Are My ACT Scores Good Enough?

Question: Are My ACT Scores Good Enough?

What are good ACT scores? Do you have the ACT scores you'll need to get into your top choice schools? This FAQ will help you make sense of the relationship between college admissions and ACT scores. You can also check these ACT links (or SAT links):

• ACT Comparison Charts: the Ivy League | top private universities (non-Ivy) | top liberal arts colleges | more top liberal arts colleges | top public universities | top public liberal arts colleges | University of California campuses | SUNY campuses
• Colleges that don't require ACT scores
• Convert ACT to SAT

Answer: The importance of ACT scores should not be understimated. Colleges certainly take many factors into consideration when they make an admissions decision, but scores on the ACT or SAT give them the easiest tool with which to compare students. Put yourself in the shoes of an admissions officer for a moment. Which should you value more: Applicant A's semester in France or Applicant B's solo performance in the all-state symphony? It's a hard call. But a 34 on the ACT is undeniably more impressive than a 28.

Also, realize that most schools make their ACT data public, and they know that their reputations depend upon high numbers. A college won’t be considered "highly selective" or "elite" if its students have an average composite ACT score of 19.

So what is a good ACT score? The exam consists of four parts: English Language, Reading, Mathematics and Science. Each category receives a score between 1 (lowest) and 36 (highest). Those four scores are then averaged to generate the composite score used by most colleges. The average composite score is roughly a 20. That is, about 50% of test-takers score below a 20.

Very few students get a perfect ACT score, even those who get into the country's top colleges. In fact, anyone scoring a 34, 35 or 36 is among the top 1% of test-takers in the country. The list below shows the middle 50% range of ACT scores for different schools. The middle 50% of admitted students fell within these numbers. Keep in mind that 25% of students who were admitted scored below the lower numbers listed here.

To view the complete profile for a college, click on the school's name below.

Auburn (Main Campus)

• ACT Composite: 22 - 27

Carleton

• ACT Composite: 28 - 32

Duke

• ACT Composite: 29 - 34

Harvard

• ACT Composite: 31 - 35

Middlebury

• ACT Composite: 29 - 33

Pomona

• ACT Composite: 29 - 34

Stanford

• ACT Composite: 29 - 33

UCLA

• ACT Composite: 24 - 30