writing essay score act

• Plan for College and Career
• Take the ACT
• School and District Assessment
• Career-Ready Solutions
• Students & Parents
• Open Search Form
• The ACT Test

• Registration
• Test Center Locator
• High School Codes Lookup
• Photo Submission Requirements
• Standby Testing
• Accommodations and Supports
• Free ACT Test Prep
• Official ACT Subject Guides
• The Official ACT Prep Guide
• ACT Kaplan Test Prep Suite
• Rescheduled Test Centers
• CAS Calculator FAQ

Understanding Your Scores

• College Codes Lookup
• How to Send Scores
• Your Test Questions and Answers
• How Schools Use Scores
• ACT vs. SAT
• When to Take the ACT
• Changes to the ACT
• Online ACT Testing
• 2024-25 Test Enhancements

Other ACT Services and Products

ACT Test Scores

Viewing, sending, and understanding your scores., act superscoring.

ACT provides an automatically calculated ACT Superscore to all students who have taken the ACT more than once from September 2016 to current day. Log in to MyACT to view and send scores.

Scores for the ACT Test

How can i see my scores.

When available, your scores are posted online and accessed using your MyACT account. 

ACT Customer Support cannot provide your scores by phone, email, chat, or fax. 

• Multiple choice scores are normally available two weeks after each national test date, but it can sometimes take up to eight weeks.
• Writing scores are normally available about two weeks after your multiple-choice scores.

If you took the writing test, your overall scores are not officially reported until your writing scores have been added. Viewing your scores online does not speed up reporting.

On select test dates, ACT performs equating activities to ensure that scores reported have a constant meaning across all test forms. During equating test dates, scores are available within 3-8 weeks.

For the 2023-2024 testing year, equating will be adminstered in October.

Score reporting dates

Scores are delivered over a window of time after the test date and are processed continuously during business hours. ACT is committed to providing your scores as quickly as possible but cannot guarantee a specific date for your scores to be reported.

Occasionally we are unable to post scores when expected. If yours are not available yet, it may be due to one of these issues: 

• Answer documents from your test center arrived late or your test date was rescheduled.
• The "Matching Information" you provided on the answer document (name, date of birth, and Match Number) is not consistent with the Matching Information on your admission ticket . Scores cannot be reported until they can be accurately matched to the correct person. You provided incomplete or inaccurate test form information on the answer document, or the answer document has not cleared all other scoring accuracy checks. 
• An irregularity is reported at your test center. 
• You owe any registration fees. 

If your scores are not yet available, while during the posted timeframe, ACT is unable to provide a status or timeline about a specific score.

Delivery timelines

ACT sends score report data to the recipients you provided during registration; these include your high school and any institutions with college codes you provided. ACT also provides your scores through your web account.

Your scores in MyACT  

MyACT is mobile-accessible and friendly and all results can be accessed on a PC, tablet, or mobile device.

When you select score recipients, you’ll have the option of sending either score reports from the specific test event or you can choose to send your superscore.

You may print an unofficial copy of your ACT test score by using your browser’s print option. A PDF student report is currently unavailable.

Additional Services

Request a copy of the questions and answers.

Certain national test dates and centers give you the opportunity to order a copy of your questions, your answers, the answer key, and scoring instructions—plus the writing prompt, scoring rubric, and scores assigned to the optional writing test. 

Request a Copy

Score Verification Service

You can ask ACT to verify your multiple-choice and/or your writing test scores up to 12 months after your test date. Please download the  Request for Score Verification (PDF) . 

You will need to complete the form, and enclose a check payable to ACT Customer Support for the applicable fee(s).

• For multiple-choice tests, ACT will verify that your responses were checked against the correct scoring key.
• For the writing test, ACT will verify that your essay was scored by two independent, qualified readers and by a third reader in the event that the two scores differed by more than one point in any domain. ACT will also verify that your essay was properly captured and displayed to readers. If errors are discovered during score verification, ACT will rescore your essay.

ACT will inform you by letter of the results of the score verification approximately three to five weeks after receiving your request.

If a scoring error is discovered, your scores will be changed and corrected reports will be released to you and all previous score report recipients at no charge. In addition, your score verification fee will be refunded.

Score Verification Request (PDF)

Correcting Errors in Your Score Report

Student errors

If, after you receive your score report, you find that you made a significant error in the information you supplied to us about yourself, or if you want to change your address, you may ask us to correct your record. Write to:

ACT Customer Support P.O. Box 414 Iowa City, IA 52243-0414 USA

Write within three months of receiving your score report. Enclose a photocopy or printed pdf of your Student Report describing the error and the change you are requesting.

There is no fee for making the correction, but you must pay the applicable fee for each corrected report you wish sent to a college, agency, or high school.

Other errors

If you think there is an error (on any information other than your test scores), write to ACT Customer Support—Score Reports at the above address within three months of receiving your score report. Enclose a photocopy or printed pdf of your Student Report describing the error and the change you are requesting.

If an error is our responsibility and requires you to retest, there will be no fee. If the error does not involve retesting, corrected score reports will be released to you and all previous score recipients at no charge. 

If an error is not to be found to be made by ACT and you wish to send corrected reports, you must request and pay for Additional Score Reports.

Changing Score Recipients

If you need to change a score recipient, you have until Thursday noon after the regularly scheduled test date.

Need to send more scores?

In addition to the four institutions you selected upon registering, you can send your scores to others, even after you test. Requests are processed after all scores for your test option—the ACT or the ACT with writing—are ready. 

Can scores be cancelled?

ACT reserves the right to cancel test scores when there is reason to believe the scores are invalid. See the Compromises/Disruptions in the Testing Process—Limitation of Remedies section of the ACT Terms and Conditions (PDF)  for details.

Outside of state testing and district testing, you may request to cancel scores for a particular test date. Contact us online and we will provide you a form to complete and return to us. We will then permanently cancel that score record for the indicated test date and send cancellation notices to any score recipients.

What does it all mean?

There's a lot of information provided in the ACT score report.

Follow the link below to learn why we show individual reporting categories, how we arrived at your Composite score—and more!

National ranks  

How do you compare? 

Your national ranks tell you how your scores compare to those earned by recent high school graduates who took the ACT. Colleges use this information to help make admissions decisions, and scholarship agencies may base awards on it. 

How schools use results

Your current and future schools want to learn more about you.

Just as you can use national ranks to get a sense of your strengths and weaknesses, so can your high school and potential colleges.  A high rank in a content area may suggest a good chance of success in related college majors and careers. A low rank may indicate that you need to develop your skills more by taking additional coursework in that area. This information is helpful for you as well as your current and future schools. 

Should I retest?  

43% of ACT test takers chose to take the test more than once last year, and more than half of them improved their scores. 

Why every point matters on the ACT test

Did you know improving by just a single test point can be worth thousands of dollars in financial aid for your college education? The ACT ® test is important to your future—and can open up new opportunities for college and career.

What scores are reported if I test more than once?  

You determine which set of scores is sent to colleges or scholarship programs. We will release only the scores from the test date (month and year) and test location (e.g., National, State, School) you designate.    

Can I combine scores from different test dates to create a new Composite score?  

Yes - superscoring enables you to combine scores from different test dates.

Can I report only my writing scores or only my multiple-choice scores from a test date?  

No. All scores from a test date will be reported together.   

Can I combine my writing scores from one test date with my multiple-choice scores from another?  

Yes - superscoring enables you to combine writing scores from one test date with multiple-choice scores from another test date.

Test Security Hotline

Cheating hurts everyone – if you see it, report it. You can make an anonymous report by using the Test Security Hotline . Discussing test content—including on social media—is not permitted. Students who don't do their own work put honest students at a disadvantage. If you suspect that someone is trying to take unfair advantages or encounter anything else out of the ordinary, please report it to ACT. 

Compromises and disruptions

See  ACT's Terms and Conditions  for remedies available to examinees affected by compromises or disruptions in the testing process.

This action will open a new window. Do you want to proceed?

Welcome to ACT

If you are accessing this site from outside the United States, Puerto Rico, or U.S. Territories, please proceed to the non-U.S. version of our website.

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 2022 reporting period:

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 96th 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 $50 fee for the re-score will be refunded if you do get a higher score .

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 ACT practice test, 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:

Click the button below to get started:   Start Quiz!

• Essays at this level will respond to all three perspectives offered.
• The thesis is nuanced and precise.
• The argument puts the issue in context insightfully, examining implications, complexities, tensions, values, and assumptions.
• Ideas and analysis are well developed and qualified.
• Organization is skillful and unified around a main idea; the essay progresses logically and uses transitions.
• Word choice, sentence structures, style and register are all skillfully and precisely used.
• Some errors that do not impede meaning may be present.
• The thesis is precise, though could be more nuanced.
• The argument puts the issue in context thoughtfully, examining implications, complexities, tensions, values, and assumptions.
• Ideas and analysis are mostly developed.
• Organization is productive and mostly unified around a main idea; the essay progresses logically and uses transitions.
• Language use is serviceable, if not skillful.
• Essays at this level will respond to at least two of the perspectives offered.
• The thesis is clear.
• The argument puts the issue in context, recognizing implications, complexities, tensions, values, and assumptions.
• Ideas and analysis are clear.
• Organization is clear and related to the main idea; the essay progresses logically and uses transitions.
• Word choice, sentence structures, style and register are all adequate.
• Some errors that impede meaning may be present.
• The thesis is somewhat clear.
• The issue’s context is limited or tangential.
• Ideas and analysis are relevant, but too general or specific.
• Organization is basic and mostly coherent.
• Language use is basic and unvaried.
• Distracting errors that impede meaning may be present.
• Essays at this level only weakly respond to multiple perspectives.
• The thesis may not be evident and analysis is incomplete, irrelevant, or repetitive.
• Development and illustration are weak, inadequate, or illogical, and the argument is unclear.
• Some attempt at organization is visible.
• Language use is inconsistent and distracting errors that impede meaning are present.
• The essay does not respond to the task.
• Analysis is unclear, while ideas are undeveloped and unsupported.
• Little to no organization is evident, while errors in language usage may be common and often impede understanding.

Question 1 of 2

Question 2 of 2

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!

View all posts

More from Magoosh

30 responses to “What is a Good ACT Writing Score?”

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

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! 🙂

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

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!

How do I request a rescore on the writing section?

Here is some helpful info from act.org https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/Request-for-Score-Verification.pdf

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.

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.

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?

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. 🙂

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.

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.

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?

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. 🙂

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?

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 .

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

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. 🙂

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.

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!

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?

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!

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

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!

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?

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!

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?

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.

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.

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! 😀

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses various technologies, as described in our Privacy Policy, for personalization, measuring website use/performance, and targeted advertising, which may include storing and sharing information about your site visit with third parties. By continuing to use this website you consent to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .

We are experiencing sporadically slow performance in our online tools, which you may notice when working in your dashboard. Our team is fully engaged and actively working to improve your online experience. If you are experiencing a connectivity issue, we recommend you try again in 10-15 minutes. We will update this space when the issue is resolved.

Enter your email to unlock an extra $25 off an SAT or ACT program!

By submitting my email address. i certify that i am 13 years of age or older, agree to recieve marketing email messages from the princeton review, and agree to terms of use., act writing score secrets.

You get 40 minutes to write, but ACT graders have to grade each essay in less than five.

The way to get a great ACT writing score is to make the graders’ jobs easy. So, don’t sweat the small stuff. Focus on the big picture: a clear position, logical organization, and strong examples.

ACT Writing Rubric

The ACT essay is scored by two graders who will each assign a score of 1–6 for a total score of 2–12.

View a sample ACT essay prompt . Your ACT writing score will be based on how well you can do the following:

What's a Good ACT Writing Score?

The ACT Writing Test is scored on a scale of 2 (lowest score) to 12 (highest score). The average ACT Writing score is between a 6 and 7. Here's a look at national ACT writing score percentiles, according to the latest data released by ACT, Inc.

SOURCE:  ACT, Inc.

More ACT Writing Tips

Your argument, organization, and supporting examples are the most crucial pieces of your essay, but these four writing tips can help boost your score.

Yes, ACT graders really do tend to reward longer essays. Try to write at least four paragraphs spanning two to three pages. If your handwriting is large, make sure you write an extra page to compensate!

Read More: What's A Good ACT Score?

2. Keep It Interesting

Vary your sentence structure to improve the rhythm of your essay. If you write a really long sentence with lots of modifiers and dependent clauses, it sometimes helps to follow it with a shorter, more direct sentence. It really works.

3. Watch Your Word Choice

Sprinkle some nice vocabulary words throughout your essay (make sure to spell them correctly!). If you’re uncertain about the meaning or spelling of a word, it’s best just to pick a different word. Using a big word incorrectly makes a worse impression than using a smaller word correctly.

4. Practice Your Best Handwriting

Though graders shouldn’t take neatness into consideration when determining your ACT writing score, the bottom line is that a neat, legible essay is easier to read. And a happy grader is a good thing! For an essay that's truly easy on the eyes, make sure you indent each paragraph and avoid messy cross-outs.

Build the right ACT prep plan for you

Our private tutors will help you build a prep plan that's customized to your score goals, study habits, and schedule.

Find a Tutor

Explore Colleges For You

Connect with our featured colleges to find schools that both match your interests and are looking for students like you.

Career Quiz

Take our short quiz to learn which is the right career for you.

Get Started on Athletic Scholarships & Recruiting!

Join athletes who were discovered, recruited & often received scholarships after connecting with NCSA's 42,000 strong network of coaches.

Best 389 Colleges

165,000 students rate everything from their professors to their campus social scene.

SAT Prep Courses

1400+ course, act prep courses, free sat practice test & events,  1-800-2review, free digital sat prep try our self-paced plus program - for free, get a 14 day trial.

Free MCAT Practice Test

I already know my score.

MCAT Self-Paced 14-Day Free Trial

Enrollment Advisor

1-800-2REVIEW (800-273-8439) ext. 1

1-877-LEARN-30

Mon-Fri 9AM-10PM ET

Sat-Sun 9AM-8PM ET

Student Support

1-800-2REVIEW (800-273-8439) ext. 2

Mon-Fri 9AM-9PM ET

Sat-Sun 8:30AM-5PM ET

Partnerships

• Teach or Tutor for Us

College Readiness

International

Advertising

Affiliate/Other

• Enrollment Terms & Conditions
• Accessibility
• Cigna Medical Transparency in Coverage

Register Book

Local Offices: Mon-Fri 9AM-6PM

• SAT Subject Tests

Academic Subjects

• Social Studies

Find the Right College

• College Rankings
• College Advice
• Applying to College
• Financial Aid

School & District Partnerships

• Professional Development
• Advice Articles
• Private Tutoring
• Mobile Apps
• International Offices
• Work for Us
• Affiliate Program
• Partner with Us
• Advertise with Us
• International Partnerships
• Our Guarantees
• Accessibility – Canada

Privacy Policy | CA Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information | Your Opt-Out Rights | Terms of Use | Site Map

©2024 TPR Education IP Holdings, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University

TPR Education, LLC (doing business as “The Princeton Review”) is controlled by Primavera Holdings Limited, a firm owned by Chinese nationals with a principal place of business in Hong Kong, China.

What's a Good ACT Writing Score?

Hill Street Studios/Getty Images

• ACT Test Prep
• Test Prep Strategies
• Study Skills
• SAT Test Prep
• GRE Test Prep
• LSAT Test Prep
• Certifications
• Homework Help
• Private School
• College Admissions
• College Life
• Graduate School
• Business School
• Distance Learning
• Ph.D., English, University of Pennsylvania
• M.A., English, University of Pennsylvania
• B.S., Materials Science & Engineering and Literature, MIT

For the ACT 2019-2020 reporting year, the average writing score is a 6.5 on a 12-point scale. The number comes from an ACT report on national norms , and represents roughly 2.8 million taken between 2017 and 2019. 

Do You Need the ACT Plus Writing?

Ever since the SAT evolved to include a written component, more and more colleges changed their policies to require ACT students to take the optional Writing Test (see the list of colleges that require ACT Plus Writing ). Hundreds of more colleges "recommend" the Writing Test, and if a selective college recommends something, you should probably do it. After all, strong writing skills are an essential part of college success.

As of March 2016, the SAT no longer includes a required essay section, and we're already seeing many colleges dropping the ACT writing exam as a requirement for admission. Time will tell if this trend continues. However, it is still a good idea to take the ACT Plus Wiring if 1) the colleges you're looking at recommend the test; and 2) you have solid writing skills.

There's no reason to take a recommended exam if you're likely to perform poorly on it. Unless the writing exam is required, take it only if you think it will strengthen your college application. Strong writing skills are essential to college success, so the score certainly can play a positive role in the admissions equation if you get a high score.

Average Scores on the Current 12-Point Writing Exam

An average score on the current ACT Writing Exam is a a 6.5. For highly selective colleges, you'll want a score of 8 or higher. Scores of 10, 11, and 12 truly stand out and highlight strong writing skills.

Unfortunately, for the past couple of years, almost no colleges report ACT writing scores to the Department of Education, so it's difficult to learn what score ranges are typical for different types of colleges. Later in this article, however, you'll see data from the pre-2015 12-point ACT writing exam, and those numbers can give you a pretty accurate sense of what scores will be competitive at different schools.

ACT Writing Scores by College

Because so few schools now require the ACT writing exam, the data is no longer reported to the Department of Education. The data below is historical—it's from pre-2015 when ACT used a 12-point scale and many colleges used the writing score as part of the admissions equation. Nevertheless, the numbers may be useful for seeing what writing scores were typical at different types of colleges and universities.

The data below shows the scores for the 25th and 75th percentile of matriculated students at certain colleges. In other words, half of all enrolled students scored somewhere between the lower and upper numbers. Again, keep in mind that this is  not  current data.

You can see that you don't need a perfect 12 to get into the most selective colleges in the country. In fact, a 9 or 10 puts you in a strong position even at schools like Harvard and MIT.

Keep in mind that your ACT Writing Test score is just a tiny part of your application. Your overall ACT composite score matters more than any individual section of the exam. A strong application also needs to include glowing letters or recommendation , a winning essay , and meaningful extracurricular involvement . Most important of all is a strong academic record .

• How to Study for the ACT
• Raise Your Act Math Score in 5 Easy Steps
• 2019-20 ACT Score Release Dates
• ACT Science Reasoning Information
• Should I Retake the ACT?
• Converting ACT Scores to SAT Scores
• ACT English Questions, Reporting Categories, and Content
• ACT Reading Test Questions, Content, and Scores
• How to Improve Your ACT Scores
• What is the ACT?
• What to Do About an ACT Score Mistake
• ACT Writing Sample Essay Topics
• ACT Scores for Admission to Selective Liberal Arts Colleges
• ACT Score Comparison for Top Universities
• ACT Score Comparison for Admission to Indiana Colleges
• When Should You Take the ACT?

Choose Your Test

• Search Blogs By Category
• College Admissions
• AP and IB Exams
• GPA and Coursework

ACT Writing Tips: 15 Strategies to Raise Your Essay Score

ACT , ACT Writing

Whether you've never thought about ACT Writing strategies or have worked hard on the ACT essay, you can benefit from knowing more: about the essay itself, and what really matters when the graders are reading your essay.

In this article, we offer a number of ACT Writing tips as well as a foolproof template for putting them into practice.

ACT Essay Tips

The ACT essay is a very short assignment—you only get 40 minutes to write a full-fledged essay—and it can pass in a flash if you don't have a method for attacking it. It requires a very specific approach that's unlike the essays you've been writing for English class.

The goal of this approach is to cram in as many of the desired components as possible in the 40 minutes that you've got for the essay. We'll give you the four main elements the ACT asks for, the top three things they don't tell you, and a bulletproof template for your ACT Writing essay format. Here we go!

What ACT, Inc. Does Tell You: 4 Elements to Remember

ACT, Inc. explains the main components of the successful ACT Essay in its scoring criteria . Here they are, condensed and explained:

#1: Ideas & Analysis: A 12-scoring essay includes "an argument that critically engages with multiple perspectives on the given issue. The argument's thesis reflects nuance and precision in thought and purpose. The argument establishes and employs an insightful context for analysis of the issue and its perspectives. The analysis examines implications, complexities and tensions, and/or underlying values and assumptions."

In other words, answer the question that's in the prompt, make it very, very clear what your perspective is and analyze how your perspective relates to at least one other perspective .

Ideas and Analysis is the hardest domain to master; it's tough to do everything you need to do well at all, much less in 40 minutes. The main thing is that you want to show that you understand as many sides of the issue as possible. You can do this by discussing those sides of the issue, why people might have those opinions, and whether those opinions are logical or not.

It's fine to copy the exact words from the prompt into your thesis statement—in fact, this guarantees that the graders will see that your thesis is there and on topic. You must, however, make it obvious which side you are arguing for . If you can, it's great to put the argument in terms of a larger debate—we'll discuss that later.

#2: Development & Support : In a 12-scoring essay, "[d]evelopment of ideas and support for claims deepen insight and broaden context. An integrated line of skillful reasoning and illustration effectively conveys the significance of the argument. Qualifications and complications enrich and bolster ideas and analysis."

Development & Support is another area that can be hard for students to grasp. The bottom line is that you need to fully explain every point you make. If you don't have time to explain it in two to four sentences, leave it out (unless it's the only way you can get in a comparison of your perspective with another perspective). Make sure to either explain your thinking and reasoning or use specific examples to illustrate your points.

#3: Organization : A 12-scoring essay "exhibits a skillful organizational strategy. The response is unified by a controlling idea or purpose, and a logical progression of ideas increases the effectiveness of the writer's argument. Transitions between and within paragraphs strengthen the relationships among ideas."

In short, you need to give each idea one to two paragraphs. If a logical organization for your points occurs to you (for example, if Point 1 depends on Point 2, you'd put Point 2 first), use it. If not, just list your points, allotting a paragraph for each one. A transition that reflects your logic just means tying one point to another somehow, and this is ideal.

The ACT essay scoring system won't penalize you too heavily for a "First, Second, Third" type of organization, so if you just say "My first reason…," and "Second…," that's better than no transitions. The intro and conclusion should make the same general points, and if you mention a larger context in the intro, mention it again in the conclusion.

#4: Language Use: A 12-scoring essay uses language in a way that "enhances the argument. Word choice is skillful and precise. Sentence structures are consistently varied and clear. Stylistic and register choices, including voice and tone, are strategic and effective. While a few minor errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics may be present, they do not impede understanding."

Language Use can be the hardest area for students to improve in (particularly if English is not their native language). "Word choice is skillful and precise" does include using fancy vocabulary, but it also means not repeating yourself and using the advanced vocabulary correctly. The essay graders aren't going to be impressed by words like "dogmatic" and "provincial" if you just throw them in and hope for the best; if you're not sure about the usage of a more advanced word, stick with the simpler one.

Using "consistently varied and clear" sentence structures doesn't just mean not starting every sentence the same way (e.g. "Machines are helpful to humans. Machines can also cause problems. Machines are the answer to our future"). You also need to make sure your sentences are clear and further your logic (rather than making it more difficult to understand). As with word choice (and organization), it's better to be clear than to be fancy.

If in the moment you find that your brain freezes and your sentences are all coming out the same with simple words, don't sweat it. Adding in more advanced vocabulary or switching up sentence structures is something you can fix when you revise your essay in the last two to four minutes of the essay section.

What ACT, Inc. Doesn't Tell You: 3 Secrets

Even though the ACT essay has some clear published guidelines, there are a few secrets that most students don't know and that can give you a major advantage on the test.

These are facts that ACT, Inc. doesn't want to be too well-known because it helps us develop ACT Writing strategies that may give us an edge over people who haven't prepared.

#1: You Don't Need to Know the Facts

You can make up whatever information you need to support your point. Really. As with the tip above, if you know the real facts, that's great (since the grader will probably know them too), but it's not required.

This might sound crazy. You could write about how Al Gore invented the dishwasher, and the ACT graders are not allowed to penalize you. Why is this?

ACT, Inc. doesn't have the resources to do fact-checking on every single essay. With over a million students taking the test every year, graders only have a few minutes to put a score of 1-6 to each of the four essay scoring domains. They can't check whether Martin Luther King was born in 1929 or 1925.

Thus, ACT essay scoring uses a simpler rule—all statements are taken as truth. The important point is that the evidence needs to support your thesis.

(Of course, ACT, Inc. doesn't want people to know about this—that would make the ACT essay sound silly.)

If you're short on examples to prove a point, make up something realistic-sounding (you can even pretend a newspaper or politician said something they didn't), and slap it in there. It's much better than trying to write a vague paragraph without concrete evidence.

#2: You Should Write More Than a Page

This is one of the most important ACT Writing tips. There is a strong relationship between essay length and score—the longer your essay, the better your score. In a short essay, it's difficult for you to develop your points well enough to earn a decent score.

Really, you should write a page and a half if at all possible. Although ACT, Inc. never explicitly mentions that length matters in ACT essay scoring , it does. And if you can write more than a page and a half without repeating yourself or digressing from your point, you'll be in really good shape.

#3: Your First Paragraph and Conclusion Matter More Than the Middle

The introduction and conclusion are the "bookends" of the essay: they hold it together and are guaranteed to be read more closely than the rest of the essay.

ACT graders have to read a lot of essays very quickly, and they give most of them a 3 or a 4 in each domain. The fastest way for them to score an essay is to find the thesis (to make sure that it's there, that it answers the prompt, and that the rest of the essay supports it) and then skim the first and last paragraphs.

Here's why: if a student's introduction and conclusion paragraphs are well-written and logical, it's likely the rest of the essay will be too. By reading these parts, the grader can usually tell with confidence what the score will be. They'll scan the middle to make sure it makes sense, but they probably won't read every word as closely.

On the other hand, if you don't have time to write an introduction or conclusion, you will be heavily penalized. It'll be hard to score above an 8 without an introduction and conclusion, particularly if you don't make your thesis, or point of view, clear in the first paragraph. This might be the most important ACT essay tip we can give you.

A strong ACT writing strategy includes preparing enough time to write and revise your introduction and conclusion paragraphs, as we explain below.

Key Strategy: How to Write A Successful ACT Essay in 40 Minutes

Because you only have 40 minutes to write the ACT essay, you need to have a game plan before you start the test. Here's a step by step guide on how to write an effective ACT essay.

Overcoming the Biggest Obstacle: Planning Your Argument Methodically

One of the things that students often find hardest about the essay is quickly thinking of support for the thesis. But it can be done in a simple, methodical way, which we explain below. Let's start with a sample prompt.

Intelligent Machines

Many of the goods and services we depend on daily are now supplied by intelligent, automated machines rather than human beings. Robots build cars and other goods on assembly lines, where once there were human workers. Many of our phone conversations are now conducted not with people but with sophisticated technologies. We can now buy goods at a variety of stores without the help of a human cashier. Automation is generally seen as a sign of progress, but what is lost when we replace humans with machines? Given the accelerating variety and prevalence of intelligent machines, it is worth examining the implications and meaning of their presence in our lives.

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the increasing presence of intelligent machines.

Perspective One: What we lose with the replacement of people by machines is some part of our own humanity. Even our mundane daily encounters no longer require from us basic courtesy, respect, and tolerance for other people.

Perspective Two: Machines are good at low-skill, repetitive jobs, and at high-speed, extremely precise jobs. In both cases they work better than humans. This efficiency leads to a more prosperous and progressive world for everyone.

Perspective Three: Intelligent machines challenge our long-standing ideas about what humans are or can be. This is good because it pushes both humans and machines toward new, unimagined possibilities.

Write a unified, coherent essay about the increasing presence of intelligent machines. In your essay, be sure to:

• clearly state your own perspective on the issue and analyze the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective
• develop and support your ideas with reasoning and examples
• organize your ideas clearly and logically
• communicate your ideas effectively in standard written English

Your perspective may be in full agreement with any of the others, in partial agreement, or wholly different.

In the prompt above, the ACT gives you three viewpoints so that you have a starting point for ideas to consider in your discussion of various perspectives. But you'll need to elaborate on these as well. Let's look at the viewpoints this prompt gives us.

• Conservative: "Intelligent machines lead to problems, which is bad."
• Utilitarian: "Intelligent machines allow us to be more efficient, which is good."
• Progressive: "Intelligent machines lead to progress, which is good."

Supporting each viewpoint is a slew of possible reasons, and these are what you want to lay out clearly in your essay. You can, of course, choose any side of the argument, but one is usually easier to argue than the other (because it is opposite the other two given perspectives, which gives you more opportunity to compare and contrast).

For this prompt, it's easier to argue against intelligent machines than to argue for their efficiency or progress, so we'll look at potential support for the "conservative" argument, which is that "Intelligent machines lead to problems."

To argue against any change, we can point out its assumptions and how they are false, or its consequences and how they are bad:

• it assumes that machines lead to progress [assumption made by perspective 3]
• it assumes that machines allow us to be more efficient [assumption made by perspective 2]
• it assumes that the benefits machines give to us outweigh the negatives
• it could lead to progress in some areas, but also to new problems caused by that progress
• it could let us be more efficient in some ways, but end up creating more
• it would hurt us more than it would help because people would end up becoming less courteous and respectful to and tolerant of other people [perspective 1]

This method works for any argument. If you find yourself supporting the proposal in the prompt, like that a right to avoid health risks is a more important freedom than the right to do whatever you want, then you just need to think of ways it would be positive. That can be much simpler. But you can still use the assumptions-and-consequences method above for the paragraph in which you address at least one other perspective.

The Golden Essay Template

This is a tried and true structure for earning a great score on the ACT essay. Just by following this template and keeping in mind the ACT writing tips above, you're pretty much guaranteed a 6 or higher out of 12. Do a decent job and you'll easily get an 8 or higher. Here are a few real ACT prompts to keep in mind as we go through the steps:

• Intelligent machines : they're not good, they're good and practical, or they're good and lead to progress.
• Public health and individual freedom : freedom is more important than physical health, society should strive for the greatest good for the most people, or the right to avoid health risks is more important than individual freedom.

Time: 8-10 minutes

#1 : Decide on your thesis , choosing one of the three sides. You can try to form your own, fourth perspective, but since you have to compare your perspective with at least one other perspective, you might as well argue for one of given perspectives and save some time for writing.

#2 : Quickly brainstorm two or three reasons or examples that support your thesis.

#3 : Brainstorm counterarguments for or analyses of at least one other perspective and your responses.

#4 : Organize your essay. Make sure you order your points in a way that makes sense.

#5 : Check your time . Try to have 30 minutes left at this point so you have enough time to write. If you don't, just keep in mind that you might have to cut out one of your supporting points.

Time: 25-28 minutes

• Write your introduction. If you can think of an interesting first sentence that brings your thesis into a larger discussion (say, of how intelligent machines have changed the way people interact with each other), start with that.
• Narrow down from the larger context to your specific response to the question (your thesis), which should be at or near the end of the first paragraph.
• It can be helpful to the reader to have your reasons and examples "previewed" in the introduction if it fits in well.

#2: Paragraph 2: Transitions & Opposing Perspective.

• When you start paragraph 2, try to think of a first sentence that refers back to the first paragraph.
• "In contrast to [my perspective], some people claim that [other perspective]…" is a simple example of an effective way to transition into the second paragraph. If you're arguing for perspective one for the intelligent machines prompt, for instance, you'd replace the first part of the sentence with, "In contrast to the assumption that intelligent machines will inevitably lead to problems," and replace [other perspective] with the perspective you're comparing to your own.
• Then, address a perspective opposing yours and why its supporters are wrong or misguided. In the example about intelligent machines above (where we've chosen to argue Perspective 1), you could argue against perspective 2 or 3 (or some other clearly defined perspective) in this paragraph.

#3: Body Paragraphs (those remaining before the conclusion):

• Introduce your first reason or example in support of the perspective you'll be discussing.
• In 3-5 sentences, explain your reasoning as to how this perspective relates to your own (using explanations of your thinking or specific examples to support the point).
• Connect your example to the thesis and then state that it supports your thesis.
• Check your time . Try to have 7 minutes left by this point.

#4: Conclusion

• (Optional) Relate your two or three examples back to your thesis. Add one or two sentences if you want.
• End with a restatement of your thesis or a return to your first lines to wrap up the essay.

Time: 2-4 minutes

Hopefully, you still have 2-4 minutes to read over your essay. In this time, you can do several things.

#1: You can, of course, correct mistakes.

#2: You can replace dull words with fancier words.

#3: You can make sure that your introduction and conclusion "match" by stating the same thesis (in different words, of course).

Notice the two time-checking steps (in the Planning and the Body Paragraphs stages). It's very easy to get caught in the planning stage and run out of time on your actual essay, which is easy to avoid if you practice checking your time.

If you have to make a choice between explaining a perspective or writing a conclusion paragraph, always choose the explanation. You can get by with a short sentence for a conclusion as long as you have a clear thesis in your introduction, but if you leave out the analysis of the relationship between your perspective and one of the ACT's perspectives in your essay, you'll lose a lot of points.

Now you practice. Print out the template above, consult our ACT Essay Prompts Article (or think of any controversial issue in the world today), and get to work. You may find that many issues can be argued using the same reasoning or examples.

For instance, the argument that the benefits of the changes happening in the world don't necessarily outweigh the problems they create can apply to many of the new ACT prompts. You can research concrete information to support this kind of useful argument, like a newspaper article about how the Industrial Revolution led to increased environmental destruction.

More like Industrial Re-POLL-ution, am I right?

Remember: the more you practice, the easier it gets, as you learn how to reuse information to suit different purposes and your brain becomes used to thinking in this way.

What's Next?

Read more about the new ACT Writing Test and how to score a perfect score on your ACT essay .

Want more in-depth guides? Check out our step-by-step guide to writing top-scoring ACT essay as well as a complete breakdown of the new ACT Writing Scoring Rubric .

Hungry for more practice ACT Writing prompts? Look no further than our article containing links to all the freely available official ACT Writing prompts that have been released so far, as well as bonus prompts I constructed.

Trending Now

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

ACT vs. SAT: Which Test Should You Take?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Get Your Free

Find Your Target SAT Score

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

How to Get a Perfect SAT Score, by an Expert Full Scorer

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading and Writing

How to Improve Your Low SAT Score

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading and Writing

Find Your Target ACT Score

Complete Official Free ACT Practice Tests

How to Get a Perfect ACT Score, by a 36 Full Scorer

Get a 36 on ACT English

Get a 36 on ACT Math

Get a 36 on ACT Reading

Get a 36 on ACT Science

How to Improve Your Low ACT Score

Get a 24 on ACT English

Get a 24 on ACT Math

Get a 24 on ACT Reading

Get a 24 on ACT Science

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Laura graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Music and Psychology, and earned a Master's degree in Composition from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and GRE and loves advising students on how to excel in high school.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!