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Last Updated: January 30, 2021

Average ACT scores for Top Ranked Universities

A very good way to assess an individual's standing in regards to a particular college is 25th/75th percentile ACT scores. For a particular college, 25% of the students attending that college scored less than the 25th percentile score, and 75% of the students attending that college scored less than the 75th percentile score. Hence, 25th/75th percentile score shows the mid 50% of the students attending that college. Colleges list 25th/75th percentile ACT composite score as well as the 25th/75th percentile score for the individual sections.

University ACT 25 Percentile* ACT 75 Percentile*
Massachusetts Institute of Technology3335
Stanford University3135
Harvard University3235
University of California-Berkeley3034
University of California-Los Angeles2833
Yale University3135
The University of Texas at Austin2632
Cornell University3034
California Institute of Technology3435
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus3033
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign2631
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor2933
University of Southern California3033
Dartmouth College3034
Duke University3134
Johns Hopkins University3234
Princeton University3235
Columbia University in the City of New York3135
University of Pennsylvania3134
Carnegie Mellon University3134
Texas A & M University-College Station2530
Ohio State University-Main Campus2731
Northwestern University3134
Williams College3134
Swarthmore College3034
University of California-Santa Barbara2631
Pomona College3034
University of Chicago3235
University of California-San Diego2833
North Carolina State University at Raleigh2631
Rice University3235
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus2529
Brown University3134
Vanderbilt University3235
University of Virginia-Main Campus2933
United States Military Academy2631
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill2833
Emory University2933
University of Notre Dame3234
University of Wisconsin-Madison2731
Haverford College3134
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute2832
Case Western Reserve University3033
University of Washington-Seattle Campus2631
Georgetown University3034
Brandeis University2932
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities2631
New York University2932
College of William and Mary2832
Purdue University-Main Campus2531
Washington University in St Louis3234
Tufts University3033
University of California-Irvine2429

*Composite score
*Some top colleges might be missing (as no data was reported)
*Above list is not in order of rank but they are top 100 colleges.
*Average ACT score is the dividing score of ACT indicating that half the students get more than the average score and half the students get less than the average score. The ACT paper is designed such that the composite score of 20 is the national average ACT score.
How about average SAT score?
Check Average SAT score for Top Schools

Stanford University

74% applicants had composite score between 30 and 36 (only 4% were accepted).
21% applicants had composite score between 24 and 29 (2% were accepted)
78% applicants were ranked top 10% of high school class (5% were accepted)

The University of Texas at Austin- McCombs School of Business

Average ACT 34
Class rank - top 1.9%.
Acceptance rate ~17%

University of Iowa

Tippie College of Business: The direct admission program dor 2021 requires a minimum of 3.6 GPA in high school and an ACT composite score of 26 or better.

College of Nursing: Minimum Composite ACT required for consideration is 28.


University of Chicago

For the class of 2024
Number of Applicants: 34,372, Accepted: 2,511
ACT Middle 50%: 34-35



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Average SAT score for Top Schools