Good ACT scores are the key to getting into the college of your dreams!

But what is a good score? For most students, scoring above average, 21 or higher, is a good score. For those applying to elite colleges, scores in the 93rd percentile (30+) or even the 98th percentile (33+) are good scores. But that’s the short answer… there is more to it than that of course. In this post, we’ll cover everything you need to know about ACT scores.

Table of Contents

How are ACT Scores Calculated?
What is the Highest ACT Score?
What is a Good ACT Score?
ACT Scores for the Top 100 U.S. Universities
What is an Average ACT Score?
What Is a Good ACT Score for Scholarships?
Should I Cancel My ACT Score if I Get a Bad Score?
How to Improve Your ACT Test Scores

How are ACT Scores Calculated?

The ACT test score range is between 1 and 36. There are two types of scores that fall in this range: your section scores and your composite score.

What are ACT Section Scores?

The ACT exam comprises four sections:

• English (with an optional essay)
• Math
• Reading
• Science

The score on each section is calculated by converting the raw score—the number of questions you answered correctly in a given section—to a scaled score in that 1-36 range. (There are no penalties for questions with an incorrect answer).

If you’re thinking “aw man, do I need to know a formula to figure out my practice ACT results??” — never fear! We actually have this handy dandy score calculator where you can plug in your raw scores to figure out your section scores. You can also check out our ACT Raw Score Conversation Chart for a sense of how many questions you need to answer correctly to get a certain scaled score.

What are ACT Composite Scores?

To make your composite, or overall, score, the test maker then averages your four scores on all sections. This is also scored using the 1-36 ACT scale.

So what is a good ACT composite score? Many factors will help you determine what a good ACT composite score is for you. But before we get into that, know that the composite score is not the only score that matters! The ACT score report will provide you even more information about your test-taking experience in the form of subscores.

What are ACT Subscores?

We’re so glad you asked! The Reading, Writing, and Math sections also have categories with their own score ranges, as noted in the table below:

What are ACT Percentiles?

Finally, last but definitely not least, you’ll see your percentile. Or, rather, percentiles.

Your ACT percentiles compare your scores to the scores of other test-takers. In your score report, you’ll be able to see where you stand both in terms of your composite score and your section scores.

If you scored in the 90th percentile, for example, you scored better than 90% (or 90 out of every 100) test-takers. If you scored in the 50th percentile, you scored better than half of your peers.

What is the Highest ACT Score?

Seeing as the ACT score range is between 1 and 36, naturally, the highest score that one can receive on the ACT is a 36. Here are some facts to know about the max ACT score:

• In 2018, only 3,741 students (out of nearly 2 million test takers) scored a perfect 36 on the ACT.
• You can miss up to five questions on the ACT and still earn a 36 (depending on what sections you miss them in!)
• The 99^th percentile of test takers includes those who earn a 35 or 34 on the ACT.

Getting the highest ACT score, while an amazing feat, is nothing worth breaking your back over. Sure, a perfect score does make your application all the more appealing—colleges love to brag about the percentage of perfect-scoring applicants they’ve admitted each year. And a 36 will definitely get your application moved to the top of the pile at less competitive institutions.

Still, a 36 was worth a lot more ten or fifteen years ago. Not only have many colleges and scholarships adopted more well-rounded admissions approaches to giving out letters of acceptance and/or monetary awards, but the number of students getting a perfect score on the ACT is also growing every year—truly an indication of just how competitive the college admissions process is becoming.

My advice? If you end up scoring in the 34 or above range on the ACT, it might be best if you’re trying to wow admissions committees through other aspects of your application. This advice is particularly relevant to admissions at Ivy Leagues and other competitive schools; some of these schools have a whopping quarter of their entering class scoring perfectly on the ACT or SAT.

But if you feel like getting the highest ACT score can help you shine at less competitive colleges, make sure to check out our post on perfect ACT score stories to know how it’s done!

What is a Good ACT Score?

The ACT, like its cousin the SAT, is a standardized test meant to measure both knowledge gained in high school and potential to succeed in a college setting. The higher the score, the more likely you will get into the colleges of your choice.

That being said, there’s no straight answer on what is a good or bad score; it depends entirely on you, your goals, your grades, your extracurriculars, the schools you want to apply to, and a variety of other factors. A passing score on the ACT for someone else might not be a passing score for you and vice versa.

Furthermore, while most schools care about the composite score, some will look specifically for your subject area scores. So even a number isn’t just a single number.

Don’t worry, though. I’m not copping out on an answer, I promise!

Objectively speaking, a score of 32 or higher would put you in a competitive position for any school that you choose apply to. If that’s your goal, check out this video by Magoosh expert Kristin on how to get the highest ACT score:

But unless you want to go to super-elite schools, you might find it more useful to focus on your GPA and extracurriculars than aiming for the max score. That’s where it becomes useful to look at school rank when deciding what’s a good score on the ACT.

Good ACT Scores by Grade Level and School Rank

We’ve crunched some numbers and come up with what could be considered good scores, based on your ultimate school goals as well as your grade level. After all, a good score for a sophomore (who’s maybe taking the PreACT instead) won’t be the same as a good score for a senior. If you have time to improve your score by the time you’re applying to colleges, no need to pressure yourself to get the right score right away!

Please note that the numbers on the following ACT scoring chart are loose projections—as I mentioned earlier, a lot of factors affect how high of a score you need to achieve. ACT students with lower scores may still get into their dream schools and students with top scores may not. Still, this is a good place to start as you plan your ACT preparations.

Also, if you don’t know the rankings of the schools that you’re interested in, you can skip to the section on ACT scores for the top 100 U.S. Universities to see the competitive score ranges for a given school. After figuring out the rankings range of a few schools you’re interested in, you may choose to come back to this table to get a more solid idea of the score that you should aim for.

If you’re a sophomore or junior, a rise of four points a year is within your grasp if you study hard! If you let everything drop until the last minute, though, you may not see an appreciable rise at all. (However, taking advanced coursework should help give your scores a bump.)

On the other hand, if you’ve scored a 36 and you’re a sophomore, that’s awesome. Don’t take the test again. Also, what are you still doing reading this post?!

ACT Scores for the Top 100 U.S. Universities

Though not the only piece in the college applications puzzle, your ACT score is the first thing most admissions counselors see. If you don’t score in the same range as most of the current students, it is going to be VERY HARD to convince them that you would be the perfect fit. That’s why we provided for you, in the table below, the 25th-75th percentile scores (also known as the “middle 50%” scores) for the top 100 U.S. universities.

What do all those numbers mean? In short, the middle-scoring 50% of incoming students scored within this range. 25% of incoming students scored below the lower number, while 25% of incoming students scored above the higher number. Everybody else (the middle 50%) scored between the two.

Here’s an approximation of what the distribution of score percentiles could look like:

With all that said, take a look at the score ranges in 2019 below. You can search by school–if your schools of interest rank in the top 100, you’ll find it on this table. If the school’s middle 50% aren’t reported, take a look at the scores at similarly-ranked schools.

ACT Score Range for the Top 100 U.S. Universities

What are the Score Ranges for the Ivy League?

Ah, the $200,000 (and rising) question! No faffing about. Although the Ivy League score ranges were featured in the above chart, here they are again for your convenience:

If you’re wondering about the relative “value” of the SAT vs. ACT in Ivy League admissions, our ACT expert, Kristin, does a great job of explaining that in this video:

Final word? Remember that when applying to the Ivies, it’s important for your whole application to, well, sparkle.

If you’re scoring slightly below the middle 50% for your dream Ivy (or any of your dream schools, really), it’s worth putting in the time to pull it up. Maximize those chances!

What is an Average ACT Score?

So by now you know that the ACT score range is 1-36, and that 36 is the perfect score. You also have some idea of where you’ll need to score to get into your dream school. You might already have an idea on how you would score on the ACT if you took the test today, either because you have taken real or practice ACT tests or you can convert your SAT score to a predicted ACT score.

But where do you stand compared to the average test-taker?

The ACT average score was 20.7 (composite) in 2019. Basically, if you scored above 21 overall, you’re ahead of the curve.

To see how far ahead of the curve you are, or the points you’d need to score to reach 21, looking at ACT percentiles is a good place to start.

If you’re feeling super competitive, you can also check out how your score compares locally in Average Scores by State.

Average Section Scores on the ACT

The average ACT composite score of 20.7 reflects the average overall score on the ACT tests. Let’s take a look at how this breaks down for each of the four tests and the essay (which isn’t factored into your overall score) on the following score chart.

A Word About ACT Writing Scores

If you’re craving more detail on scoring the essay and the English section, find out what we say when students ask “What is a Good ACT Writing Score?” and “What is a Good ACT English Score?” (We get a lot of questions around here!)

What Is a Good ACT Score for Scholarships?

Imagine this: It’s test day, and you’ve finally finished taking the ACT. The proctor calls “pencils down!” You turn in your test, walking out of the room with a sense of accomplishment, pride…and potential fistfuls of dollars.

Yup, a strong score can put you in the running for scholarships. But just what is that strong score for scholarships?

As in the case of college admissions, there’s no one magic number. On the other hand, there are a few guidelines we can look at.

If you’re scoring in the 30s, that’s a great place to start. After all, if you score above 30, you’re in the top tenth percentile of all ACT test-takers.

On the other hand, you can still get a scholarship even if you’re scoring in the mid-20s.

The main variables here? Which scholarships you’re applying for, and which schools you hope to attend.

How Much Money Will I Get?

In almost every case, the higher your score, the bigger the payout. However, please note that for the 2020-2021 admissions cycle, many schools are weighting the importance of test scores differently, so some of these examples may change.

In previous years, Baylor University has given scholarships of up to $21,000 a year to students getting at least a 31. But knock that down a few points to a 28 ACT score (and keep everything else, such as GPA or class rank, the same), and suddenly that scholarship’s $18,000 a year.

Arizona State University gives in-state students scoring 21 on the ACT (and a 4.0 GPA) up to $10,000 a year. Four points more, though, and students with a 25 ACT score are eligible for up to $12,000 annually.

Some scholarships will also have additional requirements, such as a minimum GPA or an application to fill out, so be sure to thoroughly check eligibility requirements before assuming that money’s in the bank.

Should I Cancel My ACT Score if I Get a Bad Score?

If you get your ACT scores and find that you’ve scored significantly below your target score, you might be tempted to cancel your ACT scores, worrying that colleges would penalize you for having low scores on your record. But there are a few reasons why you should definitely not cancel your ACT scores.

First and foremost, if you take the ACT more than once, most colleges only care about the highest ACT score you earn. And that’s true even if you do a little worse on the second try, so it’s just best to keep all the options on the table by not canceling scores.

Other colleges superscore ACT results, meaning that if your highest subscores for each section are spread out across different test dates, colleges will only focus on those highest scores. It’s like making a standardized test version of Frankenstein, but using only the best parts!

So let’s say you take the ACT and score really well on Math and Science but not so great on Reading and Writing. If you cancel your scores, you’d risk those great Math and Science scores that could potentially be superscored with better future results in Reading and Writing.

Another reason not to cancel your ACT scores is that you’d be giving up a clear-cut set of results that explains your strengths and weaknesses when your scores come out. Even “bad” results are an invaluable tool for getting great ACT scores next time.

To learn more about how to make the most of a potential ACT retake, read on to the next section!

How to Improve Your ACT Test Scores

Whether you have a few years or a few days before you take the official ACT, here is our complete guide on improving your ACT scores to help you be the best ACT student you can be. (The Magoosh ACT Blog is generally a good place to get free advice on ACT study plans, the best ACT resources out there, and everything else ACT-related).

Finally, if you take the ACT in December, April, or June, you have the option of signing up for the Test Information Release service, which will provide you with a copy of the test questions, your answers, and the answer key when you get your score report. You can sign up for this service through your ACT login page between registering for the ACT and up to five days after the test (if you order by mail, you have six months after your test date).

Although you have to pay, the Test Information Release gives an incredible amount of information to help you get closer to your ACT passing score. Keep in mind that because the ACT score release dates are typically 3 to 8 weeks after the test, you’d want to make sure there are ample test dates available for a retake before you’d need to send your scores to colleges.

A Final Word on ACT Test Scores

Whew! That’s everything you need to know about ACT test scores (and probably more)! If you’re wondering how your scores stack up to SAT scores (or still wondering which test to take), check out the ACT to SAT conversion.

Good job, guys. As a reward for sticking this post out and filling your head with all kinds of useful ACT information, check out how your scores compare to those of famous people and get the definitive answer to those eternal questions: Are you more of a Barack Obama or a Marilyn Monroe? Peyton Manning or Sonia Sotomayor? Now you’ll know!

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