The bottom line: score reporting rules vary by test and by school. Understanding how score choice and superscoring work — and where they don't apply — lets you plan your testing calendar to maximize the score you present without taking more tests than necessary.
What Score Choice Means for the SAT
College Board's Score Choice policy lets you select which test dates to send to colleges. If you sat for the SAT in March, June, and October, you can choose to send only the October scores. Schools receive only the dates you authorize — not your full testing history.
The important caveat: some schools opt out of Score Choice and require you to submit all SAT scores from every sitting. This is stated in each school's testing policy. Before you test, check whether your target schools require all scores — that changes how you think about low-stakes practice attempts.
What Score Choice Means for the ACT
The ACT works differently. By default, when you send ACT scores, colleges receive the scores from the specific test date you choose. However, if a school requires all scores, ACT's policy requires you to send them. Additionally, schools that accept ACT superscoring may request multiple dates in order to construct your superscore. Know each school's requirement before registering for additional ACT sittings.
How Superscoring Works
A superscore is the highest composite built from your best section scores across multiple test dates. For the SAT, a school that superscores will take your highest Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score from one date and your highest Math score from another, then combine them into a new composite.
Example: SAT sitting 1 — Reading/Writing 680, Math 640 (composite 1320). SAT sitting 2 — Reading/Writing 650, Math 690 (composite 1340). Superscore: 680 + 690 = 1370.
ACT superscoring works the same way — best English, Math, Reading, and Science scores from different dates are averaged into a new composite. Not every school superscores both tests. Check each school's Common Data Set or testing policy page explicitly.
What Score Choice Does NOT Protect You From
A significant number of highly selective schools — including several Ivy League institutions — require all scores regardless of College Board's or ACT's Score Choice policy. At these schools, you are expected to self-report every sitting, and the application honor code requires you to disclose your full testing history. Withholding scores at a school that requires all scores is a policy violation, not a strategy.
When to Retest — and When to Stop
Retest when: you have a concrete, realistic improvement path (a specific weak section you can address with targeted prep), and the improvement would meaningfully change your position relative to a school's admitted student profile.
Stop testing when: your scores have plateaued across two or more sittings, your target schools superscore so additional tests are unlikely to raise your composite substantially, or the time cost of another test prep cycle comes at the expense of essays, extracurriculars, or grades. More test dates do not automatically produce a better outcome — deliberate preparation between sittings does.