Superscoring and Score Choice Policies

Superscoring

Many in college admission talk about reading applications holistically and supportively; one way they can do this is by “superscoring” standardized tests. This means that if you take the SAT more than once, the admission office will take the highest section score across test administrations and assign you a new, higher total score. For instance, if you scored a 650 EBRW and 670 Math (Total 1320) in March and a 700 EBRW and 650 Math (Total 1350) in May, your superscore would be 700 + 670 = 1370. For the ACT, this process generally takes the form of taking your highest test scores across test administrations, but may not result in a new Composite score because colleges use test scores individually.

Score Choice

The College Board and ACT have adopted policies, generally referred to as “Score Choice,” designed to give students some control over how SAT, Subject Test, and ACT scores are reported. Colleges, however, have the final say over what scores applicants should submit and how those scores will be used. Students should carefully review the score-reporting policy of each college to which they plan to apply.

Require all scores: These colleges explicitly require applicants to submit all test scores.
Recommend all scores: These colleges recommend but do not require that applicants send all test scores. These schools’ admission offices will create superscores for applicants, and counselors do not want students to inadvertently neglect to send a high section score.
Accept score choice: These colleges will accept whichever scores an applicant elects to submit.

In the table below, you will find the superscore and score choice policies of many popular colleges. We are working to build out this database to include the 360 popular colleges whose ACT Writing and SAT Essay policies, SAT Subject Test policies, and estimated new SAT score ranges we also track.

School	Superscore SAT	Superscore ACT	Score Choice
Abilene Christian University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Adelphi University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Agnes Scott College	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Albion College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Allegheny College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
American University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Amherst College	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Appalachian State University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Arizona State University—Tempe	No	No	Score choice OK
Auburn University	No	No	Score choice OK
Augustana College	No	No	Score choice OK
Austin College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Babson College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Baldwin Wallace University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Bard College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Barnard College	Yes	No	Requires all SAT or ACT
Bates College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Baylor University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Beloit College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Bennington College	Yes	Yes*	Score choice OK
Bentley University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Berea College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Berry College	Yes	No	Recommends all
Binghamton University—SUNY	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Biola University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Birmingham-Southern College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Boston College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Boston University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Bowdoin College	Yes*	Yes	Score choice OK
Bradley University	No	No	Score choice OK
Brandeis University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Brigham Young University—Provo	No	No	Score choice OK
Brown University	Yes	Yes*	Score choice OK
Bryn Mawr College	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Bucknell University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Butler University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
California Institute of Technology	Yes	No*	Score choice OK
California Lutheran University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
California Polytechnic State University—San Luis Obispo	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
California State Polytechnic University--Pomona	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
California State University--Fresno	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
California State University--Fullerton	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
California State University--Long Beach	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
California State University--Los Angeles	Yes	Yes	Score Choice OK
California State University--Monterey Bay	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
California State University--Northridge	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Carleton College	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Carnegie Mellon University	Yes	No	Requires all SAT or ACT
Carroll College	No	No	Recommends all
Case Western Reserve University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Centre College	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Chapman University	Yes	No	Recommends all
Christopher Newport University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Claremont McKenna College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Clark University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Clarkson University	No	No	Score choice OK
Clemson University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Coe College	No	No	Score choice OK
Colby College	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Colgate University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
College of Charleston	Yes	No	Recommends all
College of New Jersey	Yes	No	Score choice OK
College of St. Benedict	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
College of the Holy Cross	Yes	No	Score choice OK
College of William and Mary	Yes	No	Score choice OK
College of Wooster	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Colorado College	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Colorado School of Mines	No	No	Score choice OK
Colorado State University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Columbia University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Concordia College—Moorhead	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Connecticut College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Cooper Union	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Cornell College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Cornell University	Yes*	No	Requires all ACT; SAT Score Choice OK
Creighton University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
CUNY—Baruch College	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Dartmouth College	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Davidson College	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Denison University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
DePaul University	No	No	Score choice OK
DePauw University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Dickinson College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Drake University	No	No	Score choice OK
Drew University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Drexel University	Yes	No	Recommends all
Drury University	No	No	Score choice OK
Duke University	Yes*	Yes*	Score choice OK
Duquesne University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Earlham College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Elmhurst College	No	No	Score choice OK
Elon University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Emerson College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Emory University	Yes	No	Recommends all
Fairfield University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Florida Institute of Technology	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Florida State University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Fordham University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Franklin and Marshall College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Furman University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Gallaudet University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
George Mason University	Yes	No	Recommends all
George Washington University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Georgetown University	Yes	No	Requires all scores
Georgia Institute of Technology	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Gettysburg College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Gonzaga University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Goshen College	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Goucher College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Grinnell College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Gustavus Adolphus College	No	No	Score choice OK
Hamilton College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Hampden-Sydney College	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Hampton University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Hanover College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Harvard University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Harvey Mudd College	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Haverford College	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Hendrix College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
High Point University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Hillsdale College	No	No	Score choice OK
Hobart and William Smith Colleges	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Hofstra University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Hollins University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Hope College	No	No	Score choice OK
Howard University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Humboldt State University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Illinois Institute of Technology	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Illinois Wesleyan University	No	No	Score choice OK
Indiana University—Bloomington	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Iowa State University	No	No	Score choice OK
Ithaca College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
James Madison University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
John Brown University	No	No	Score choice OK
Johns Hopkins University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Kalamazoo College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Kenyon College	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Knox College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Lafayette College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Lake Forest College	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Lawrence University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Lehigh University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Lewis & Clark College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Lipscomb University	No	No	Score choice OK
Louisiana State University—Baton Rouge	No	No	Score choice OK
Loyola Marymount University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Loyola University Chicago	No	No	Score choice OK
Loyola University Maryland	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Loyola University New Orleans	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Luther College	Yes	No	Recommends all
Macalester College	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Marist College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Marquette University	No	No	Score choice OK
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Mercer University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Miami University—Oxford	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Michigan State University	No	No	Score choice OK
Michigan Technological University	No	No	Score choice OK
Middlebury College	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Mills College	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Millsaps College	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Milwaukee School of Engineering	No	No	Recommends all
Mississippi State University	No	No	Score choice OK
Missouri University of Science & Technology	No	No	Score choice OK
Morehouse College	Yes	Contact college	Score choice OK
Mount Holyoke College	No	No	Score choice OK
Muhlenberg College	Yes	No	Score choice OK
New College of Florida	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
New Jersey Institute of Technology	Yes	No	Score choice OK
New School	No	No	Score choice OK
New York University	Yes	Yes*	Score choice OK
North Carolina State University—Raleigh	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Northeastern University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Northwestern University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Oberlin College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Occidental College	Yes	Yes*	Score choice OK
Ohio State University—Columbus	No	No	Score choice OK
Ohio University	Yes	No	Recommends all
Ohio Wesleyan University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Oklahoma State University	No	No	Recommends all
Oregon State University	No	No	Recommends all
Pacific Lutheran University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Pennsylvania State University—University Park	No	No	Recommends all
Pepperdine University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Pitzer College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Point Loma Nazarene University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Pomona College	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Pratt Institute	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Presbyterian College (SC)	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Princeton University	Yes	No	Recommends all
Providence College	Yes	No	Recommends all
Purdue University—West Lafayette	Yes	Yes*	Score choice OK
Queens University of Charlotte	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Quinnipiac University	Yes	No	Recommends all
Randolph-Macon College	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Reed College	Yes	No	Recommends all
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Rhode Island School of Design	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Rhodes College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Rice University	Yes	No	Requires all SAT or ACT
Ripon College	No	No	Score choice OK
Rochester Institute of Technology	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Rollins College	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey—New Brunswick	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey—Newark	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Saint Louis University	No	No	Score choice OK
Samford University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
San Diego State University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
San Francisco State University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
San Jose State University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Santa Clara University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Sarah Lawrence College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Scripps College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Seattle University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Seton Hall University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Sewanee—University of the South	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Siena College	Yes	No	Recommends all
Simmons College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Skidmore College	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Smith College	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Soka University of America	Yes	Yes	Requires all SAT or ACT
Southern Methodist University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Southwestern University	Yes	No	Recommends all
Spelman College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
St. John Fisher College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
St. John's College Annapolis	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
St. John's University (NY)	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
St. Lawrence University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
St. Mary's College (IN)	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
St. Mary's College of California	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
St. Mary's College of Maryland	Yes	No	Recommends all
St. Michael's College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
St. Olaf College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Stanford University	Yes	No**	Score choice OK
Stetson University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Stevens Institute of Technology	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Stonehill College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Stony Brook University—SUNY	Yes	No	Recommends all
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
SUNY—Geneseo	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Susquehanna University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Swarthmore College	Yes	Yes*	Score choice OK
Syracuse University	Yes	Yes	Requires all scores
Taylor University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Temple University	Yes	No	Recommends all
Texas A&M University—College Station	No	No	Requires all scores
Texas Christian University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Texas Lutheran University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
The Catholic University of America	Yes	No	Score choice OK
The Citadel	Yes	No	Requires all SAT or ACT
Thomas Aquinas College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Transylvania University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Trinity College (Hartford)	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Trinity University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Truman State University	No	No	Score choice OK
Tufts University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Tulane University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Union College (Schenectady, NY)	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
United States Air Force Academy	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
United States Coast Guard Academy	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
United States Military Academy	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
United States Naval Academy	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University at Albany—SUNY	Yes	No	Score choice OK
University at Buffalo—SUNY	Yes	No	Score choice OK
University of Alabama	No	No	Score choice OK
University of Arizona	No	No	Score choice OK
University of Arkansas—Fayetteville	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of California—Berkeley	No	No	Requires all SAT or ACT
University of California—Davis	No	No	Requires all SAT or ACT
University of California—Irvine	No	No	Requires all SAT or ACT
University of California—Los Angeles	No	No	Requires all SAT or ACT
University of California—Merced	No	No	Requires all SAT or ACT
University of California—Riverside	No	No	Requires all SAT or ACT
University of California—San Diego	No	No	Requires all SAT or ACT
University of California—Santa Barbara	No	No	Requires all SAT or ACT
University of California—Santa Cruz	No	No	Requires all SAT or ACT
University of Chicago	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
University of Cincinnati	No	No	Recommends all
University of Colorado—Boulder	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
University of Connecticut	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of Dallas	Yes	No	Recommends all
University of Dayton	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of Delaware	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
University of Denver	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of Florida	Yes	No	Score choice OK
University of Georgia	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of Hawaii at Manoa	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of Illinois—Chicago	No	No	Score choice OK
University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign	Yes*	Yes*	Score choice OK
University of Iowa	No	No	Score choice OK
University of Kansas	No	No	Score choice OK
University of Kentucky	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
University of La Verne	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of Mary Washington	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of Maryland—College Park	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of Massachusetts—Amherst	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of Miami	Yes	Yes	Requires all SAT or ACT
University of Michigan—Ann Arbor	Yes*	Yes*	Score choice OK
University of Minnesota—Twin Cities	No	No	Recommends all
University of Mississippi	No	No	Score choice OK
University of Missouri	No	No	Score choice OK
University of Nebraska—Lincoln	No	No	Score choice OK
University of New Hampshire	Yes	No	Recommends all
University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of North Carolina—Wilmington	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
University of Notre Dame	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of Oklahoma	No	No	Score choice OK
University of Oregon	Yes	No	Score choice OK
University of Pennsylvania	Yes	Yes	Score Choice OK
University of Pittsburgh	Yes	No	Recommends all
University of Portland	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of Puget Sound	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of Redlands	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
University of Richmond	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of Rochester	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of San Diego	Yes	No	Recommends all
University of San Francisco	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
University of South Carolina	Yes	No	Requires all scores
University of South Florida	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
University of Southern California	Yes	No	Score choice OK
University of St. Thomas (MN)	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
University of Tennessee	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
University of Texas—Austin	No	No	Score choice OK
University of Texas—Dallas	No	No	Score choice OK
University of the Pacific	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
University of Tulsa	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
University of Utah	No	No	Score choice OK
University of Vermont	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
University of Virginia	Yes*	Yes*	Score choice OK
University of Washington	Yes	Yes	Requires all scores
University of Wisconsin—Madison	No	No	Recommends all
Ursinus College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Valparaiso University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Vanderbilt University	Yes	No	Recommends all
Vassar College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Villanova University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Virginia Commonwealth University	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Virginia Military Institute	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Wabash College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Wake Forest University	Yes	Yes*	Score choice OK
Washington and Jefferson College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Washington and Lee University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Washington College	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Washington State University	Yes	Yes	Recommends all
Washington University in St. Louis	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Wellesley College	No	No	Score choice OK
Wesleyan University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Westmont College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Wheaton College (IL)	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Whitman College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Whittier College	Yes	No	Score choice OK
Willamette University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Williams College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Wofford College	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Worcester Polytechnic Institute	No	No	Score choice OK
Xavier University	Yes	Yes	Score choice OK
Yale University	Yes	Yes	Requires all SAT or ACT
Yeshiva University	Yes**	Yes**	Score choice OK

* Weak Superscoring—This school falls somewhere between “highest composite” and true superscoring. For instance, Cornell, Duke, and NYU look at the highest subscores even though they do not build a new composite score. We find this to be almost a distinction without a difference, especially since some colleges do the same thing behind the scenes but label it “superscoring.”

**Stanford does not superscore ACT; however the website states, “For the ACT, we will review all subscores and will focus on the highest Composite and the highest English and writing scores from all test sittings.”

Post a comment or send an email to guide@compassprep.com with questions or recommended changes.

Updated 8/13/18

117 Comments

Aurora says:

October 19, 2018 at 9:22 pm

Hello, if a college like CMU requires all SAT and ACT scores does that mean they also require all subject scores?

- Art Sawyer says:
  
  October 22, 2018 at 11:45 am
  
  Aurora,
  This is a point of confusion because College Board’s score reporting tool only tells students whether or not a school participates in Score Choice. We have found that almost all colleges make an exception for Subject Tests. In other words, just because you need to submit all SAT scores does not automatically mean that you must submit all Subject Test scores. It is best to check with individual colleges. My understanding is that CMU no longer requires to submit all Subject Test scores and that you can choose which ones to send. Again, I would check with the university.
  
Erin says:

November 18, 2018 at 6:59 pm

A&M requires all scores, please do not mislead others

- Ash Kramer says:
  
  November 19, 2018 at 9:49 am
  
  Hi Erin,
  
  Thank you for the note. We’ve updated our resources.
  
M says:

November 19, 2018 at 2:12 pm

Cornell doesn’t require all scores anymore. They allow score choice for SAT+Subject Tests. All ACT Scores do have to be submitted though.
https://admissions.cornell.edu/standardized-testing-requirements

- Art Sawyer says:
  
  November 26, 2018 at 6:13 pm
  
  Updated. Thank you, M.
  
Jo says:

December 1, 2018 at 1:57 pm

I am still unclear about Georgetown testing requirements. If the student took both SAT & ACT, do they have to submit all scores, from all sittings , from both? In other words, does Georgetown require entire student testing history (both SAT & ACT if student took both)?

- Art Sawyer says:
  
  December 3, 2018 at 10:53 pm
  
  Jo,
  Georgetown requires a student’s full testing history — every SAT, Subject Test, and ACT taken.

Superscoring and Score Choice Policies

About Ash Kramer

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