🧪 To Science or Not to Science: Decoding the New Optional ACT
If you've started looking into the ACT recently and noticed something different, you're not imagining it. Starting in 2025, ACT rolled out its biggest redesign in decades—the “Enhanced ACT"—and one of the headline changes is this: the Science section is no longer required.
For the first time since Science was added to the test in 1989, students can choose whether to take it at all. That's a meaningful decision point, and it's landing right in the middle of an already complicated testing landscape. So let's walk through exactly what changed, how the decision actually affects your application, and how to figure out what's right for you.
What Actually Changed on the ACT
Before diving into the Science question specifically, it helps to understand the bigger picture of the redesign, because the pieces fit together.
The rollout happened in phases: national online Saturday testing moved to the new format in spring 2025, national paper testing followed in September 2025, and school-day administrations (the ACT some students take during the school day, often paid for by their state or district) are transitioning during spring 2026. If you're not sure which version you'll be taking, check your specific test date on ACT's website.
Here's what's different about the Enhanced ACT:
The core test is now English, Math, and Reading only. These three sections are required for everyone, and together they take about two hours to complete (down from roughly three hours under the old format).
Science is now an optional add-on, similar to how Writing has worked for years. It costs a few extra dollars to include and adds about 40 minutes to your test day.
Writing remains optional, unchanged in format.
The Composite score is now the average of English, Math, and Reading only. Science is no longer folded into that headline number.
If you do take Science, it's still scored on the familiar 1–36 scale and reported as a standalone score—and if you also took Math, you may see a combined STEM score as well.
Each section now also has a few unscored, experimental questions mixed in (rather than a separate fifth test), and the overall question counts and section lengths have been trimmed slightly across the board.
The underlying skills being tested haven't changed. What's changed is the structure—and, most importantly for this post, the fact that Science is now something you opt into rather than something everyone automatically takes.
Wait … Does Skipping Science Hurt My Composite Score?
No. This is one of the most common points of confusion, so it's worth stating plainly: your ACT Composite score is calculated from English, Math, and Reading only, regardless of whether you take Science. Skipping Science does not lower your Composite, and for some students whose Science scores tended to run lower than their other sections, dropping it could mean a higher Composite than they would have gotten under the old four-section average.
In other words, opting out of Science isn't a compromise on your headline score. It's a genuinely separate decision.
So Why Would Anyone Still Take It?
If Science doesn't affect your Composite, why would you spend an extra 40 minutes (and a few extra dollars) on it? Two main reasons: some colleges still want to see it, and it can still work in your favor.
1. A small number of colleges still require or strongly recommend it
Most colleges have adapted quickly to the new optional Science section, and the large majority no longer factor it into admissions decisions at all. But a handful of schools have taken a different stance. As of the 2026 admissions cycle, colleges known to require the Science section from students submitting ACT scores include:
Boston University
Georgetown University
Pomona College
The U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Air Force Academy
A few other schools' policies get reported inconsistently in different trackers (for example, some lists include Marquette University or Cooper Union as requiring it, while others don't), which is a good reminder that these policies are new and still shifting. Meanwhile, a somewhat larger group of schools don't require Science but clearly recommend it, especially for students applying to STEM-related programs. Duke, Johns Hopkins, the University of Michigan, Michigan State, and RIT have all been named in this category, and several counselors note that even at schools like MIT (where Science is officially not required), it's worth taking if you're headed into an intensive STEM program.
The takeaway: college-specific research is non-negotiable here. Before you register, or at least before your final test date, check the testing policy page for every school on your list. Policies are actively evolving as colleges catch up to the new ACT format, so what's true today may shift by the time you apply. Therefore, you should always verify directly on the college's admissions website rather than relying on a single blog post (including this one).
2. Superscoring and STEM applications
If you're a strong test-taker in the sciences, or you're applying to engineering, pre-med, or other STEM-heavy programs, a solid Science score (and the STEM composite it can generate alongside Math) may genuinely strengthen your application. (Yes, even at schools that don't require it.) It's one more data point showing you can handle data interpretation, experimental design, and scientific reasoning under time pressure, which matters to admissions committees evaluating STEM readiness.
It's also worth understanding how superscoring interacts with the new format. Superscoring is when a college combines your best section scores across multiple test dates into one composite. Policies here vary quite a bit:
Some schools (like Vanderbilt) will factor a Science score into a superscore if it helps the applicant.
Others, including most schools that superscore using the official ACT superscore report, only ever combine English, Math, and Reading — Science doesn't enter into it either way.
A few schools, like Harvard, don't superscore the ACT at all; they look at your highest scores across sittings but calculate the composite from a single test date.
Because these policies differ so much from school to school, don't assume how Science will be treated: look it up.
What ACT Science Actually Tests (A Quick Refresher)
If you haven't looked at the section before, it's worth clarifying a common misconception: ACT Science is not primarily a test of science content knowledge. It's really a data interpretation and scientific reasoning test. Most questions ask you to read graphs, tables, and short experimental descriptions and then draw conclusions—skills that overlap heavily with reading comprehension and math, just applied to scientific contexts.
Under the Enhanced format, the section still has 40 questions, but you now get 40 minutes instead of 35, and there are seven passages instead of six. That's a small but real improvement in pacing. ACT has also said it's ensuring at least one passage per test features an engineering or design topic, and there's a slight uptick in questions that expect some outside science knowledge rather than pulling everything from the passage. Still, the core skill being measured—fast, accurate interpretation of scientific data—hasn't fundamentally changed.
So What Should You Do?
Rather than treating this as an abstract question, work through it the way you'd work through any other application decision, starting from your actual college list.
Take Science if:
Any school on your list currently requires it (Georgetown, BU, Pomona, and the service academies are the clearest examples right now).
You're applying to STEM, engineering, or pre-med programs at schools that recommend it, even informally.
You're naturally strong with graphs, data, and quick analytical reading — for these students, Science can be a fast, low-effort score to add, since it requires very little content review.
You're undecided about your college list and want to keep options open. A Science score costs you 40 minutes and a small fee; not having one when a school later asks for it costs you a retake.
Consider skipping Science if:
None of your target schools require or meaningfully weigh it.
You're working with limited prep time and want to concentrate entirely on English, Math, and Reading—the three sections that actually move your Composite.
Your energy and test-day stamina are better spent making sure you're sharp for the required sections rather than adding 40 more minutes to an already long day.
Science has historically been your weakest section relative to the others, and it's not required anywhere on your list—there's no reason to include a score that won't help you and isn't required.
A Few Practical Notes Before You Register
You choose Science at registration, the same way you've long been able to add or skip Writing. Double-check the box (or lack of one) before you submit.
In some testing windows, you've been able to add or remove Science up until the late registration deadline—but don't count on that flexibility being available for every test date or format. If you're unsure, it's safer to decide before your initial registration.
If you're testing under the school-day ACT, ask your school counselor when your specific administration transitions to the Enhanced format, since that determines whether Science will even be offered as an option on that date.
Keep a running list of your target colleges' policies as you build your list. A simple spreadsheet noting “Requires Science / Recommends / Doesn't Matter" for each school will save you from having to re-research this later and make the registration decision much easier when the day comes.
The Enhanced ACT has turned Science from an automatic requirement into a strategic choice — and like most strategic choices in the admissions process, the right answer depends entirely on where you're applying and what you're good at. For most students applying to schools that don't require or emphasize Science, skipping it is a perfectly reasonable way to shorten test day and focus prep time where it counts most. For students with STEM ambitions or specific schools that still want to see it, taking it remains a smart, low-risk addition.
Either way, the decision deserves a few minutes of real research on your actual college list before you check that box at registration. As with so many things related to college admissions, “optional" doesn't mean “irrelevant"; it means “worth thinking about." ⚖️
