What’s a Good Score on the ACT?
Part of studying and preparing for the ACT is understanding how the test is scored. When you know how the test is scored, you can prepare properly to make sure you answer questions in a way that helps your score. Here, you will learn how the ACT is scored along with how to interpret your score.
How is the ACT Scored?
The ACT has four subject areas: English, Reading, Math, and Science. Your raw score consists of the raw number of questions answered correctly in each section. Each subject area is then scaled to provide you with a scaled score between 1 and 36. All of your scaled scores for the subject areas are averaged together to produce your composite score, which also ranges between 1 and 36. One good thing about the ACT is that, since scores on all sections are averaged, you can afford to score lower in one area and still come out on top if you do well on all other sections.
Raw Scores vs. Scaled Scores
So how are raw scores computed and then converted into scaled scores? And how can you use this process to your advantage? Each raw score is simply the total number of questions answered correctly in each section. Incorrect or blank answers are not included in raw scores. Therefore, it is in your best interest to answer all questions, since blank answers are essentially the same as wrong answers. Raw scores are converted into scaled scores by using a formula, which can be found here, along with all kinds of other information about the test. Don’t concern yourself too much about this before the test. Simply study hard and do your best to answer as many questions correctly as possible. The rest will take care of itself!
What’s a Good Score?
Finally, what is a good score? Largely, the answer is based on which college you want to get into. The ACT is scored on a scale from 1 to 36. Currently, the nationwide average is 21. A score of 23 is considered above average, but some of the more prestigious schools require scores of 30 or above. Overall, a score of 15 or below is considered low by most standards. If you score low, consider taking the test again. We have some great free resources to help improve your score.
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