Understanding Your Score
What score should I aim for?
The ACT gives you a percentile ranking for your overall score (out of 36). Your percentile rank tells you how you did on the ACT compared to other test-takers. For example, if you have a percentile ranking of 90, it means that you scored higher than 90% of other students who took that test.
For most competitive universities, we recommend trying to score at least within the 95th percentile.
| Composite Score | Percentile Ranking |
|---|---|
| 33 - 36 | 99 |
| 32 | 98 |
| 31 | 97 |
| 30 | 95 |
| 29 | 93 |
| 28 | 90 |
| 27 | 87 |
| 26 | 83 |
| 25 | 79 |
| 24 | 74 |
| 23 | 68 |
Understanding Your Score
What are Section Score Percentiles?
The ACT gives you a percentile ranking for your overall composite score as well as for each of the four section scores: English, Math, Reading and Science.
The following table is the most recent data regarding 2017-2018 percentile statistics from ACT.org.
| Score | Composite | English | Math | Reading | Science |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 99 | 99 | 99 | 99 | 99 |
| 35 | 99 | 99 | 99 | 99 | 99 |
| 34 | 99 | 98 | 99 | 99 | 99 |
| 33 | 99 | 97 | 98 | 97 | 98 |
| 32 | 98 | 95 | 97 | 95 | 98 |
| 31 | 97 | 94 | 96 | 93 | 97 |
| 30 | 95 | 92 | 95 | 90 | 95 |
| 29 | 93 | 90 | 93 | 87 | 94 |
| 28 | 90 | 88 | 91 | 84 | 93 |
| 27 | 87 | 85 | 88 | 81 | 90 |
| 26 | 83 | 82 | 84 | 78 | 87 |
| 25 | 79 | 79 | 79 | 75 | 86 |
| 24 | 74 | 74 | 73 | 72 | 77 |
| 23 | 68 | 69 | 67 | 66 | 70 |
| 22 | 62 | 64 | 61 | 61 | 63 |
| 21 | 56 | 58 | 56 | 56 | 56 |
| 20 | 49 | 51 | 52 | 48 | 48 |
| 19 | 42 | 44 | 47 | 42 | 39 |
| 18 | 36 | 39 | 42 | 36 | 32 |
| 17 | 29 | 35 | 36 | 30 | 26 |
| 16 | 23 | 31 | 27 | 25 | 21 |
| 15 | 17 | 26 | 15 | 20 | 16 |
| 14 | 12 | 20 | 6 | 16 | 12 |
| 13 | 7 | 16 | 2 | 11 | 9 |
| 12 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 6 |
- Score Percentiles
-
Understanding Your Score
What score should I aim for?
The ACT gives you a percentile ranking for your overall score (out of 36). Your percentile rank tells you how you did on the ACT compared to other test-takers. For example, if you have a percentile ranking of 90, it means that you scored higher than 90% of other students who took that test.
For most competitive universities, we recommend trying to score at least within the 95th percentile.
Composite Score Percentile Ranking 33 - 36 99 32 98 31 97 30 95 29 93 28 90 27 87 26 83 25 79 24 74 23 68 - Section Percentiles
-
Understanding Your Score
What are Section Score Percentiles?
The ACT gives you a percentile ranking for your overall composite score as well as for each of the four section scores: English, Math, Reading and Science.
The following table is the most recent data regarding 2017-2018 percentile statistics from ACT.org.
Score Composite English Math Reading Science 36 99 99 99 99 99 35 99 99 99 99 99 34 99 98 99 99 99 33 99 97 98 97 98 32 98 95 97 95 98 31 97 94 96 93 97 30 95 92 95 90 95 29 93 90 93 87 94 28 90 88 91 84 93 27 87 85 88 81 90 26 83 82 84 78 87 25 79 79 79 75 86 24 74 74 73 72 77 23 68 69 67 66 70 22 62 64 61 61 63 21 56 58 56 56 56 20 49 51 52 48 48 19 42 44 47 42 39 18 36 39 42 36 32 17 29 35 36 30 26 16 23 31 27 25 21 15 17 26 15 20 16 14 12 20 6 16 12 13 7 16 2 11 9 12 4 12 1 7 6