To Science or Not to Science? Navigating the Biggest Change to the New ACT

The ACT is undergoing a major overhaul this year, transitioning to include a shorter time length, fewer questions, and a digital format option. Perhaps the biggest alteration is that the Science section will no longer be required and won’t be counted in the overall composite score. In the old scoring system, the ACT took the average of four sections (English, Math, Reading, and Science) to find the composite. The new, enhanced ACT will average the three non-Science sections (English, Math, and Reading) to find that overall score.

With so many changes, students are encountering whole new categories of questions and decisions, particularly regarding whether they should take the Science section at all and, if so, how to incorporate it into a test prep program.

When will the changes take place?

These changes are already underway! The digital format was available to students taking the April 2025 test, and it included all the updates (shorter time, fewer questions, optional Science). One of our tutors took that test and shared some key takeaways about the experience. 

However, while the digital version has now been fully updated, the paper version will remain in the old format (with a required Science section) until September 2025. At that point, the paper test will also transition to the new, enhanced ACT, with the exception of tests administered by schools (which will follow next spring).

Should I take the new digital test to avoid the Science section?

We recommend that students take the paper test until at least September of this year. Because this is a brand-new test, the ACT is likely to still be figuring some things out, and we don’t advise signing up to be guinea pigs in the experiment. This March, some schools had issues with an ACT digital test, and even students taking the SAT – a full year after that test’s digital rollout – encountered technical difficulties. We suggest staying away from the digital ACT for a few months to give them a chance to work out any glitches.

What about when the paper test upgrades? Should I leave off the Science section then? 

It might be tempting to knock an entire section off your testing to-do list, especially since it won’t count toward the new composite score. Nevertheless, we recommend keeping Science in your test prep for now and including it in at least one official test. 

Because this enhanced ACT is so new, many colleges haven’t yet announced whether they will consider the Science section to be optional or required. Others have already decided that they will still require or recommend submitting it, including MIT, Rutgers, and Boston University.

Why would colleges require a Science section that the ACT says is optional? 

The ACT does its best to build a test that will give colleges and universities useful information on whether a student is likely to succeed at their school – that’s why schools have kept requiring (or recommending) the ACT and SAT from applicants for so many years. The ACT seems to think that the Science section is no longer necessary, but testing companies haven’t always successfully anticipated what schools will want. For instance, although both the ACT and SAT added essay sections in the 2000s, only the ACT still includes one as an option on its regular testing day, and almost no schools require it.

Possibly the ACT is right and colleges won’t miss the Science section. After all, the SAT has never had a Science section, and colleges don’t have any problem with that. It’s important to note, though, that the SAT does integrate scientific reasoning and analysis into its Verbal and Math sections; it requires students to interpret charts and graphs, understand dense science passages, and analyze statistics questions about sample size, study methodology, etc. Maybe the ACT will add more scientific content to its English, Reading, or Math sections – or maybe schools won’t care one way or the other! 

As long as we aren’t sure, it’s better to have the Science score and not need it than to need it and not have it.

How do I incorporate Science into a prep plan for this new test?

Since the Science score won’t be included in the overall composite, you might only need to take it once. As long as you are happy with your score, you can leave it off your official tests going forward and focus on the remaining three sections.

For most students, the other three section scores will be the most important, since they will contribute to the composite. For instance, if you get a 25 in Science but a 30 each in English, Reading, and Math, you will still end up with a 30 composite – the lower Science score won’t influence that top number. Conversely, a higher Science score won’t “help out” a lower English, Reading, or Math score, so the importance of your comfort with grammar, reading comprehension, and algebra skills has increased significantly.

The good news is that preparation for Science mostly involves becoming as familiar as you can with the timing of the section and its question types. Despite the section’s name, you won’t need to memorize a lot of scientific facts or formulas. If you can dedicate some time each week to completing a few practice passages (along with a full Science section here and there), you should be in good shape to tackle this now-optional section, and you’ll be able focus the majority of your preparation time on the remaining subjects – and your topline composite score.

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