What is an ACT score : Your Guide

The American College Testing– ACT score is a part of the college applications in the United States of America (USA), depending on the institution students apply to. There are no fixed passing marks for this examination. However, a good ACT score strengthens the college application and elevates the chances of getting admitted into the institutions students aim for.

ACT Exam 

The exam is conducted by the mission-driven, not-for-profit organization under the same name– ACT. It is a curriculum-based, standardized test that evaluates the candidates' mathematical, written, scientific, and verbal skills.

There are four main sections of the ACT exam: Maths, English, Reading, and Science. The final or composite ACT score will be an average of these four section scores. Candidates can also appear for the ACT's optional writing test, which doesn't impact the composite score.

ACT Average Score

Here is the ACT score chart below highlighting the average numbers– ACT total score/ composite score for the students who appeared for the exam in 2021:

ACT Exam Sections and Scoring

As mentioned above, the ACT exam has four different sections– English, Math, Science, and Reading. But what is the highest score on the ACT? The four sections are marked out of 36 points each, with 1 as the lowest and 36 being the upper limit. Furthermore, the section-wise questions numbers and reporting categories in the ACT exam are as follows:

English 

Questions: 75

Reporting categories: Production of Writing (29-32%), knowledge of the language (13-19%), and conventions of standard English (51-56%)

Mathematics

Questions: 60

Reporting categories: Preparing for higher math (57-60%) and integrating essential skills (40-43%)

Reading

Questions: 40

Reporting categories: Key ideas and details (55-60%), craft and structure (25-30%), and integration of knowledge and ideas (13-18%)

Science

Questions: 40

Reporting categories: Scientific investigation (20-30%), Data interpretation (45-55%), and evaluation of inferences, models, and experimental results (25-35%)

Scoring of the writing test

The scoring process of the writing section is more complicated. Anyone who takes up the ACT plus writing exam, including the essay that needs to be written, will be re-evaluated by two different readers.

These two readers will score the essay on a scale of 1 to 6 based on four areas where cogency holds the most significant importance. Candidates will be assessed on the skill to stitch lines of reasoning together into a coherent and compelling essay.

Additionally, it is to be noted that the evaluators are not looking for an excellently written specimen but a well-put-up first draft. 

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ACT Syllabus/level

The syllabus of the ACT focuses on four sections. We will be discussing each section and the syllabus under the same. 

English

The English section consists of five passages with 75 multiple-choice questions. The questions are mainly detail-based/big-picture-based, concerning the entire passage or a particular passage. 

The evaluators are testing two essential skills of the students through the English section– Usage and Mechanics skills along with the Rhetorical skills. 

Usage and Mechanics will access you according to your grammar rules– punctuation and sentence structure. On the other hand, Rhetorical skills are connected to the comprehension of a passage or the abstract understanding of the same. 

Mathematics

The mathematics section consists of the below-mentioned topics:

• Pre-algebra
• Elementary algebra
• Intermediate algebra
• Coordinate geometry
• Plane geometry
• Trigonometry

Reading

The reading section will have four different passages, amounting to 40 multiple-choice questions. These passages will represent four major areas: Humanities, Natural Science, Social Science, and Literary Fiction. 

Science

The science section deals with the topics in conjunction with Physics, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, and Biology. You will have seven passages in this section with 40 multiple-choice questions. 

These passages will be presented with varied diagrams like charts, tables, and graphs. You will not be accessed based on learning the scientific facts and figures. Instead, the application and reasoning will be questioned.

Furthermore, data representation questions in the ACT exam will check your ability to understand scatter plots, tables, or graphs clubbed with your usage of the presented information. 

Additionally, in these questions, research summaries will access your understanding in the design of experiments and associated results, as told in the passage. Similarly, conflicting viewpoints test your ability to reason different opinions. 

ACT Score Range

The ACT score range (both composite score and every test score– English, Reading, Math, and Science) will range from 1 (ACT lowest score) to 36 (ACT highest score). The fractions below one-half will be rounded down, whereas the one-half or more fractions are rounded up.

Universities accepting top scores for ACT

We have listed the top 20 American universities and their average score requirement for the ACT exam for your reference:

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Know More About:

• ACT Writing Test
• ACT Reading Test
• ACT English Test