Numbers below are pulled from each school's most recently published Common Data Set (CDS) and admitted-student profiles for the entering class. 'Middle 50%' means the 25th–75th percentile of admitted students who submitted ACT scores. If you're below the 25th, it's not impossible — but the rest of your application has to do real work.
How to read this chart
- Middle 50% (25th–75th): the band where most admitted students who submitted an ACT landed.
- Submission rate: the share of admitted students who actually sent an ACT (matters at test-optional schools).
- Above the 75th puts you in the 'helpful' bucket. At or above the 90th puts you in the 'asset' bucket.
- Below the 25th is recoverable, but you usually need a hook (sport, legacy, distinctive essay, exceptional GPA, niche talent).
ACT scores for top U.S. universities (Class of 2028)
| School | ACT middle 50% | Target (90th) | Test policy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard | 34–36 | 36 | Required from 2025 |
| Stanford | 34–35 | 36 | Test-optional |
| MIT | 35–36 | 36 | Required |
| Yale | 33–35 | 36 | Test-flexible (ACT or SAT) |
| Princeton | 34–36 | 36 | Required from 2025 |
| Duke | 33–35 | 36 | Test-optional |
| Northwestern | 33–35 | 35 | Test-optional |
| Notre Dame | 33–35 | 35 | Test-optional |
| Vanderbilt | 33–35 | 35 | Test-optional |
| University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) | 31–34 | 35 | Test-optional |
| UCLA | 29–34 | 35 | Test-blind (don't send) |
| UT Austin | 29–34 | 34 | Required for non-auto-admit |
| UNC Chapel Hill | 29–33 | 34 | Test-optional |
| NYU | 32–35 | 35 | Test-flexible |
| USC | 31–34 | 34 | Test-optional |
Reading the numbers by tier
Tier 1: Ivy + MIT/Stanford/Duke (33–36 territory)
If you're applying to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, or Duke, the realistic floor is a 33. Below that, you're competing without one of the easiest signals admissions can read in five seconds. A 35–36 is the 'safe' band — not a guarantee, but the ACT stops being a worry.
Tier 2: Top private + flagship privates (32–35 territory)
Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Rice, Georgetown, Cornell, Penn, Columbia: 33+ is competitive, 35+ is strong. These schools care more about composite than sub-scores.
Tier 3: Top public flagships (29–34 territory)
Michigan (out of state), UNC, UT Austin, UVA, UCLA (test-blind), Berkeley (test-blind): a 32 is competitive for most majors, a 34 is competitive for engineering or business. In-state thresholds are usually 1–2 points lower.
Sub-score expectations by major
| Major group | Math sub-score floor | English/Reading floor |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering / CS | 32+ | 29+ |
| Business / Econ | 30+ | 31+ |
| Pre-med / biology | 31+ | 31+ |
| Humanities / writing-heavy | 27+ | 33+ |
| Undecided / liberal arts | 29+ | 29+ |
Where to actually study for the score gap
The fastest path from a 28 to a 32 is full-length practice tests plus targeted content review on your two weakest sections. AceNotes has 100 ACT-specific study sets covering English, Math, Reading, and Science Reasoning, all on the free tier. Pair it with the official ACT practice tests and you've covered both halves of the work.
100 free ACT study sets across every section — start on AceNotes.
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