What are 'Super-Scores' and Which Colleges Accept Them

Some colleges and universities allow students to "super-score" their ACT and SAT test results. Super-scoring is the practice of taking the highest sub-scores and using them to create a new composite score. Some of the numbers that colleges use to attract new students include their freshman class's average ACT and SAT score. It makes them look more competitive to prospective students if their average score is higher.

For example, let's say a student takes the ACT twice with scores given below:

ACT 1: English 33, Math 25, Reading 29, Science 25. Composite 28.

ACT 2: English 31, Math 27, Reading 33, Science 25. Composite 29.

A school that super-scores will take the highest sub-scores in each category to create a new composite. Her super-score would be as follows:

Super-score: English 33, Math 27, Reading 33, Science 25. Composite 30.

Every school has their own testing policy. Calling the admissions department at each school is the best way to determine each school's policy. Below is a sampling of schools who will

accept super-scores:

American University

Amherst College

Babson College

Baylor University

Bates

Boston University

Bowdoin

Brandeis

Bryn Mawr College

California Institute of Technology (CalTech)

Claremont McKenna College

Colorado College

Connecticut College

Cornell

DePauw University

Drexel

Duke

Florida State University

Georgia Tech

Grinnell College

Harvey Mudd

Havorford College

Hawai'i Pacific University

Hendrix College

Indiana University Bloomington

Ithaca College

Johns Hopkins

Kalamazoo College

Kenyon College

Kettering University

Lafayette College

Lawrence University

Loyola University Maryland

Miami University

MIT

NYU

Northeastern

North Carolina State University

Pomona College

Purdue

Rhode Island School of Design

Rochester Institute of Technology

Saint Mary's College

Seattle University

Stanford

Syracuse

Texas Christian University

Tufts University

University of Chicago

University of Colorado – Boulder

University of Connecticut

University of Delaware

University of Denver

University of Georgia

University of Maryland

UMass Amherst

University of Miami

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University of North Texas

University of Puget Sound

University of Rhode Island

University of Tennessee

University of Vermont

Vassar College

Virginia Tech

Wake Forest University

Washington University in St. Louis

Wesleyan University

Williams College