ACT Scores for Admission to Top California Colleges

What ACT scores do you need to get into one of the top California colleges or universities? This side-by-side comparison of scores shows the middle 50% of enrolled students. If your scores fall within or above these ranges, you're on target for admission to one of these top California colleges.

Realize, of course, that ACT scores are just one part of the application. The admissions officers in California will also want to see a strong academic record, a winning essay, meaningful extracurricular activities and good letters of recommendation.

California is an SAT-heavy state, so some schools have such a small percentage of ACT test-takers that they do not report the average scores.

You can also check out these other ACT links:

ACT Comparison Charts: 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 California Colleges ACT Scores (mid 50%) (Learn what these numbers mean)
	Composite		English		Math
	25%	75%	25%	75%	25%	75%
Berkeley	27	32	26	33	27	34
Caltech	33	35	33	35	34	36
Claremont McKenna	29	32	28	33	28	33
Harvey Mudd	32	35	31	35	33	35
Occidental	27	31	28	33	25	30
Pepperdine	-	-	-	-	-	-
Pomona	31	34	31	35	31	35
Scripps	29	32	29	34	27	33
Stanford	30	34	30	35	30	35
UCLA	25	31	25	32	26	33
UCSD	25	31	24	31	26	33
USC	29	33	29	34	28	34
View the SAT version of this table

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