kristin fracchia

what is a good act aspire score?

act aspire scores - magoosh
act aspire tests are scored on kind of a funky scale that changes between subjects and between grades tested. for the tests given in grades 9 and 10, which predict your act scores for 11th grade, here’s how the scoring breaks down:

act aspire scoring, grades 9 and 10

subject grade 9 score range grade 9 benchmark score grade 10 score range grade 10 benchmark score
english 400-456 426 400-456 428
reading 400-442 425 400-442 428
mathematics 400-460 428 400-460 432
science 400-449 430 400-449 432
composite 400-452 n/a 400-452 n/a

data from act aspire summative technical manual.

now let’s get into the nitty gritty about what this all means, what a “good” act aspire score is, and how these crazy scores in the low-400s correlate to act scores from 1-36.

what is act aspire?

first of all, let’s back up a little here and review, because act aspire is pretty new. act aspire debuted in 2014 as a “suite” (so fancy!) of assessments to test students in every year from grade 3 to grade 10. it’s given on the computer, so it’s different from the act in that sense, although many of the question types are similar to the act’s.

before act aspire, there was the plan test, which was more like what the psat is currently for the sat: a mini-act that was a little shorter and a little easier than the grown-up act. the current preact test has replaced the plan and offers sophomores a shorter, easier practice act.

scores on the plan ranged from 1-32, so they were more like act scores, except for the fact that the highest score on the act is a 36. this was because the plan was easier than the act. now the plan is defunct, which means we all must get used to the new act aspire scores.

a few years ago, the exam had separate writing scores–this is no longer the case. while testers still encounter writing items, this contributes to the overall ela score, instead of getting its own score.

liam got a 35 on the act. get a higher act score with magoosh.

why are the 9th and 10th grade tests so important?

although all of the act aspire tests might be important to schools in terms of providing some benchmarks regarding how their students are doing, the act aspire 9 and 10 are the most important test for you in terms of your college admissions and test prep plans. why? because the aspire tests you take in high school also give you your predicted score on the act, so it acts like the psat does for the act.

however, you shouldn’t put too much stock in these predictions right now, since the aspire is so new. the testmaker admits that it is still updating the predictions each year to make them more accurate, as more data becomes available. basically, it will take time to see how accurate these predictions are; a better indication of your act scores would be to take an 2022世界杯入门名单.

ok, but i care. so what is a good act aspire score?

it’s definitely important to have some perspective on where you stand compared to other students on the same standardized test. so here are the numbers you should be looking at:

the first score to pay attention to is what the act aspire calls a benchmark score. achieving this benchmark score means you have a “high probability of success in first year college courses.” in other words, you are on track to be college-ready.

unfortunately, the exam does not provide benchmark scores for composite scores, so you need to determine whether you hit the benchmark for each individual subject on the test. in the table below, we’ve listed the benchmark scores for grades 9 and 10.

benchmark scores for grades 9 and 10

subject grade 9 benchmark score grade 10 benchmark score
english 426 428
reading 425 428
mathematics 428 432
science 430 432


data from act aspire summative technical manual.

so, according to the testmakers, if you are aiming to attend college, you have a good core if you hit the benchmark.

the second set of numbers to be paying attention to are your percentile rankings. in fact, you’ll probably find these to be more useful than your actual aspire scores. for each subject you’ll see how you compare nationally to other students who took the test.

so depending on your goals, maybe doing better than half of students out there is good for you, or maybe you would like to be above 90% (if you are aiming for one of the top colleges in the country, this is ideally where you want to be on aspire percentiles).

now let’s talk about how the act aspire scores compare to act scores (and whatever you might think is a good act score).

act aspire to act score conversion

the act provides information about act aspire to general act scores each year. it’s important to note that the testmaker is constantly adapting this information, so it may not carry over accurately from year to year. nevertheless, the information it provides freshmen and sophomores is not only interesting, but also valuable. take a look:

act aspire 9 and 10 to general act scores conversion

act aspire 9 score projected act score act aspire 10 score projected act score
400 6-12 400 5-11
401 6-12 401 6-12
402 7-12 402 6-12
403 7-12 403 7-12
404 8-13 404 7-12
405 8-13 405 8-13
406 9-13 406 9-13
407 9-13 407 9-13
408 10-14 408 10-14
409 10-14 409 10-14
410 11-14 410 11-14
411 11-15 411 11-15
412 11-15 412 12-15
413 12-15 413 12-15
414 12-15 414 12-15
415 12-16 415 12-15
416 12-16 416 12-16
417 13-16 417 13-16
418 13-17 418 13-16
419 14-17 419 13-17
420 14-18 420 14-17
421 15-18 421 14-17
422 15-19 422 14-18
423 15-19 423 15-18
424 16-19 424 15-18
425 17-20 425 16-19
426 17-21 426 16-19
427 18-21 427 17-20
428 18-22 428 17-20
429 19-22 429 18-21
430 20-23 430 19-22
431 20-24 431 19-22
432 21-24 432 20-23
433 22-25 433 21-24
434 23-26 434 21-24
435 24-27 435 22-25
436 24-28 436 23-26
437 25-29 437 24-27
438 26-29 438 25-28
439 27-30 439 26-29
440 28-31 440 26-30
441 29-32 441 27-30
442 30-33 442 28-31
443 30-34 443 29-32
444 30-34 444 30-33
445 31-34 445 30-34
446 31-34 446 31-34
447 31-35 447 31-34
448 31-35 448 31-34
449 31-35 449 31-35
450 32-35 450 32-35
451 32-36 451 32-36
452 32-36 452 32-36


data from act.

note that, no matter how great you did on the act aspire, the testmakers won’t predict that you’re going to get a perfect score on the act! this may be because perfect scores are so rare (but still possible!) that they hesitate to open themselves up to students’ disappointment in future years.

again, keep in mind that a lot of factors can influence your official act test score. don’t rely on your predicted scores from the act aspire to get you your ideal score! it’ll still take a fair amount of solid preparation.

and if your projected act score is lower than you’d hoped to score on the exam, just let that light a fire under you! you can still achieve the score of your dreams with thorough prep and the right materials, so don’t be discouraged.

two ways to evaluate: what’s a good act aspire score?

based on what we’ve seen, we now have two different measures with which to evaluate what a good act aspire score is for you. on the one hand: are you meeting the benchmarks for your grade level? that’s between 425 and 432, depending on the section and your grade.

on the other hand: is your act aspire score in line with where you hope to score on the act? the average score on the act is currently 20.7, meaning that scores above 431 for a freshman and 433 for a sophomore would make your predicted act score above average, what most people would consider a good score.

so what’s next?

take an 2022世界杯入门名单 and start from there. remember that the aspire is not exactly like the act and you may perform differently on the act. so a practice test will provide a better diagnostic. then find a quality class, tutor, or online program for the act and start prepping!

the act aspire is different from the preact. for everything you need to know about the preact, check this out!

author

  • kristin fracchia

    dr. kristin fracchia has over fifteen years of expertise in college and graduate school admissions and with a variety of standardized tests, including the act, sat, gre, gmat, and lsat, with several 99% scores. she had a phd from the university of california, irvine, an ma degree from the catholic university, and ba degrees in secondary education and english literature from the university of maryland, college park. she was the recipient of the 2013 excellence in teaching award and the chancellor’s club fellowship from the university of california, irvine. she’s worked as a high school teacher and university professor, as an independent college and graduate school admissions counselor, and as an expert tutor for standardized tests, helping hundreds of students gain acceptance into premier national and international institutions. she now develops accessible and effective edtech products for magoosh. her free online content and youtube videos providing test prep and college admissions advice have received over 6 million views in over 125 countries. kristin is an advocate for improving access to education: you can check out her tedx talk on the topic. follow kristin on linkedin!

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