Many colleges still weigh ACT scores heavily when you submit them—but "test-optional" means you often get to choose whether yours helps or hurts the file. As a parent, your job is to confirm each school's current policy, compare scores to real admitted-student ranges, and separate admissions from scholarship rules that may still require a number.
Test-optional vs requirements coming back
After pandemic-era flexibility, the landscape split. Plenty of schools remain test-optional—you send scores only if they strengthen the application. A growing set of selective colleges have reinstated ACT or SAT requirements for all or some applicants. Treat "optional" on a brochure as unverified until you read the official page for the year your teen applies.
The student-facing decision framework lives in should you submit ACT test-optional. Parents can help by pulling middle-50% ranges and walking through the submit-or-skip logic without pressure.
When submitting still helps
At test-optional schools, a score at or above the middle of recently admitted students is usually worth sending. It confirms academic readiness and can support course placement later. A score well below that range may be better left off so grades, rigor, essays, and activities carry more weight—but that is a school-by-school call, not a national rule.
Context matters: a score slightly below median might still help if the rest of the profile is strong in different ways. Use what ACT score you need for college and what is a good ACT score to anchor the conversation in your teen's list, not national averages alone.
Where scores still gate money
Admissions test-optional does not always mean scholarships are. Many automatic merit awards, honors programs, and state grant tables still use ACT cutoffs. Your teen could be admitted without submitting a score and still need one for the aid package you are counting on.
Before you tell them scores "do not matter anymore," check scholarship pages separately. ACT scholarships by score shows how often money is tied to specific thresholds even when the admissions office is flexible.
What to track as a parent
- Each target school: required, optional, or test-blind for the current cycle.
- Middle-50% ACT ranges for admitted students at those schools.
- Merit and honors requirements that mention minimum scores or superscores.
- Your teen's best official Composite and section highs vs those ranges.
Update the list when policies shift in spring or summer before senior year—do not rely on what older siblings did three years ago.
The bottom line
Colleges still care about ACT scores when they ask for them or when you choose to send a strong one. Test-optional widened the choice, but it did not erase the value of a competitive score—especially for scholarships. Verify policies, compare honestly to each list, and decide with data.
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This article offers general ACT prep guidance. The ACT can change from year to year, including its format, scoring, policies, test dates, and fees, so always confirm the latest details on the official ACT website at act.org before you make decisions. ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc. thirty-six is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by ACT.