I want to go to pretty selective schools like Vanderbilt, Rice, Princeton (major reach)…
Seems a bit low. 34+ is the standard for most top schools.
“Good” is relative. Look at the 25th-75th percentile range reported by the school. See where 30 sits in that range.
To find that info, google:
Common Data Set <>
What @gmtplus said. ^^^^
A 30 is top 5%, so yes it is good, beware this site, it will make you think every other person gets a 36!
There are also way more than 21,000 (# of students that score 34 and up) spots at elite universities, so obviously there are likely many kids in the top 10% getting in (28 and up). Add URM, first gen, diversity hooks and who knows how low they can go.
Also depends on rest of your app, perhaps you have something else amazing to compliment it with in your app. Here’s how students score
Score # of students Percent
36 1,407 0.076
35 7,175 0.38
34 14,037 0.76
33 19,589 1.06
32 25,524 98
31 32,048 97
30 41,117 95
29 47,863 93
28 58,319 90
Keep in mind that for top schools, they use scores and grades to ensure you can successfully complete the curriculum. Once you reach that criteria, ad cons look at what you have achieved outside the classroom. They don’ t want grinders who work for grades and don’t do much else. For those schools, getting a few more SAT or ACT points don’t make you a better candidate because there is no real difference in ability level between, say a 32 or 34 on the ACTs. The difference is meaningless in terms of success.
For schools that award merit scholarships, a 32 vs a 34 could mean a big difference in scholarship money.
For a certain range of schools we looked at for one of ours we found 30 was a Dean’s scholarship (1/4), 32 was the magic # for Chancellor/Presidential scholarships (little more/less than half tuition, around 25K at some schools), then the 34 ACT was bingo - full tuition or close to it plus departmental add-ons. Of course depends on the school, but the scores absolutely made a money difference, but not an acceptance difference for that score range and those particular schools.
A 30 means you scored better than 95% of test takers, so it is a very good score. But for the top, top schools, without a hook, it is not likely to be high enough. But scoring a 30, does put you on the ‘right side’ of the range. By that I mean that when schools report scores for their Common Data Set, they group ACT scores as those falling between 30 and 36. So the higher the percentage is for enrolled students falling in the 30+ bucket, the better. Therefore, at many schools, a 30 is much more desirable than a 29, and is likely considered the same as a 31.
30 is a very good score. As others have mentioned there are benefits to scoring higher but that doesn’t negate that 30 is a fantastic score.
30 is a very good score and will be sufficient for a lot of very good school. Congrats.
For those schools, no.
I think a 30 is a bit low for those schools. Unless you are a URM, legacy, family donates a lot, I would advise retaking the ACT. I also got a 30 (I suck at math) and I am going to retake it in the fall.
Like others have said, a 30 is not what I would call “good” for those schools, but a 30 is what I would call excellent overall. A 30 will really hold back your admission chances at those schools ( at least most statistics tend to say so ). But don’t pretend like your score is weak in general. Maybe consider trying for a higher score, or reaching for schools with act ranges more favorable to you. For reaches, your score should probably be 35%tile or so (for accepted students) Of course, the only thing holding you back from applying to Princeton is a application fee, so If you think you have a shot, go for it!