Test Prep

What is the ACT? Everything you need to know in 2026

How the enhanced ACT works, what it costs, and when you should take it

What Is the ACT? Format, Scoring, and Cost in 2026
Last Updated:

Alex Harland

Princeton & Columbia University Graduate

Summary

The ACT is a standardized college admissions test developed by ACT, Inc. and accepted by every US university that considers testing. The current test, known as the enhanced ACT, has three core sections: English, Math, and Reading, running about 2 hours 5 minutes, with science and writing available as optional add-ons. Your composite score from 1 to 36 is the average of the three core sections. Registration costs $70 for the core test in 2026-27, with fee waivers available, and you can take it on paper or on a computer. Most students test for the first time in grade 11. With most of the Ivy League and other top schools requiring scores again, a strong ACT result carries real weight in selective admissions.

What is the ACT?

The ACT is a standardized test developed by ACT, Inc. that US colleges use to assess readiness for college-level work as one part of application review. It measures skills in English conventions, math, and reading, with science reasoning and an essay available as optional sections, and every US university that considers testing accepts it on equal footing with the SAT.
The test was redesigned in 2025, and the current version is known as the enhanced ACT. It is shorter than the test most older guides describe, science no longer counts toward the composite score, and you can choose a paper or digital administration at national test centers.

What is on the ACT?

The ACT has three core sections that every student takes, plus two optional sections you select at registration.
Section
Questions
Time
What it tests
English
50
35 mins
Grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, rhetorical skills
Math
45
50 mins
Algebra, geometry, trigonometry, statistics; calculator allowed throughout
Reading
36
40 mins
Comprehension across literary and informational passages
Science (optional)
40
40 mins
Data interpretation, graphs, experimental design
Writing (optional)
1 essay
40 mins
Analyzing and taking a position on a given issue
The core test runs about 2 hours 5 minutes across 131 questions. Math questions have four answer choices, passages are shorter than on the older format, and the science section tests how you interpret data and evaluate evidence rather than what science content you have memorized.

How is the ACT scored?

Each section is scored from 1 to 36, and your composite score is the average of the three core sections: English, Math, and Reading. If you take the optional science section, it is scored separately on the same 1 to 36 scale and reported alongside your composite without affecting it. Writing is also reported separately. There is no penalty for wrong answers, so you should answer every question.

Your ACT composite is the average of English, Math, and Reading. The optional science section is scored separately and does not count toward it.

You can't set a target without a baseline.

Find yours with a free ACT practice test.

A growing number of colleges superscore the ACT, combining your best section scores across multiple sittings, and ACT provides an automatic superscore report to make this easy. Superscoring is not universal, though, and because the composite basis changed with the 2025 redesign, some colleges are still updating how they handle scores from the older four-section format alongside current ones. Check each target school's policy before deciding which scores to send.

What changed with the enhanced ACT?

The enhanced ACT replaced the legacy format across all national test dates in September 2025 and reached school-day testing in spring 2026. The headline changes: the core test dropped from roughly 2 hours 55 minutes to about 2 hours 5 minutes, science moved from a required composite section to an optional add-on, math went from five answer choices to four, and passages got shorter throughout. You also now get more time per question on every section than the legacy test allowed.
If you prepped with older materials or advice, the differences matter for both strategy and registration choices.

Should you take the optional science or writing sections?

The two add-ons serve different purposes, and neither touches your composite.

Science

40 questions in 40 minutes for a small add-on fee. Scored separately, outside the composite.

Writing

One 40-minute essay for an added fee. Reported separately. Few colleges require it.

Science is worth considering if you are targeting engineering, computer science, or other quantitative programs, where a strong science score can reinforce your academic story. College expectations for the section are still settling after the redesign, so check the testing page of each school on your list before registering rather than assuming skipping it carries no cost. Writing is a narrower call: only a handful of colleges require it, and most applicants can safely skip it after confirming their list.

How much does the ACT cost?

Registration costs US$70 for the 2026-27 testing year, covering the three core sections. Adding science costs $5 and adding writing costs $25, so the full test with both options runs $100. Late registration, test date changes, and score reports beyond the four free ones carry separate charges, and international testing adds a significant surcharge.
Fee waivers are available for eligible US students in grades 11 and 12 who demonstrate financial need. A waiver covers registration for two ACT tests including the optional add-on sections, plus additional score reports and waived application fees at participating colleges.

Do colleges require the ACT?

Every US college that considers testing accepts the ACT, and admissions offices weigh it identically to the SAT, converting scores through official concordance tables when comparing applicants. No school prefers one test over the other.
The requirement picture has shifted sharply back toward testing. For the 2026-27 cycle, six of the eight Ivies require the SAT or ACT: Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, and Penn, with Princeton and Columbia joining in 2027-28. Stanford, MIT, Caltech, and Georgetown also require scores, as do the public university systems in Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee. Thousands of colleges remain test-optional, but at any selective school, admitted classes skew heavily toward students who submitted strong scores. If your list includes a highly selective school, plan to test.

It's a day or two out of a student's life. The transcripts, extracurriculars, everything else is four years in the making.

Kimberley L.

Former Stanford Admissions Officer

When should you take the ACT?

Most students sit the ACT for the first time in grade 11 and retake it in the fall of grade 12 if they want to improve. The test is offered on multiple national dates from September through July each year, there is no limit on attempts, and two to three well-prepared sittings serve most students better than repeated unprepared ones. Colleges generally accept scores up to five years old, so a strong junior-year result holds through your application cycle.
You control which sittings colleges see: ACT sends scores by test date, so you choose which dates to report, though some schools require all scores, so check each policy. December of senior year is typically the last national date that returns scores in time for regular decision deadlines. The stronger play is a grade 10 diagnostic to identify fit and gaps early, then structured prep in the summer before junior year so testing never collides with your hardest coursework.

You're going to take the exam no more than really three times on average, just because it's not going to budge that much.

Eileen D.

Former UPenn Admissions Officer

Pacing is still the ACT's defining challenge
Even after the enhanced format added time per question, the ACT moves faster than the SAT: roughly 57 seconds per question on average against roughly 82. Fast, accurate processing matters more here than deep reasoning on any single item, which is why strong readers who work quickly tend toward the ACT and why timed practice under real conditions is non-negotiable in prep.

What counts as a good ACT score?

It depends on where you are applying. The national average sits just under 20, but admitted students at the most selective universities typically score 33 or higher, and many merit scholarships start unlocking in the mid-20s. The useful benchmark is each school's middle 50% range for enrolled students, which tells you where your score sits against actual admits rather than the national pool.
→ What is a good ACT score

My advice is to be in that 25 to 75% range, and actually at the 50%, the middle of it.

Steve M.

Former Duke Admissions Officer

How does the ACT compare to the SAT?

Colleges accept both tests equally, so the choice comes down to fit. The ACT rewards fast processing across a broader math range with longer reading passages, while the SAT gives more time per question with an adaptive digital format and a heavier lean into algebra. The reliable way to choose is a full-length diagnostic of each, compared through the official concordance, before committing prep time to either.
→ SAT vs ACT key differences and which test should you take

At Harvard, there wasn’t a preference for the SAT over the ACT. Both were considered equally. What mattered was the strength of the score in the context of the student’s overall application.

Devery D.

Former Harvard Admissions Officer

How Crimson approaches ACT strategy

A strong ACT score does the most work when it fits the rest of your application: your coursework rigor, your intended major, and the academic story your file tells. Crimson strategists build testing plans on that principle, starting with diagnostics of both the ACT and SAT, setting score targets against your actual school list, and deciding deliberately whether the optional science section serves your profile. That integrated approach is part of why Crimson students secured 388 Ivy League acceptances in the 2025/26 cycle and are 7.4x more likely to be admitted to the Ivy League and Stanford than the general applicant pool. If you are building a testing plan now, a diagnostic review with a Ivy League admissions consultant is the fastest way to set the right target.

Thousands apply. Very few stand out.

Crimson students do.

Written by

Alex Harland

Senior Editor at Crimson Education

A Princeton and Columbia alum and former Princeton applicant interviewer, Alex writes admissions content for students targeting top US universities.

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