What colleges can you get into with your ACT score?

Every college below publishes the ACT range of the students it admitted. Pick your score to see where it places you across the 993 colleges that report one — or read on for what the three groups mean.

Safety

Your ACT is above the 75th percentile of admitted students. Likely admits, though nothing is guaranteed.

Target

Your ACT sits inside the middle 50% of admitted students. A reasonable chance, decided by the rest of your application.

Reach

Your ACT is below the 25th percentile. Possible, but you would need real strength elsewhere.

An example: a 29 ACT

A 29 is above the midpoint at most colleges. It lands like this at some of the larger names:

Safety

Grand Canyon University · Kennesaw State University · University of Central Florida

Target

Texas A&M University-College Station · Indiana University-Bloomington · Michigan State University

Reach

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor · University of Maryland-College Park · New York University

See all 993 colleges for a 29 ACT →

What counts as a good ACT score?

There is no single answer, because it depends entirely on where you apply. Across the 993 colleges that publish a range, the median 75th percentile is 27 and the median 25th percentile is 21. So a 27 clears three-quarters of admitted students at a typical college, while a 21 sits at the bottom of the middle 50%. At the most selective colleges both numbers are far higher — which is why the table below counts colleges rather than grading scores.

Every ACT score

ACT score	Safety	Target	Reach	Target colleges include
15 ACT	1	64	928	Alabama A & M University, Southern University and A & M College
16 ACT	1	118	874	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Western Kentucky University
17 ACT	6	190	797	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, The University of Texas at El Paso
18 ACT	16	284	693	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, The University of Texas at Arlington
19 ACT	29	359	605	Grand Canyon University, Kennesaw State University
20 ACT	46	424	523	Grand Canyon University, Kennesaw State University
21 ACT	74	472	447	University of Arizona, Grand Canyon University
22 ACT	116	502	375	University of Arizona, Grand Canyon University
23 ACT	179	496	318	University of Arizona, Grand Canyon University
24 ACT	268	453	272	University of Arizona, The University of Alabama
25 ACT	353	417	223	Texas A&M University-College Station, University of Arizona
26 ACT	439	376	178	Texas A&M University-College Station, Michigan State University
27 ACT	526	321	146	Texas A&M University-College Station, Indiana University-Bloomington
28 ACT	609	266	118	Texas A&M University-College Station, Indiana University-Bloomington
29 ACT	678	217	98	Texas A&M University-College Station, Indiana University-Bloomington
30 ACT	740	177	76	Texas A&M University-College Station, Indiana University-Bloomington
31 ACT	811	125	57	Indiana University-Bloomington, The University of Texas at Austin
32 ACT	864	91	38	The University of Texas at Austin, Purdue University-Main Campus
33 ACT	908	70	15	Purdue University-Main Campus, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
34 ACT	937	56	0	University of Maryland-College Park, New York University
35 ACT	944	49	0	New York University, University of Southern California
36 ACT	944	49	0	New York University, University of Southern California

For a score between these, use the chances calculator, or filter by cost and major in the college finder. A college rejecting most applicants is never counted as a safety, however high the score.