So you’ve just received your ACT scores and now you’re wondering, how did I do? Or maybe you’ve haven’t taken your ACT yet and you’re trying to figure out what score you need to get into your college of choice.
You’re in the right place. This page will help give you a better idea of how you did on the ACT, what the average ACT score is and what a good ACT score is.
Table of Contents
ACT Scores 101
As you probably know, on the four ACT test subjects: Math, English, Reading, and Science, you will receive a scaled score between 1 to 36. The average of these four scores will then be computed to get your composite score. These figures will be shown on your score reports. Obviously, like every other test you’ve taken the higher your ACT score the better.
Related Topic: ACT Registration And Requirements
What is the Average ACT Score
The average ACT score is 20.8. That means if you score between a 20 and 21 on the ACT this will put you right in the middle of the pack. Your score will be higher than 50% of other test takers but also lower than the other 50% of test takers.
Average ACT Score by Test
Here are the average ACT scores broken down by test over the last 5 years.
The average English ACT Score is 20.3.
The average Math ACT Score is 20.8.
The average Reading ACT Score is 21.3.
The average Science ACT Score is 20.8.
What is a Good ACT Score?
Honestly, this is a hard question to answer and really is really relative to who you are and what you’re trying to achieve.
Here is a quick break down of ACT score percentiles:
35 and above ACT Score = Top 1%
31 and above ACT Score = Top 5%
29 and above ACT Score = Top 10%
24 and above ACT Score = Top 25%
21 and above ACT Score = Top 50% (reminder 21 is the average ACT score)
16 and below ACT Score – Bottom 25%
Here are more details on ACT score percentiles.
ACT Score Percentiles For 2019
If your score falls on the 75th percentile (a composite score of 25 or above), that means you have a good score. This means you scored better than 75 percent of the test-takers. But if your score is lower than the 25th percentile average ACT score (a composite score of 16 or lower), then that means your score is poor and you need to take steps to improve it, whether by taking ACT review classes or working on ACT practice tests.
However, note that your basis for what a good score is should be based on your desired college or university’s average ACT score.
Look into the average ACT score of the students who got into the college or university of your choice. UCLA, for example, has an average ACT score of 29. If you want to get into UCLA, you need to have an ACT score of 29 or higher to improve your chances of getting accepted.
| Percentile | English | Math | Reading | Science | Composite |
| 90th (excellent) | 29-30 | 28 | 31 | 27-28 | 28 |
| 75th (good) | 24 | 24 | 25 | 24 | 24 |
| 50th (OK) | 20 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| 25th (poor) | 14-15 | 16 | 16 | 16-17 | 16 |
| 10th (very poor) | 11 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
Sources: ACT 2017 National Profile Report, ACT 2012 National Profile Report
Good ACT Scores for Popular Schools
| School | 25th Percentile ACT | 75th Percentile ACT | US News Ranking (National Universities) | 2016 Acceptance Rate |
| Princeton University | 32 | 35 | 1 | 6.5% |
| Harvard University | 32 | 35 | 2 | 5.4% |
| University of Chicago | 32 | 35 | 3 | 7.6% |
| Yale University | 32 | 35 | 3 | 6.3% |
| Columbia University | 32 | 35 | 5 | 6% |
| Stanford University | 31 | 34 | 5 | 4.8% |
| MIT | 33 | 35 | 7 | 7.9% |
| Duke University | 31 | 35 | 8 | 11% |
| University of Pennsylvania | 32 | 35 | 8 | 9.4% |
| Dartmouth College | 30 | 34 | 11 | 10.5% |
| Northwestern University | 31 | 34 | 12 | 10.7% |
| Brown University | 29 | 34 | 14 | 9.3% |
| Cornell University | 30 | 34 | 15 | 14.1% |
| University of Notre Dame | 33 | 35 | 15 | 18.7% |
| Vanderbilt University | 32 | 35 | 15 | 10.7% |
| Georgetown University | 29 | 33 | 20 | 16.4% |
| University of California, Berkeley | 30 | 34 | 20 | 17.5% |
| University of Southern California | 31 | 34 | 23 | 16.5% |
| Carnegie Mellon University | 30 | 34 | 24 | 13.7% |
| University of California, Los Angeles | 29 | 34 | 24 | 18% |
| University of Virginia | 27 | 31 | 24 | 28.9% |
| University of Michigan | 30 | 34 | 27 | 28.6% |
| Wake Forest University | 28 | 31 | 27 | 29% |
| University of North Carolina | 28 | 33 | 30 | 26% |
| Boston College | 30 | 33 | 31 | 29% |
| New York University | 28 | 32 | 36 | 32% |
| Boston University | 28 | 32 | 39 | 29% |
| Penn State | 26 | 30 | 50 | 51% |
| Villanova University | 31 | 33 | 50 | 43.5% |
| Ohio State | 27 | 31 | 54 | 49.1% |
| University of Georgia | 27 | 32 | 56 | 53% |
| Clemson University | 26 | 31 | 66 | 51% |
| Baylor University | 26 | 30 | 71 | 44% |
| Texas A&M | 23 | 29 | 74 | 66% |
| Virginia Tech | 24 | 29 | 74 | 72.6% |
When Will Your ACT Scores Be Available?
Your ACT score for the multiple-choice tests will become available for viewing within two weeks after taking them. In some cases, it may take up to eight weeks.
Your score for the writing test will become available within two weeks after you receive your score for multiple choice tests.
Knowing the scoring system for ACT exam can give you an advantage as you prepare your study plan and goals. We will help you understand how the ACT is scored, with official ACT scoring charts so you can use this knowledge to assess how well you’d do on the test.
2018-19 Score Reporting Dates
| National & international ACT test dates | Multiple-choice scores posted online dates (without Writing score) | Complete Scores (with Wr) Estimated Release date |
| Sept 8, 2018 | Sept 18, 2018 – November 1, 2018 | Oct 2, 2018 |
| Oct 27, 2018 | Nov 13, 2018 – January 2, 2019 | Nov 27, 2018 |
| Dec 8, 2017 | Dec 18, 2017 – February 1, 2019 | Jan 1, 2019 |
| Feb 9, 2018 | Feb 20, 2019 – April 5, 2019 | Mar 6, 2019 |
| Apr 13, 2019 | Apr 23, 2019 – June 7, 2019 | May 7, 2018 |
| June 8, 2019 | June 18, 2019 – August 2, 2019 | July 2, 2019 |
| July 13, 2019 | July 23, 2018 – August 26, 2019 | August 6, 2018 |
The ACT Scoring System
What Scores Will You See on Your ACT Score Report?
- Scaled scores for each subject
- Composite score
- Scores on the STEM (Science, Technology, and Math) indicators
- Scores on ELA (English Language Arts) indicators
- US and State Ranks
Scaled Scores
On the ACT Score Report, what you will see are scaled scores for all the ACT subjects: English, Math, Reading, and Science. Every subject area has a scaled score between 1 and 36. Scaled scores do not reflect the actual number of questions you answered correctly, which is your raw score.
The scaled scores are based on your raw scores or the actual number of questions that you answered correctly on each of the subject areas. The ACT test scores are scaled to make it possible to compare your performance with other test-takers who may have taken an easier or more difficult test.
Related Topic: ACT Test Introduction, Registration & Dates
Here is a table from ACT.org for converting your raw scores to scaled scores:
| Scale Score | Test 1 English | Test 2 Mathematics | Test 3 Reading | Test 4 Science | Scale Score |
| 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 | 75 72-74 71 70 68-69 67 66 65 63-64 62 60-61 58-59 56-57 53-55 51-52 48-50 45-47 43-44 41-42 39-40 36-38 32-35 29-31 27-28 25-26 23-24 20-22 18-19 15-17 12-14 10-11 8-9 6-7 4-5 2-3 0-1 | 60 58-59 57 55-56 54 52-53 50-51 48-49 45-47 43-44 40-42 38-39 36-37 34-35 32-33 30-31 29 27-28 24-26 21-23 17-20 13-16 11-12 08-10 7 5-6 4 — 3 — 2 — 1 — — 0 | 40 39 38 37 35-36 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 25-26 24 22-23 21 19-20 18 17 15-16 14 12-13 11 09-10 8 6-7 — 5 4 3 — 2 — 1 0 | 40 39 38 37 — 36 35 34 33 32 30-31 28-29 26-27 24-25 22-23 21 19-20 17-18 16 14-15 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 5-6 — 4 3 2 — 1 — 0 | 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 |
Composite Score
The average of your four scale scores is computed to get your composite score, which also ranges from 1 to 36.
STEM and ELA
Both STEM and ELA reflect your performance on specific subject tests.
- The STEM score shows your performance on the science and mathematics tests.
- The ELA Score shows your performance on the English, reading, and writing tests.
US and State Ranks
The US and State Ranks show the estimated percentages of ACT test-takers in the US and in your state with scores that are the same or lower than yours. If your composite score is 28 and you have a rank of 70 for your composite score, that means 70% of students got that composite score or below.
Steps to Compute Your Average ACT Score
You can use your knowledge of the ACT scoring system to see how well you’d perform on your practice tests. Just follow these steps:
- Compute your raw scores for each subject.
- Use the table to convert your raw scores to scale scores.
- Compute your average scores on the four subjects to get your composite score.
Here’s a sample computation:
If you have scaled scores of 24 for English, 28 for Math, 26 for Reading, and 23 for Science, the composite ACT score would be (24 + 28 + 26 + 23)/4 = 25.25, which is rounded down to a 25.
How the Writing Test is Scored
Two checkers will read and score each student’s ACT Writing test essay based on four domains:
- Ideas and Analysis
- Development and Support
- Organization
- Language Use and Conventions
Each checker gives the essay a score ranging from 1 to 6 for each of the four domains, with 6 being the highest possible score. The two counts are added together to get a student’s writing subscore for each area, which can range between 2 and 12, with 12 being the highest possible score. If the two readers’ ratings differ by more than one point, a third reader will be called in to resolve the disagreement. The writing score is calculated from the domain scores and ranges between 1 and 36.
A student’s ACT English, Reading and Writing scores are scaled to create a student’s combined English Language Arts (ELA) score. Choosing to take the ACT Writing test does not impact your composite score or subject area scores, but without the Writing test score, no ELA score will be reported.
Related Topic: How ACT Reviewers And Guides Help You Boost Your ACT Score
ACT Score Reports
The ACT organization initially prepares three different reports for each student who tests—the Student Report, the High School Report, and the College Report. If you took the ACT with writing, an image of the essay you wrote might be available to the high school and colleges that receive your score report. See more details in this chart:
| Type of Report | Where It’s Delivered | When It’s Delivered | What It Reports |
| Student Report | Your online ACT web account | About 2–8 weeks after the test date | ACT scores, college, and career planning information |
| High School Report | Your high school | About 2–8 weeks after the test date | ACT scores, college, and career planning information |
| College Report | Each valid college or scholarship agency code you listed and paid for when you registered or tested (up to six) | Varies based on college and when ordered | Everything on the Student and High School Report, plus the grades you reported in up to 30 high school courses; it may also include predictions about your performance in specific college programs and courses |
To learn more about their scoring process, check the guide from the ACT website.
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