ACT Score Comparison for 20 Top Liberal Arts Colleges

By

Updated February 21, 2020

Below is a table comparing ACT scores for the middle 50% of students enrolled in each school. These 19 schools are some of the top selective liberal arts colleges in the country, and in general, applicants will need strong scores to be admitted. If your ACT scores fall within or above the ranges listed below, you're on track for admission to these schools.

Top College ACT Score Comparison (mid 50%)
(Learn what these numbers mean)

	Composite 25%	Composite 75%	English 25%	English 75%	Math 25%	Math 75%
Bryn Mawr College	29	33	30	35	26	32
Claremont McKenna College	30	34	30	35	28	34
Colby College	31	33	31	35	28	33
Colgate University	31	33	31	35	28	33
Davidson College	30	33	-	-	-	-
Denison University	28	31	28	34	26	30
Hamilton College	31	33	-	-	-	-
Kenyon College	29	33	29	35	26	31
Lafayette College	28	31	28	33	27	32
Macalester College	29	32	30	35	27	31
Oberlin College	28	33	29	34	26	32
Reed College	30	33	30	35	27	33
Vassar College	30	33	31	35	27	32
Washington and Lee University	31	33	31	35	28	33
Whitman	28	32	-	-	-	-

View the SAT version of this table

*Note: Bowdoin College, College of the Holy Cross, Dickinson College, and Gettysburg College are not listed do

Keep in mind that ACT scores are just one part of the application. Even if you have perfect 36s for each ACT subject you could still get rejected if other parts of your application are weak--good ACT scores do not guarantee admission. Since these schools all have holistic admissions, admissions officers will also take into account letters of recommendation, writing skills, academic backgrounds/variety, extracurricular activities, and work/volunteer experience.

If you click on the "see graph" links to the right of each school, you'll see a visual that shows how other students fared; these graphs illustrate the GPAs and ACT/SAT scores of applicants who were admitted, rejected, and waitlisted. You'll see that some students with high test scores were not admitted, while some with low scores were admitted.

These colleges are selective, with acceptance rates in the teens and twenties. So, even though 25% of enrolled students had ACT scores below these ranges, successful applicants generally have high scores, good grades, and a strong application.

To see a full profile of each college, click on the names in the table above. You can also check out these other ACT links (or SAT links):

Data from National Center for Education Statistics

ACT Scores for Admission to Selective Liberal Arts Colleges

A Side-by-Side Comparison of College Admissions Data