{"id":15379,"date":"2020-04-06t11:47:53","date_gmt":"2020-04-06t18:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/?p=15379"},"modified":"2020-07-21t00:00:53","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21t07:00:53","slug":"act-section-retesting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/act\/act-section-retesting\/","title":{"rendered":"act section retesting: how to retake individual act sections"},"content":{"rendered":"

editor’s note:<\/strong> because of covid-19, there have been some changes to the act<\/a>, including postponing act section retakes. the following information is still relevant, though the start date for section retesting is tba.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"studying<\/p>\n

the act has announced their intention to offer a new option: to retake individual sections<\/a> of the act exam, rather than taking the entire test again. depending on testing conditions, this will happen in 2021 at the earliest. this is great news for students who may love their act score in one, two, or three of the four act test sections, but have a particular area (or areas) that’s bringing down the overall (composite) score. your act sectional retesting lets you focus entirely on that section.<\/p>\n

retaking specific sections of the act instead of retaking the entire act has a lot of benefits. not only will it be cheaper (yay!), but it’ll also allow you to get out of the test center a whole lot faster. perhaps most importantly of all, it will let you focus your act prep on the area that most needs it–great if you need to plan your study sessions<\/a> around a busy schedule. <\/p>\n

with all of that said, we know that you’re likely to have lots of questions. not to worry! magoosh’s experts have done the research to find out everything you need to know about act section retesting and how to retake act sections.<\/p>\n

what are the requirements for an act section retake?<\/h2>\n

there are two main requirements for act section retesting. first, you have to have taken the act in full at least once before. makes sense, right? otherwise, how would you know which part(s) you want to retest?<\/p>\n

secondly, you’ll only be able to retake the act at test centers offering online testing<\/a>. luckily, there are more and more of these\u2014but check the ones in your area, just to be sure!<\/p>\n

how much does it cost to retake act sections?<\/h2>\n

nobody knows yet\u2014well, presumably act officials do, but they’re not telling! in 2020, it currently costs $52 to take the act without writing<\/a>. we hope that taking individual sections will cost less than this due to decreased administration costs of scoring it, but act hasn’t made any announcements about this yet. watch this space for updates!<\/p>\n

one thing that the act has announced is that fee waivers will be available for sectional retakes for eligible students. you can ask for up to four fee waivers\u2014but one waiver will be enough to retake up to three sections on a single test day, which is even more good news!<\/p>\n

when can you retake the act by section?<\/h2>\n

act retake dates will be the same as regular act dates. because act test dates<\/a> are already spread out throughout the school year and summer, with no more than one per month, you can retake parts of the act as soon as the next month. <\/p>\n

keep in mind, though, that it takes about ten days to get your act scores<\/a> in the first place, so you may want to register for a section retake before you even receive them if you walk out of the test center feeling like you bombed a particular section.<\/p>\n

if you’ve taken a gap year and are wondering if you can retake act sections after high school, you definitely can. high school students aren’t the only ones who can retake the act! you can even retake the act in college if you want to\u2014although college admissions committees in charge of transfer applications will look at your performance in college courses much, much more closely than your test scores, so it’s better to spend time working on your grades, rather than test prep.<\/p>\n

the act has recently announced their plans to postpone the rollout sectional retakes, since covid-19 has influenced testing so much this year. the original plan was to roll them out in fall 2020. however, act has not yet announced precisely when this option will be available, though it’s looking likely that it will be 2021 or later. we’ll update you as they release more news!<\/p>\n

what you need to know before retaking a section<\/h2>\n
\n why should i retake the act? why should i retake an act section? <\/font> <\/strong><\/summary>\n

the first answer is (relatively) simple: retake the act if you’re unhappy with your score and you have enough time for a retake. this is particularly true if the average act scores<\/a> for the schools you’re applying to are higher than the score you received.<\/p>\n

however, retaking an act section requires a little more analysis. you’ll need to review your act sectional scores (check your act score report<\/a>!) and see if your performance was particularly low in any area. even if you’re not happy with your scores in two or three areas, this makes you a great candidate for act section retesting!<\/p>\n

let’s look at two examples. say you’re a junior applying to ivy league schools. a good act goal is above 32. however, your sectional scores look like this:<\/p>\n