what is a good act writing score?

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: