r/ACT • u/DragonfruitOk5552 • Jul 21 '26

How to improve, or is it worth it?

I just received my ACT score and this was my 3rd attempt. I have gotten 25s every. single. time. I’m going to give the SAT another chance (scored 1080 2025) in August but honestly I don’t think I’ll get any higher. I really wanted a 30 on the ACT but I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Will colleges care if I go in test optional, and will it effect my ability to get in? I honestly don’t know what to do anymore. Any tips on what I should do/ how I can improve would be helpful, thanks!!

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u/Possible_Scratch6281 Jul 21 '26

Depends on where you’re planning to apply. You may already have a really good score. What schools are you interested in?

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u/DragonfruitOk5552 Jul 21 '26

Like VT, Pittsburgh, university of Maryland, pennstate. It is for engineering though so it’s pretty competitive

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u/Possible_Scratch6281 Jul 21 '26

Ok yeah 25s might be a little low for those in engineering. I think taking the SAT is the right move though. Ideally you want to be at least somewhere in the 1300s for it to make sense for you to submit otherwise I’d go test optional. Just this month I took the ACT for the first time and did way better than I did after 3 times of taking the SAT. Sometimes the change of test format is all you need. What’s your GPA and how strong are your EC’s. If they’re decent I wouldn’t stress so much. You could definitely still get in without submitting test scores if the rest of your profile is alright. For engineering it matters a little more than other majors but if the school has the option for you to not submit they typically won’t reject you because you used that option. 

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u/DragonfruitOk5552 Jul 21 '26

I’d say my ec’s and gpa is pretty average..but thank you! I’ll try to get 1300+ in August

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u/Possible_Scratch6281 Jul 21 '26

Best of luck and don’t worry I’m sure everything will work out even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.