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Submitting ACT Results Before Writing Test is Scored

Written by Sally Rubenstone | Oct. 1, 2009

Question: I took the September ACT and did much better than before, and that is the one I want the schools to see. I got everything but the writing results. I'm applying to some schools that have Rolling Admission and others with Early Action. I don't want to hold off on my entire application waiting for the ACT writing results that ACT says may take 3-5 weeks. Should I send in my application now with a self-report of my ACT score and explain how everything is there except my writing results...and I'll send them as soon as they are available?

Yep. That's fine. However, if a college requires the Writing test, your verdict may be postponed until that score arrives. Alternatively, if you did decently on the Writing section of your previous ACT, you can self-report that score, noting that it comes from a previous testing. If the rest of your application is strong, the college may not have to wait for your new ACT results ... or they may contact your counselor to confirm the Writing test self-report.

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.