What to Do With a Low SAT or ACT Score

Every student walks into their testing room with the hopes of getting at least a decent score on their SAT or ACT in order to increase the chances of getting into their dream school. Sometimes, things don’t go as planned. Whatever the reason, it’s important to think about what to do after receiving a low score on the SAT or the ACT. 

Test Again

If it’s not too late, you can always test again to improve your score. It’s highly possible that you didn’t do well the first time because you didn’t spend enough time studying. You may have thought that studying wasn’t important because you thought the test would be a breeze. If that sounds like you before your first SAT or ACT test and you didn’t score well, this is a wake up call to find some study techniques that work for you and sign up to retake the test. There are many well-regarded study tools for both tests, and you should always take practice tests and time yourself as if it were the real thing. Never go into an SAT or ACT test unprepared; you probably won’t like what you see on your score report.

Of course, there are other reasons you may not have tested to the best of your ability, but no matter what, you should definitely sit for another test if you have the time. It’s possible to increase your score by a significant amount if you put in the work.

Consider Alternative Options

If it is too late, and you don’t have another opportunity to test before your college applications are due, think about other possibilities for continuing your education. Your scores may not fit the bill for the schools you’ve been planning to apply to, so you might need to rethink your plan. Look into other colleges that typically accept students with lower SAT and ACT scores; this data can usually be found online. Also, there are even some schools who don’t require these test scores when you submit an application, including most community colleges. This can be an excellent, cheaper option to start off the next steps of your academic career. After a couple of years, many community college students apply to other universities at which they finish their degrees.

There are many options when it comes to completing a college degree, and you shouldn’t let low test scores hold you back. Spend some time considering options you may not have planned for, and if college is your goal, there’s more than one way to get there. 

Apply Anyway

You can always choose to apply to your schools of choice regardless of your low test scores, as it's possible to get into certain schools with unusually low scores depending on other variables. It’s not always about those numbers, and you never know what other aspect of your application will stand out to the admissions committee. Maybe you have some excellent skills, a unique story, or outstanding service work that can’t be displayed in a test score. If you end up with SAT or ACT scores you wish were a lot higher, but still desperately want to go to a certain school, apply anyway, and highlight other aspects of yourself that prove you’d be a great addition to their incoming freshman class. You never know what could happen!