ACT Scores for Admission to Top Ohio Colleges

What ACT scores do you need to get into one of the top Ohio colleges or universities? This side-by-side comparison of scores shows the middle 50 percent of enrolled students. You are in that range if your score is above the 25th percentile but below the 75th percentile. If your scores fall within or above these ranges, you're on target for admission to one of these top Ohio colleges.

Test Scores and Your College Admission Application

Realize that ACT scores are just one part of the application. The admissions officers in Ohio will also want to see a strong academic record, a winning essay, meaningful extracurricular activities and good letters of recommendation.

You see a wide variation in the percentiles for these Ohio colleges. If you were in the middle 50 percent of applicants for Xavier or the University of Dayton, you'd still be in the bottom 25 percent of students enrolled at Case Western or Oberlin. That doesn't mean you won't be accepted, but it does mean that the rest of your application should be strong to compensate for the lower scores. Even the bottom 25 percent were admitted, so there is definitely a possibility that you would be as well. Note that Denison was not included as they are a test-optional school.

The range of test scores for each university changes slightly from year to year as well, although rarely by more than a point or two.

The data above is from 2015. If you are near the score listed on either end of the range, keep that in mind.

What Percentiles Mean

The 25th and the 75th percentile mark the middle half of the test scores of applicants who were accepted for a university. You would be in the average mix of students who applied to that school and were accepted if that is where your score falls.

Here are other ways to look at those numbers.

The 25th percentile means that your score is better than the bottom quarter of those who were accepted to that university. However, three-quarters of those accepted scored better than that number. If you score below the 25th percentile, it won't weigh favorably for your application.

The 75th percentile means that your score was above three-quarters of the others who were accepted at that school. Only one-quarter of those accepted scored better than you for that element. If you are above the 75th percentile, this will likely weigh favorably for your application.

Data from the National Center for Educational Statistics