ACT Scores - Average ACT Score | TestPrepToolkit.com (2023)

FAQs

What is the average score for ACT test? ›

Roughly 1.3 million students, or 36% of the U.S. high school graduating class of 2022, took the ACT. In 2022, the national average composite score was 19.8.

How Many People Get a 36 on the ACT? Getting a perfect ACT score is a pretty rare feat. The number of students in 2020 who scored a full 36 was 5,579 out of over 1.6 million — or about 0.33% of test-takers.

All that considered, yes, 32 is a good ACT score. To show you just how good, we have to look at the percentiles. A 32 ACT score puts you at the 97th percentile — that means you scored higher than 97% all test takers!

There's no need to retake the ACT with a score of 34. A 34 makes you eligible and competitive for all colleges and universities, which is the goal! For juniors, remember that most colleges weigh ACT scores and GPA about equally.

Is a 27 ACT Score (85th Percentile) Good? A 27 ACT score puts you a good deal about the national average (20.8) and makes you eligible for acceptance at a vast majority of schools.

What Is a Good ACT Score Overall? A good ACT score ranks you higher than the majority of test-takers. As such, any composite score above the 50th percentile, or 19-20, can be considered a solid score.

What's the Lowest ACT Score You Can Get? The ACT is scored on a scale of 1-36, meaning that the absolute minimum ACT score you could get is 1. This composite score is calculated by taking the average of all four section scores (English, Math, Reading, and Science) and rounding (so anything ending with a .

Based on the ACT practice tests, most sections require you to miss 0 questions to receive a score of 36. However, in the Math section, you might be able to miss 1 question and still receive a 36. Receiving a score of 35 most often entails missing 1–3 questions in each section.

The average ACT score for students who get accepted into Harvard is between 32 and 35. This is well above the national average of 21.

Can I get into an Ivy League with a 32 ACT? ›

98th percentile: A 32 ACT score is above the national average. This score is excellent for most Ivy League universities. So if you are wondering, 'is 32 a good ACT score' to get into any of the highly selective Ivy League colleges, you should know that this score is sufficient to stand out among your competitors.

At a minimum, an ACT score of 25 should qualify you for lower-level scholarship money. However, as the amount increases, scholarships become more competitive and the score ranges increase. Again, the barest minimum to shoot for is the 20-25 score range.

Even though Harvard likely says they have no minimum ACT requirement, if you apply with a 33 or below, you'll have a very hard time getting in, unless you have something else very impressive in your application. There are so many applicants scoring 34 and above that a 33 will look academically weak.

No Score Cutoffs

SAT-Math: 740-790. ACT Composite: 33-35.

There's no absolute ACT requirement at Harvard, but they really want to see at least a 33 to have a chance at being considered. A university with Harvard's stature has equally high ACT standards.

To get a 30, you must score highly on all four sections of the exam (excluding Writing). Specifically, you'll need to get at least a 30 on two sections and a composite score of 29.5 (which rounds to 30) or higher. This means you can only miss a handful of questions on each section.

Earning an ACT score of 25 puts you above average, making you eligible at a wide variety of schools and competitive at some selective institutions. To put this accomplishment in another light, a 25 ACT score puts you at the 75th percentile — that means you scored higher than 75% of all test takers.

A score of 23 on the ACT is above the current national average and will make you a strong applicant at many universities, but it may fall below the average score for accepted students at more selective colleges. The higher your ACT score, the more options are open to you.

Scholarships for a 19 ACT Score

A 19 ACT score likely won't earn you any merit aid, but there are plenty of other types of scholarships to apply to, including ones for life circumstances, passions, and extracurriculars.

In general, many US colleges and universities accept applicants with 16 or 17 ACT scores. In fact, an ACT score of 16 or lower is accepted by 33 schools.

Is the ACT or SAT harder? ›

The SAT and ACT generally cover the same topics. Both ACT and SAT scores are used for college admissions decisions and awarding merit-based scholarships. Most colleges do not prefer one test over the other. Neither the SAT or ACT is harder than the other.

Earning an 18 on the ACT puts you at the 38th percentile, meaning that you scored higher than 38% of all test takers.

Is 21 a good ACT score? A 21 ACT score puts you right at the national average, making you eligible to apply to a number of schools. It offers you a slight competitive edge, but won't make you competitive for most selective schools.

To get a 30 on ACT English on Practice Test #1, a student must get 65 questions correct. But to get a 30 on ACT English on Practice Test #2, a student has to ace 66 questions. This might seem like a subtle difference, but take a look at Math.

There is no penalty for guessing on the ACT. Never, ever, ever, leave any answers blank. You have a 25% chance of getting the question right if you guess. So at the very least, always guess!

If you're trying to boost your ACT score, the English section is the easiest to tackle. Here's why: there is only a handful of technical grammar content covered and there are really only a handful of rhetorical skills covered.

It's ideal to spread your ACT prep over two or three months, but one month is still enough to see score gains.

There's no pressure to retake the ACT with a score of 28. The one primary reason a student would retake the ACT at this juncture would be if their ideal school wants a point or two higher. Otherwise, you're eligible for merit aid and are competitive at a wide variety of schools, so retaking it isn't necessary.

There are rough guidelines if you want to improve a certain amount of points. With the ACT, improving by 1 point requires about 10 hours of studying. 2-3 points mean 20 hours, 2-4 means 40 hours, 4-6 requires 80, and anything above that means you're looking at 150+ hours of studying to make information stick.

Academic Standing Requirements for the Undergraduate Program

After being admitted with a 3.0 or higher grade-point average (GPA), you must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 to be considered in good academic standing. If your GPA falls below 2.0, you are in poor academic standing.

What is the minimum ACT score for Ivy League? ›

Generally speaking, you need a minimum ACT score of 31 to get into an Ivy League School. The minimum score is 32 at a few of these schools, including Harvard and Yale. The minimum SAT score to get into an Ivy League school ranges from 690 to 730 for the reading section and from 700 to 730 for the math section.

A common myth is that prestigious schools, like the Ivy League (Yale University, Princeton University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Columbia University, Brown University, Dartmouth College, University of Pennsylvania) prefer the SAT. This is not true, though. Schools have no preference in regards to ACT vs.

Any lower than 3.5, however, you'll have to either have an impressive, relevant achievement or pray for a miracle to get an offer. Therefore, it is best to aspire for the maximum 4.0 to play it safe. But as long as you have at least a 3.7 GPA, you can still get a serious chance at consideration for an offer.

Cornell University Tuition

Located in Ithaca, New York, Cornell boasts the lowest cost of attendance before financial aid at its state-funded schools. Costs for its privately-funded colleges are on par with the rest of the Ivy League.

The middle 50 percent of students admitted to Yale score between 31 and 35 on the ACT. This is the composite score, or the average of all four sections. For comparison, the highest possible score on the ACT is a 36.

It is possible to get a full-ride scholarship with a 31-35 ACT score. However, this is rare and only happens in exceptional cases. It is more common for students with high ACT scores to receive scholarships that cover most of the cost of college or even all of it.

Scholarships for a 24 ACT Score

An ACT score of 24 may earn you some merit aid, but typically you need at least a 25 to be eligible for the majority of merit aid scholarships.

The minimum requirements to receive a scholarship are a rank in the top 50% of your class, a GPA of 3.5 or over, and an SAT score of 1100 or an ACT score of 22.

ACT Composite: 33-35.

The middle 50% of Harvard's class of 2025 earned SAT scores of 1480-1580 and ACT scores of 33-36. Any score in the middle 50% is good, however, the higher in the range you score, the better your odds of admission are.

What is the highest GPA ever? ›

A GPA higher than 5.0 is rare, but school point systems are occasionally structured so that students taking advanced classes can rack up bonus points. One student even managed to land a stunning 10.03 GPA by taking 17 advanced classes at a school that awarded bonus points.

Can you get into the Ivy League with mostly A's and a couple of B's? Yes, you can get into top schools with some B's, but it depends on the rest of your academic profile. And you should be asking yourself a few different questions about your high school GPA for a better understanding of your chances.

We will allow students to apply for admission without requiring ACT or SAT test results. Consistent with Harvard's whole-person admissions process, standardized tests are only one factor among many.

33-35 (2020–21)

Princeton University / Typical ACT scores

A 36 ACT score puts you at the 100th percentile, meaning you scored higher or as high as all test takers.

A 20 ACT score puts you at the 49th percentile, meaning you scored higher than 49% of all test takers — which is certainly something to be proud of! To increase your competitiveness during the college application process, though, you'll want to meet or exceed the national average, which is closer to a score of 21.

A score of 24 means you've scored better than about 74% of students. A 28 means you've scored better than 88% of students, and a 30 means you've scored better than 93% of them! Anything 34 or above is in the 99th percentile—a truly phenomenal score.

Gaye Weintraub, a private SAT/ACT tutor, acknowledges there's a somewhat agreed upon scale in the industry. “A 'good' score on the SAT would be 1350 to 1600. Generally, 1300-1400 is considered good, and anywhere in the 1500s would be considered exceptional. For the ACT,” she adds, “a top score would be 34 to 36.”

Is 90 a good ACT score? ›

90th Percentile: 29

This is still an extremely high score (better than 90% of students). It's also pretty close to the average at a lot of competitive colleges that are not Ivy League schools.

Is 26 ACT Score Good? With a score of 26, you are in the 83th to 85th percentile of all test takers. More likely than not, with a score of 26, you'll often be in or near the commonly accepted range at selective colleges. The exception may be the most selective colleges and the Ivy League.

A score of 24 on the ACT certainly makes you an eligible candidate, as well as competitive! To put this another way, a 24 ACT score puts you at the 73rd percentile, meaning you scored higher than 73% of all test takers — which is definitely something to be proud of!

Looking at this from a different angle, a score of 23 on the ACT puts you at the 68th percentile, meaning that you scored higher than 68% of test takers, something that colleges and universities know and appreciate.

Generally speaking, you need a minimum ACT score of 31 to get into an Ivy League School. The minimum score is 32 at a few of these schools, including Harvard and Yale. The minimum SAT score to get into an Ivy League school ranges from 690 to 730 for the reading section and from 700 to 730 for the math section.

Percentage of All Test Takers

Unsurprisingly, a full 36 is the rarest score of all—just 0.313% of all test takers earned a perfect ACT score. Roughly three times more students earned the next-highest score of 35; however, this is still a very rare score that just 0.925% of test takers earned.

Overall, my research so far has been surprising in that there are a few schools that will offer full-tuition scholarships starting in the 22 – 25 ACT range, but most full-ride scholarships require a 28 ACT or higher.

With a score of 28, you are in the 91st percentile of all test takers. More likely than not, with a score of 28, you'll often be in or near the commonly accepted range at highly selective colleges. The exception may be the Ivy League where the score required may be higher than 30 on average.

A score of 23 on the ACT is above the current national average and will make you a strong applicant at many universities, but it may fall below the average score for accepted students at more selective colleges.

A 29 ACT score puts you in the 91st percentile — that means you scored higher than 91% of all test takers. That's a brilliant accomplishment and you should be proud!