Will I get rescinded for accidentally reporting a superscore as a composite?

Applying to College
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I just got accepted ED to a school (which I dont really want to disclose), but when I self reported my ACT on the common app, I reported my superscore of 35 instead of a lower composite of 32 because I didn’t exactly understand what was meant to go there. Is this grounds for my admission to get rescinded? I only found out this was bad after one of my friends told me that schools care about composite scores even if they accept superscores (which the school I applied to does).. I’m honestly really stressed out and I don’t know if I should email admissions and tell them the issue, since I also reported the official ACT scores after I got admitted.

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IMO contact your AO. Better to acknowledge, explain, than for them to discover it without your being forthcoming. It’s probably not a big deal, since you did (via superscore) get the 35, so the reporting was the error, not the data itself.

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Unless the school doesn’t superscore.

I agree OP should contact their AO ASAP.

And for OP, assuming you used common app, the ACT question is simply report your ‘highest composite score’ (followed by questions asking for the highest score of each section). I think that’s pretty clear so you might just say you made an honest mistake rather than say you didn’t ’exactly understand’ what the question was asking. JMO.

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Contact admissions at that college directly. Then the response could be:

  1. ED admission is still valid, and you matriculate while cancelling other applications.
  2. ED admission changed to deferral, and you continue other applications.
  3. ED admission changed to rejection, and you continue other applications.

Any of the above happening now will be better than matriculating and then worrying about getting rescinded later.

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Good point. There are still some schools that don’t superscore.

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Good points. I would counsel OP to not pull their other apps yet and also to speak with their school counselor tomorrow at school.

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This is an interesting case. The OP “did “furnish the school with the correct Act scores. Yes, after the fact due to self scoring but he’s not hiding anything and the school does have his official scores now. I think that actually helps his case. At what point does the school look at and have the responsibility to compare his self score to the official scores given? You would think with ED that would be done right away.

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Call the school’s admissions office to inform them of this concern before withdrawing any other applications. My best guess is that nothing will change, but better to be cautious.

Congratulations.

This is an important fact.

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The school does publicly state that they superscore the ACT. I didn’t realize I had to submit a composite score on the Common App, which I didn’t foresee because submitting SAT scores on the Common App doesn’t ask for a composite score. Since the school does superscore the ACT, is it necessary for me to contact admissions and draw more attention to this issue? I’ve asked friends, parents, and college consultants to tell me not to draw more attention to it. Although the school does superscore the ACT, does the composite score still matter then?

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If you incorrectly filled out common and submitted your score after admittance, you 100% need to call and may be asked to submit an email.

And if you got any merit aid, even if your acceptance stays, that could be altered.

Don’t know the school but they will verify your score so it’s likely they already know.

So get ahead of it.

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I agree with tsbna. I would counsel you to reach out to your AO and communicate your mistake.

There is ZERO chance admissions won’t notice the discrepancy between the composite score you reported on your app and the superscore you just sent via official report. Knowing that, you can let them decide with no input or context from you how they will handle the discrepancy, or be proactive with communication. I don’t know if the school will care about the mistake, or not. Maybe it will impact merit, maybe not. But if I were the student who had made the mistake, I would want to communicate my dismay and apologize for my mistake.

You are right, the ACT question on the common app is different than the SAT. Not sure how that is relevant.

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Call the school. If there is a negative impact, which I doubt there will be, do you want to find out now or in May?

I really can’t believe any college paid consultants would suggest lying or hiding the fact.

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One thought is that this act has already corrected your earlier misunderstanding of the reporting requirement.

As pointed out by another above, further communication would be appropriate if you received a special benefit (merit scholarship or honors college membership) in part due to the misreported style of your SAT score.

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While I agree with the other posters that you need to follow up with the school and admit to an honest mistake - I also feel that you need to follow up in writing vs a phone call. If you do handle it by phone, please ask for the AO’s contact info and then send a confirmation email of your conversation to the AO to have it on record. AO’s change and just for peace of mind, you should have confirmation in writing.

You sound like a qualified candidate and congrats on the ED acceptance.

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