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what is a good act writing score?

elizabeth peterson

september 26, 2024

act

the act writing section is the only optional part of the act. however, optional does not mean unnecessary. a number of colleges do require it to be included with the rest of your act scores as part of their application process. if any of the schools you’re considering require you to take the act writing section, you definitely need to know what constitutes a good act writing score.

start improving your act writing score (and everything else) today with magoosh!

act writing: essay percentiles

the act essay is scored from 1-6 in four categories by two graders. this gives you four scores from 2-12. you then receive a final act essay score from 2-12 that is the average of these four scores. this is the score you will be reporting to colleges. for more detail on how the essay is scored, make sure you check out rachel’s article on act essay scores.

here’s the breakdown for act essay scores and percentiles for the 2023-2024 reporting period:

act writing score	percentile
12	100
11	99
10	99
9	97
8	92
7	72
6	59
5	33
4	18
3	7
2	2

as you can see from this table, the mean, or average, score on the act writing section is 6. it’s a good idea to aim for at least the 75th percentile, so in this case a good act writing score would be an 8 or above. a 9 or above would put you in the 97th percentile, which is great!

of course, a lot depends on the schools to which you apply (this thorough rundown on act scores has more info). generally, the more selective the school, the higher your score should be to be competitive.

universities that require the act writing will almost always have an average score range on their admissions website, so make sure you do your research. if you aspire to ivy league or other highly-selective schools, a 9 is the threshold you should try your best to reach to be safe.

however, most schools do not provide a cut-off score, so theoretically a below-average score will not eliminate you from being considered for admission. then again, it won’t help you either.

if you are ever concerned that your essay score is inaccurate, however, you can ask for your essay to be re-scored. the $58 fee for the re-score will be refunded if you do get a higher score.

takeaways

so what’s the takeaway from all of this? really, a few key points:

research the schools you plan to apply to, and see which of them require the act writing test.
at the least, shoot for an 8+ overall score for a “good” act writing score.
a score of 9+ is an ideal score for applications to selective schools.
if you believe your essay has been mis-scored, you may request a re-score for a fee.
don’t panic!

act essay grader

if you’re coming to this post after taking your first 2022世界杯入门名单, you might be wondering how the heck you’re supposed to even grade your essay. you’re thinking, “what even is my act essay score?”

to start, let your essay sit for a day or two before grading it (it’s helpful to get some distance). then, follow the official scoring rubric from act, and ask a trusted friend/teacher/parent to do the same. be as objective as possible as you grade—you won’t do yourself any favors by inflating your score!

then, use our handy act essay grading tool to find your score:

author

elizabeth peterson

elizabeth holds a degree in psychology from the college of william & mary. while there, she volunteered as a tutor and discovered she loved the personal connection she formed with her students. she has now been helping students with test prep and schoolwork as a professional tutor for over six years. when not discussing grammar or reading passages, she can be found trying every drink at her local coffee shop while writing creative short stories and making plans for her next travel adventure!

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30 responses to “what is a good act writing score?”

dorian sharpe

july 6, 2016

i have a 24 on the written portion of the act. is that good?

reply
1. magoosh test prep expert
  
  july 7, 2016
  
  hi dorian,
  
  good question! 🙂 the quality of a score depends a lot on what you are comparing it to–if you only need an 18+ then a 24 is awesome! if you are supposed to get at least a 30, then a score of 24 would present a challenge to your application. a 24 is in about the 84th percentile, which means you are strong in the general pool of test takers. 🙂
  
  if you know what you might need for the universities you like, that should be your guiding information, more than anything else. but good job! 🙂
  
  reply
sujata gautam

october 5, 2016

my score is 8 out of 12.how much value do this score gain?

reply
1. magoosh test prep expert
  
  october 7, 2016
  
  the new 1-12 scoring scale for the act essay hasn’t been out long enough for there to be any official percentiles for the score ranges. but for the time being, you can still get a good idea of percentile by looking at this chart of percentiles for the original 36-point essay scale.
  
  because the maximum number of act essay points is 1/3 of what it used to be (12 is 1/3 of 36), you can multiply your score by 3 to get the equivalent under the old scoring system. 8*3 = 24, and on the old chart linked above, a 24 puts you in the 88th percentile. this means you scored higher than 88% of all act essay test-takers. this is pretty respectable. congratulations!
  
  reply
nicole

december 30, 2016

how do i request a rescore on the writing section?

reply
1. magoosh test prep expert
  
  december 31, 2016
  
  hi nicole,
  
  here is some helpful info from act.org
  https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/request-for-score-verification.pdf
  
  reply
sherry

january 30, 2017

my son scored a 5 out of 6 on the writing. how can that be. his act score was a 32. i do not understand the writing grade.

reply
1. magoosh test prep expert
  
  january 31, 2017
  
  first off, congratulations on your son’s 32 on the general act. that’s a really good score! 🙂
  
  as for the act, it sounds like your son actually got a 10 out of 12? since he would have received a rating from two separate scorers who both looked at his essay, that 5 out of 6 figure should be doubled, i think.
  
  your son actually does have a pretty good act writing score. if you were to put his score on the act’s regular 0-36 scale, his essay score is equivalent to about a 30. that’s very close to the 32 your son got on the rest of the test. the reason his act writing score is in the single digits isn’t because it’s bad. instead, his score shows a 5 out of 6 because the act recently changed the scoring scale for act writing, so that it’s not in the same 36 point range as the rest of the exam.
  
  reply
lisa moorehead

february 28, 2017

my daughter is in 8th grade. she scored a 32 on her act exam (36 in english, 35 in reading, 30 in science, 26 in math). i was familiar with all of those scores and understand that she did pretty well. however, i have no experience with the writing score. she scored a 9 on the writing. i am not sure how good this is. should she retake it? she doesn’t really know her future college plans, but she does want the option to attend an ivy league school. does she need to retake the writing portion again?

reply
1. magoosh test prep expert
  
  march 1, 2017
  
  hello lisa,
  
  a 9 is strong! that puts your daughter above the 90th percentile in writing, and seems in line with the rest of her score. if she wanted to improve the writing for whatever reason, there is room to do so, and it may be necessary just to pull the science/math scores up to the level of her english/reading scores, too. but this is an amazing outcome for an 8th grader. the act is meant to showcase knowledge obtained through all of high school, so she will likely improve just by dint of having completed more years of school. 🙂
  
  reply
sarah andres

march 10, 2017

hi there

my daughter got a 27 and a 10 on the writing for her first test. can she keep the writing score and then only re-take the act portion? so, she would be submitting results from two different tests.

thanks!

sarah

reply
1. magoosh test prep expert
  
  march 11, 2017
  
  hi sarah,
  
  unfortunately it is almost never possible to submit portions of separate test sessions. i can only think of one time ever that this has been allowed, so your daughter will almost certainly need to retake the entire test.
  
  reply
jojo avav

march 14, 2017

i got a 10/12, but i felt like i did terrible on it. my thoughts were unorganized, decentralized, and incoherent.
how is it possible that i scored within the top 3%?
also, does the percentile only include those who decided to take the writing portion, or was the sample from students from all demographics?

reply
1. magoosh test prep expert
  
  march 15, 2017
  
  hi jojo,
  
  on the bright side, this appears to be a situation in which you did better than you thought! perhaps, your writing was not as incoherent as you thought. great job! 😀
  
  with regard to sample, please note that the score is only reported when the student takes the optional writing portion. i hope this helps a little! again, great job. 🙂
  
  reply
dominique mel

may 3, 2017

hi i got a 22 on the test portion and an 8 for the writing. i feel like my scores are pretty low and i’m taking the sat this saturday so hopefully that will look better. what do you think about my scores? good, bad, moderate?

reply
1. david recine
  
  may 4, 2017
  
  your score for the four-section multiple choice portion of the act is definitely not competitive. in terms of act percentiles, this only puts you in the 63rd percentile. however, your 8 in act writing is relatively good. that would be an 82nd percentile score.
  
  different test-takers will find either the act or sat to be easier. so trying your luck with the sat might not be a bad idea. however, you should also be open to retaking the act. your writing score indicates that you have strong language arts skills, and there may be ways you can build on those skills to greatly improve in reading on either the sat or act. and of course, strong writing skills can be used to improve your accuracy in either act english or sat writing & language.
  
  as you consider which of these to tests is best, i recommend reading our post on act vs. sat.
  
  reply
kinnxe

may 30, 2017

i got an 8 on the reading and a 24 overall composite score…is that good or should i retake?

reply
1. magoosh test prep expert
  
  june 3, 2017
  
  hi kinnxe,
  
  do you mean 8 on the reading or 8 on the writing? if you got an 8 (out of 46) on reading, i would absolutely retake the test to raise that score. if you got an 8 (out of 12) on the writing, that is more in like with your 24 overall. i will say that aiming for 27+ is often better, but the score you really need should be determined based on the schools you want to attend. if you haven’t done research into that yet, i highly recommend you do. 🙂
  
  reply
lisa

june 9, 2017

hi,
my son took the feb act and got a 33 (35, 33, 32, 31) but didn’t take the writing. so he retook the test in april and received a lower score of 30 (27, 33, 32,31) but received a 12/12 in the writing. will schools superscore his ela score; so taking the 35 eng/32 reading from feb test and the 12 (36) from april writing for a superscore of 34? not sure you can superscore with only taking the writing one time? thanks in advance. lisa w.

reply
1. magoosh test prep expert
  
  june 10, 2017
  
  this will depend heavily on the individual schools, but it is worth sending the full applicant profile to show that there is relative consistency in abilities and a strong writing ability. that said, the most common way to handle scores is to just take one single session/date rather than pick and choose higher outcomes. it may be word contacting some admissions committees to get their take on the matter, too. i hope that helps!
  
  reply
franklin

september 21, 2017

i got a 35 on the test: 36 math, 35 english, 34 reading, and 34 science. that’s great and all, but i completely potatoed the writing with a 9. how much weight does the writing have in applications for ivy league colleges?

reply
1. magoosh test prep expert
  
  september 25, 2017
  
  hi franklin,
  
  oh no! i have potatoed a part of a test before, and it’s super frustrating. unfortunately, my answer is going to be a little frustrating, too, because the answer is “it depends.” i would investigate the admissions pages and, if they don’t give you enough details, email admissions directly to ask how much the act writing versus the application essays count. in some cases, you will likely be fine, but there will be others where both matter. good luck!
  
  reply
sophia

september 26, 2018

my son got a 34 composite but 7 on the essay writing. is that bad?

reply
1. magoosh test prep expert
  
  september 28, 2018
  
  hi sophia,
  
  wow–your son has a stellar composite score! a 34 puts him in a competitive range for many of the top universities in the country (see this post for more information). as we mention in this blog post, we suggest that students aim for an 8 or higher, but a lower essay score won’t necessarily make or break the application. schools look at a lot of information as they make their admissions decisions, and as long as you son has a strong overall profile, a slightly lower essay score may not cause too much fuss. i highly recommend that you talk to an admissions counselor at your son’s target schools to get their input before making any decisions!
  
  reply
anon

november 14, 2018

hi,
i got a 10 on writing, and that’s a pretty high percentile on the chart. however, if i would like to go to a more selective college, and i come from a very competitive high [school where there are likely to be 50+ people with a similar 9+ score, would my 10 still give me an edge?

reply
1. magoosh test prep expert
  
  november 25, 2018
  
  hi anon,
  
  a 10 is an excellent score–congrats on such a strong essay! 98th percentile is very impressive. you reached the ‘threshold’ for top selective schools, so i’m not sure what sort of ‘edge’ an extra point in writing might give you. however, our expertise is in test prep, not admissions advice, so i’m afraid that we aren’t the best people to answer this question. i recommend that you speak with a guidance or admissions counselor at your high school and your target universities. good luck!
  
  reply
maria hernandez

march 2, 2020

hey i got a 7 on the writing, and an overall score of 25 in the test (math:21, english: 26, science:24) do you think that is a good score?

reply
1. magoosh test prep expert
  
  march 6, 2020
  
  hi maria,
  
  congrats on taking the act! whether or not this is a good score depends on your target schools and college plans. your scores are above average, but each school has it’s own requirements. i recommend contacting your target schools directly for more information about the average scores at their schools.
  
  reply
ivy finch

september 19, 2022

hello! i got a 9 on the writing portion for the act, but a 25 overall. (23 math, 23 science, 22 english, 32 reading) i retook the test recently, and felt i did much better than last time. would i be able to submit a super-score, with my writing score. or would i be unable to do that.

reply
1. magoosh test prep expert
  
  september 23, 2022
  
  hi ivy,
  
  yes, you should be able to do that. the act says that “your superscore is the average of your best scores from each subject from multiple test attempts.” be sure to read over the superscore faqs from this official act page for more information!
  
  best of luck to you! 😀
  
  reply