ACT Scores for Admission to Top Public Universities

Your ACT scores can be an important part of your public university application. This article presents a side-by-side comparison of ACT scores for the country's top public universities. If your scores fall within or above these ranges, you're on target for admission to one of these public universities.

ACT scores, of course, are just one part of the application. It's possible to have scores above the averages presented here and still get rejected if other parts of your application are weak. Similarly, some students with scores significantly below the ranges listed here gain admission because they demonstrate other strengths.

Also, if you are an out-of-state applicant, you may need to have scores significantly higher than those shown here. Most public universities give preference to in-state applicants.

To see a full profile of each college, click on the names in the chart below. You can also check out these other ACT links (or SAT links):

ACT Comparison Charts: 22 more public universities | the Ivy League | top universities | top liberal arts colleges | more top liberal arts | top public universities | top public liberal arts colleges | University of California campuses | Cal State campuses | SUNY campuses | More ACT charts

Data from the National Center for Educational Statistics

Top Public University ACT Scores (mid 50%)
(learn what these numbers mean)

	ACT Scores
	Composite		English		Math
	25%	75%	25%	75%	25%	75%
College of William and Mary	28	32	28	34	27	32
Georgia Tech	27	32	27	32	28	33
UC Berkeley	27	32	26	33	27	34
UCLA	25	31	25	32	26	33
UC San Diego	25	31	24	31	26	33
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign	26	31	26	32	26	33
University of Michigan	29	33	29	34	28	34
UNC Chapel Hill	27	31	26	33	26	32
University of Virginia	28	32	28	34	27	33
University of Wisconsin	26	30	26	32	26	31
View the SAT version of this table