If you’re shooting for a perfect (or near-perfect) ACT score, you’ve come to the right place. Collegewise’s Tutoring and Testing Team is here to help you find your way to the top, with some useful tips to consider in your pursuit of test perfection.
A perfect score on the ACT is a 36. The test itself is scored on a scale from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 36, compiled from four primary sections: English, Math, Reading, and Science.
Each individual section is scored in one-point increments, so it is possible to receive a 1, a 2, a 3, and so on, all the way up to a 36 in each subject. To compile a test-taker’s composite, the ACT averages the four section scores to create the composite outcome. So, if a test-taker receives a 25 on the English section, a 23 on the Math, a 26 on the Reading, and a 30 on the Science, the composite score would be the sum of those four numbers (25 + 23 + 26 + 30) divided by four for a composite outcome of 26.
Note: if a test-taker’s composite averages out to a decimal—like a 23.5 or a 29.75—the composite rounds up for decimals .5 and above. The composite rounds down from .25. So, if you take the ACT and get a 24 on the English, a 22 on the Math, a 25 on the Reading, and a 30 on the Science, the average would be a 25.25 and round down to a 25.
No. In fact, far from it, and here is where the ACT’s unusual scoring composite works in test-takers’ favor. It helps to know just a little bit about the ACT’s structure and content to understand why.
The ACT’s four sections—English, Math, Reading, and Science—are all weighed evenly within the scoring scale, but the sections themselves vary in terms of number of questions. The English section has a whopping 75 questions; the Math section has 60; the Reading and Science sections have comparatively fewer at 40 each.
Notice that the Reading and Science sections have roughly the same number of questions (40) as there are total scoring increments (36). That means that for any given Reading and Science test, one test question equals roughly one point along the scoring scale. It is sometimes the case that test-takers can get a question or two wrong in the Reading or Science sections and still get a perfect score: some tests are challenging enough that missing one question doesn’t move the scoring needle.
By extension, there are many, many more questions in the English (75) and Math (60) than there are scoring increments (36 in each of those sections). On the English and Math, test-takers can often get two (and sometimes three) questions wrong and still receive a perfect score on those individual sections.
That means that a person can still get a 36 composite score, even if they get a total of 5-7 questions wrong spread across the entire exam. Not a bad deal for a driven test-taker. Moreover, there’s another positive for high-flying test-takers who are looking for the highest possible outcomes. Because the ACT composite is an average of all four sections that rounds up, a test-taker can get an average composite of a 35.5 and still receive a 36. So, for example, if you take the ACT and get a 35 on the English and a 35 on the Math and a 36 on the Reading and a 36 on the Science, that averages to a 35.5 and rounds up to a 36.
To paraphrase Anchorman, that’s kind of a big deal. It means that even test-takers who get perfect scores aren’t really performing perfectly, and it means if you yourself want to earn a 36, you have a lot of room for error across the exam. That’s a great thing: it takes the pressure off your work, and it means that you can afford to treat the Math section, for example, as a kind of 58-problem test with two bonus questions at the end.
To be sure, getting a 36 on the ACT—and even getting a 36 on any one section—is no mean feat, but there are small ways in which the ACT is surprisingly generous with respect to its scoring outcomes.
Having a perfect ACT score is very rare: Nearly 1.35 million test-takers took the ACT in 2022, and of those, only 3,376 received a 36. Thousands more received perfect scores on individual sections (for example, nearly 25,000 test-takers scored perfectly on the ACT Reading, according to the most recent data). But, if only 3,376 test-takers out of nearly 1.35 million received perfect composites, that means that less than half of one percent of all test-takers received perfect results. Just under 10,500 received 35’s, and just under 13,600 received 34 composites.
Do perfect scores have value? In a single, very affirmative word, yes, though the best question to raise—and the best answer—is a little more nuanced than that. Until the start of the pandemic, there were some universities that had scholarships specifically for students who had perfect test scores, though those policies have changed in an increasingly test-optional (or test-free) environment. While no schools require a perfect score for admission, higher scores are almost always helpful in the admissions process when test scores are applicable, and a perfect ACT score is certainly a feather in one’s academic hat. However, test scores are never the most important component of an application.
Always remember that a good score is one that aligns with the school of your choosing, whether that’s a 20, a 25, a 30, a 35, or anything else.
Start by taking a diagnostic test under realistic, timed conditions in a quiet setting. Set aside some three hours for standard pace, or upwards of four and a half hours if you’ll be testing under time and a half pacing. Ideally, take one with a group like Collegewise that offers free diagnostic tests and will provide you with descriptive feedback along with your test results. When you’ve received or tabulated your outcomes, spend time getting a sense of where you’re starting, and where your strengths and areas of need can be found. How close or far are you from your ultimate goals?
From there, build a plan—with a reasonable timeline—to get there. In addition to identifying your areas of strength and need, think about what worked for you, and what didn’t. If it makes sense to pursue outside help with studying for the ACT, we’re here to help with that part of the journey.
Test-takers who earn perfect ACT scores typically have a few habits and descriptive qualities that set them apart from test-takers who earn lower scores:
We've covered a lot of tips in this blog that can help students see better performance, but if your family could use a tutoring session or two, Collegewise's renowned tutoring programs help take the pressure off of students.
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