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ACT Scores at Top Schools


ChartThe SAT still may be the most widely recognized test in the country, but it’s no longer the most accepted.

Even the top colleges in the nation display average ACT scores in their statistics, and all four-year universities will now accept the ACT as your only test score in your application. In fact, the schools in the Ivy League were some of the first to accept ACT scores!

A college’s preferred test used to be based on geography: the West and Northeast had more students who took the SAT, while the average student in the South and Midwest took the ACT.

Now students all over the country are taking the test that best shows off their skills – and sometimes they take both! University of Notre Dame reflects this trend in their average ACT and SAT stats, which are split evenly between the two tests.

Check out the average ACT scores at some other top schools around the country:

Colleges and Universities

Average ACT Score

(Middle 50%)

California Institute of Technology

32-35

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

32-35

University of Notre Dame

31-34

Washington University in St. Louis

32-34

Amherst College

30-34

Duke University

30-34

Rice University

30-34

Bowdoin College

31-33

Carleton College

29-33

Emory University

29-32

Georgetown University

29-33

Northwestern University

31-34

Stanford University

31-34

Vanderbilt University

32-34

Williams College

30-34

Middlebury College

30-33

Johns Hopkins University

30-33

University of Chicago

31-34

Carnegie Mellon University

29-33

Davidson College

29-32

Wellesley College

29-32

Swarthmore College

30-33

University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

27-32

University of California – Los Angeles

25-31

University of California – Berkeley

27-33

Average ACT Scores in the News

As the ACT becomes more popular, people are starting to take notice.

In the college rankings for 2012, US News and World Report factored both the average ACT scores and SAT scores for admitted students into their selectivity rankings.

The ACT is on the rise, so consider taking a practice test and seeing if it’s the right fit for you. If you shoot for these average ACT score ranges, you’ll be on your way to a solid application for any top college.

UPDATE:
Other posts you may be interested in:

Average ACT Scores at Ivy League Schools

Average SAT Scores for 25 Top Schools

Average SAT Scores at Ivy League Schools



4 Responses to “ACT Scores at Top Schools”

  1. Emily Says:

    I just took the ACTs and used AcceptEdge to match my results with potential colleges. It also takes into account GPAs and other parts of your academic profile.

  2. Shennan Says:

    According to those numbers, that would put me below average!

  3. Can we please change the conversation about college admissions? | HechingerEd Blog Says:

    [...] 18.7 points, which is well below the national mean of 21.1. The maximum score on the ACT is 36; many top colleges want to see scores of 30 or [...]

  4. Can we stop talking about who got into which college? Says:

    [...] 18.7 points, which is well below the national mean of 21.1. The maximum score on the ACT is 36; many top colleges want to see scores of 30 or [...]

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