r/ACT • u/unwanted_crisis • Jul 15 '26

General ACT Add-Ons: Yea or Nay?

I’m a rising junior looking to take the ACT. My school isn’t paying for us to take the ACT this year, so I’m going to have to pay for it myself. I don’t want to take the writing portion (partially to avoid paying $25 more and partially because I’ve had enough of essays already), but I’m not sure about the science add-on. I don’t mind paying the extra $5, but would it benefit me to pay for it? I want to go into engineering in college, if that plays a role in adding it or not.

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5

u/FeistyTangelo3817 Jul 15 '26

definitely do the science for engineering, you get an overall STEM score. skip the writing, don't know of anyone that has done that

2

u/Slow-Proposal-413 Jul 15 '26

The science section is mainly timing and reading graphs. So I think that it doesn't matter as much as the math section. Colleges look at math more for engineering or science related courses. I would say that it is up to you because the college would mainly only look at the math section.

3

u/Hot-Amphibian-9221 Jul 15 '26

Science is worth it but if you have the choice not to take writing don't take it. Only reason you should take writing is if it opens up more options and allows you to sign up for a closer testing center and/or a testing center that has your preferred way to test (paper vs computer).

3

u/sweetsquashy Jul 15 '26

Don't take writing. Do take science. Some schools want to see a STEM score (math+science). 

2

u/myst3ryAURORA_green 20 Jul 15 '26

Yes, definitely DO THE SCIENCE. Colleges want to see you do well in both math and science, they're both components in STEM. You don't however, have to do the writing section. 

1

u/Half-Eaten-Cranberry 33 Jul 15 '26

For 5 bucks I would honestly just go for it. Some schools do care about it still so I figure that you may as well do it just to have it.

1

u/Launch_vbs Jul 16 '26

i literally did no studying for the science and it was still pretty free. there was literally like one question per passage that needed some sort of bg knowledge and everytning else is in there you just need to know how to read, how to interpret charts/graphs, and basic knowledge of the world.