Four Free Score Reports
The first and most straightforward method of sending your test scores to colleges is to use your four free score reports (which are offered by both the SAT and the ACT).
It’s also the most cost-effective. After all, these four score reports are completely free. Other methods of sending your scores, on the other hand, have fees attached.
But more on that in a bit. First, what are these four free score reports?
Simply, they’re four score reports that you can submit to colleges before you’ve taken your SAT/ACT. Yes, you read that right: you submit these scores before you’ve taken your SAT/ACT.
Well, kind of.
Here’s how it works: when you first register for the SAT or ACT, you have the option of selecting four schools to send your scores to. Obviously you don’t have your scores at this stage — you haven’t taken the test yet. So think of this step as a commitment to submit your scores to the colleges you select.
This means that once your test has been graded and your scores are out, College Board (the nonprofit behind the SAT) and ACT will automatically send them to whichever schools you chose when you registered.
Once you’ve completed the registration process, you can change your four schools as often as you want, but the amount of time you have to do so depends on the test:
- SAT: You have nine days after you take the SAT to change your four schools. You can change your schools from within your College Board account.
- ACT: You have until the Thursday after you take the ACT to change your scores. You can change your scores from within your ACT account.
This gives you plenty of room to change your mind if you’re still deciding which four schools you want to submit a free report to.
Pros of Using Your Four Free Score Reports
For starters, they’re free.
They’re also the easiest way to submit your scores. Once you’ve selected your four schools, you can sit back and let College Board/ACT handle the rest. Other methods of submitting your scores are quite a bit more involved by comparison.
Cons of Using Your Four Free Score Reports
The fact that College Board and ACT give you four free score reports is great, but it’s not perfect.
The biggest problem with this method of submitting your scores comes down to timing.
College Board and ACT automatically submit your four free score reports to colleges shortly after your scores are made available to you. This means that after you take your test, you’ll get your scores. Then, soon after you receive your scores, the four schools you specified will have them too.
The problem? By the time the four schools have your scores, the window to change which schools you’ve selected (or back out of sending your scores entirely) will have already passed.
So if you receive a score you’re not proud of and don’t want the schools you listed to know, there’s nothing you can do about it.
Nothing besides taking the SAT or ACT again and trying for a better score of course.
If you do retake either test, just make sure you keep in mind the submission policies of the schools you’re interested in. Some schools will accept your highest score on each section of the SAT and ACT across all times you took the test (this is called “superscoring”). Others will consider all your SAT or ACT scores — and yes, this includes your initial attempt and any potential retakes.
Some schools may even have superscoring policies that differ from test to test. For example, here at Chapman, we superscore the SAT but not the ACT.
The point: it pays to know how each school you’re planning on sending your scores to will consider your scores, so make sure to do your research beforehand.
Should I use my four free score reports to send my SAT/ACT scores to colleges?
If the cost of submitting your SAT/ACT scores beyond the four free ones is a primary concern for you ($12 per score report for both the SAT and the ACT), then yes, you should use your four free score reports to send your scores to colleges.
However, if cost isn’t an issue for you and you’re wary of poor performance on your test, you may want to hold off on reporting your scores this way. That way, you can see your scores before you commit to sending them. After you see your scores, you can decide whether you really want to send them in after all, or whether you’d rather retake the test for a better score. (Just keep in mind that some schools consider all scores from each time you take the SAT or ACT.)
Additional Paid Score Reports
When you register for the SAT or ACT, you’ll have the chance to select four schools to send your scores to for free.
Whether you take advantage of this free submission method or not (and there are valid reasons not to — see immediately above for more info on that!), you will still be able to submit your scores
Because once your SAT and ACT scores are released, you can send them to colleges whenever you want using additional score reports that you can submit from your College Board/ACT account at any time.
But there’s a catch: sending your scores this way is not free.
Sending your scores to colleges after you’ve already taken the test and the scores have been released costs $12 per score submission on both the SAT and ACT.
To send you scores this way, all you have to do is log in to your College Board/ACT account and follow the prompts. It’s a very simple process, so you likely won’t have trouble doing it.
Pros of Additional Paid Score Reports
While sending your scores using your additional score reports isn’t free, there is one significant advantage to it over using your four free score reports: you’ll see your scores before colleges do.
And that means that if you don’t score as high as you would’ve hoped, you don’t have to send your scores in at all. Instead, you can retake the test for a better score if you want. (But keep in mind that some schools consider all your SAT and ACT attempts.)
Cons of Additional Paid Score Reports
The biggest downside to sending your scores using additional score reports is how much they cost: $12 per submission. The costs can add up, especially if you plan on applying to a lot of schools.
Beyond that, there really aren’t any negatives to submitting your scores this way.
Should I use additional paid score reports to send my SAT/ACT scores to colleges?
It depends.
From a functionality standpoint, this is the best way to submit your scores because you’ll get to see your scores before you send them to colleges. Plus, on the SAT, you’ll be able to choose your best scores if you took the test multiple times by using SAT score choice.
That said, if cost is a major factor for you when sending your scores, then you’ll want to either:
- Budget out how many schools you can afford to send your scores to.
- Refrain from sending your scores using your additional paid score reports altogether.
