
- 3
Before each retake, find your weakest section and train that one first.
- 4
Keep a table of every section score by test date so you can calculate the superscore yourself.
- 5
Send scores through Score Choice or ACT's score reports, and respect schools that require all scores.
How StudyPDF helps
Superscoring rewards fixing one weak section at a time. Upload your prep book chapters and the questions you missed, and StudyPDF builds flashcards, quizzes and timed sets from them, then tracks per concept what keeps costing you points. You can also try free practice at SAT Math Practice Test and ACT Practice Questions. The free plan covers about 4 materials a week, no card needed.
See also
More questions
Do all colleges superscore?
No. Some superscore the SAT, the ACT or both, some use your single best test date, and some require all scores. Check the score policy on each college's admissions site.
Does the ACT superscore include science?
No. Since 2025 the ACT Composite and the superscore use English, math and reading only. Science and writing are optional and are reported separately if you take them.
Do it on your own course
Upload your lectures and ask Bo. Cited answers, plus flashcards, exams, and more built from your material.