30 ACT Colleges: Best Schools for 30 ACT Score

A 30 ACT Score is Highly Competitive (85th percentile). You are highly competitive for flagship state universities (e.g., Michigan, UVA, UT Austin).

2026 Strategy: In the current admissions cycle, a 30 is a 'Golden Ticket' for merit scholarships at mid-tier private colleges.

Expert Insight: If you are targeting T20 schools, check their Middle-50% range. If 30 is below their 25th percentile, you may benefit from a test-optional submission, provided your GPA is exceptionally high.

Best Colleges for 30 ACT Score

Following is the list of best suited colleges with your 30 ACT Score.

Logo	College	State	ACT 25th Percentile	ACT 75th Percentile	Acceptance Rate	Status
Logo	College	State	ACT 25th Percentile	ACT 75th Percentile	Acceptance Rate	Status
	Bennington College	Vermont	30	32	48.04%	SOLID MATCH
	Bard College	New York	30	32	52.29%	SOLID MATCH
	Trinity University	Texas	30	33	28.16%	COMP. MATCH
	Rhode Island School of Design	Rhode Island	30	33	13.81%	COMP. MATCH
	Lafayette College	Pennsylvania	30	33	31.47%	SOLID MATCH
	Bryn Mawr College	Pennsylvania	30	33	31.06%	SOLID MATCH
	Oberlin College	Ohio	30	33	32.98%	SOLID MATCH
	Union College	New York	30	33	43.79%	SOLID MATCH
	Fordham University	New York	30	33	56.28%	SOLID MATCH
	Skidmore College	New York	30	33	22.92%	COMP. MATCH
	Macalester College	Minnesota	30	33	28.21%	COMP. MATCH
	Hillsdale College	Michigan	30	33	20.59%	COMP. MATCH
	Babson College	Massachusetts	30	33	19.74%	COMP. MATCH
	Clark University	Massachusetts	30	33	41.67%	SOLID MATCH
	Emerson College	Massachusetts	30	33	47.48%	SOLID MATCH
	University of Miami	Florida	30	33	18.51%	COMP. MATCH
	Trinity College	Delaware	30	33	33.52%	SOLID MATCH
	Santa Clara University	California	30	33	43.84%	SOLID MATCH
	Southern Methodist University	Texas	30	34	61.22%	SOLID MATCH
	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	North Carolina	30	34	18.74%	COMP. MATCH
	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	New York	30	34	58.45%	SOLID MATCH
	Westmont College	California	30	34	79.86%	SOLID MATCH
	University of Vermont	Vermont	29	32	60.02%	SOLID MATCH
	Franklin and Marshall College	Pennsylvania	29	32	31.83%	SOLID MATCH
	Denison University	Ohio	29	32	16.93%	COMP. MATCH
	Ohio State University-Main Campus	Ohio	29	32	50.82%	SOLID MATCH
	St Lawrence University	New York	29	32	58.47%	SOLID MATCH
	Bentley University	Massachusetts	29	32	48.44%	SOLID MATCH
	St. John's College	Maryland	29	32	44.29%	SOLID MATCH
	Fairfield University	Connecticut	29	32	44.98%	SOLID MATCH
	University of Denver	Colorado	29	32	71.19%	SOLID MATCH
	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus	Pennsylvania	29	33	49.7%	SOLID MATCH
	Rochester Institute of Technology	New York	29	33	71.4%	SOLID MATCH
	Sarah Lawrence College	New York	29	33	58.93%	SOLID MATCH
	University of Massachusetts-Amherst	Massachusetts	29	33	57.77%	SOLID MATCH
	Wheaton College (Massachusetts)	Massachusetts	29	33	71.33%	SOLID MATCH
	American University	District of Columbia	29	33	47.38%	SOLID MATCH
	University of Connecticut	Connecticut	29	33	53.95%	SOLID MATCH
	Colorado School of Mines	Colorado	29	33	59.71%	SOLID MATCH
	Reed College	Oregon	29	34	27.16%	COMP. MATCH
	Binghamton University	New York	29	34	37.73%	SOLID MATCH
	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	Indiana	29	34	72.81%	SOLID MATCH
	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Illinois	29	34	43.69%	SOLID MATCH
	Bridgewater College	Virginia	28	29	90.81%	HIGH SAFETY
	Virginia Wesleyan University	Virginia	28	29	71.29%	HIGH SAFETY
	Muhlenberg College	Pennsylvania	28	31	64.01%	SOLID MATCH
	Lewis & Clark College	Oregon	28	31	74.53%	SOLID MATCH
	Lake Forest College	Illinois	28	31	59.41%	SOLID MATCH
	University of Wisconsin-Madison	Wisconsin	28	32	43.35%	SOLID MATCH
	DigiPen Institute of Technology	Washington	28	32	68.02%	SOLID MATCH
	Brigham Young University	Utah	28	32	69.19%	SOLID MATCH
	Clemson University	South Carolina	28	32	38.05%	SOLID MATCH
	Furman University	South Carolina	28	32	52.57%	SOLID MATCH
	Bryant University	Rhode Island	28	32	65.65%	SOLID MATCH
	Providence College	Rhode Island	28	32	48.72%	SOLID MATCH
	Ursinus College	Pennsylvania	28	32	87.37%	SOLID MATCH
	North Carolina State University at Raleigh	North Carolina	28	32	39.85%	SOLID MATCH
	Syracuse University	New York	28	32	41.69%	SOLID MATCH
	St Olaf College	Minnesota	28	32	52.15%	SOLID MATCH
	College of the Holy Cross	Massachusetts	28	32	21.1%	COMP. MATCH
	Chapman University	California	28	32	55.61%	SOLID MATCH
	Rhodes College	Tennessee	28	33	49.68%	SOLID MATCH
	Touro University	New York	28	33	63.01%	SOLID MATCH
	United States Military Academy	New York	28	33	13.98%	COMP. MATCH
	Yeshiva University	New York	28	33	63.75%	SOLID MATCH
	Stony Brook University	New York	28	33	49.01%	SOLID MATCH
	Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences	New York	28	33	59.08%	SOLID MATCH
	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	New Jersey	28	33	65.35%	SOLID MATCH
	University of Florida	Florida	28	33	24.03%	COMP. MATCH
	University of Colorado Boulder	Colorado	28	33	83.28%	SOLID MATCH
	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus	Georgia	28	34	16.46%	COMP. MATCH
	Marist University	New York	27	30	64.71%	SOLID MATCH
	University of Puget Sound	Washington	27	31	76.28%	SOLID MATCH
	Champlain College	Vermont	27	31	66.72%	SOLID MATCH
	Wofford College	South Carolina	27	31	58.59%	SOLID MATCH
	Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	27	31	86.39%	SOLID MATCH
	Hofstra University	New York	27	31	70.59%	SOLID MATCH
	Ithaca College	New York	27	31	69.94%	SOLID MATCH
	St. John's College	New Mexico	27	31	49.46%	SOLID MATCH
	Seton Hall University	New Jersey	27	31	78.9%	SOLID MATCH
	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	Minnesota	27	31	77.03%	SOLID MATCH
	Loyola University Chicago	Illinois	27	31	81.39%	SOLID MATCH
	University of Florida-Online	Florida	27	31	64.38%	SOLID MATCH
	Florida State University	Florida	27	31	25.38%	COMP. MATCH
	University of Delaware	Delaware	27	31	65.11%	SOLID MATCH
	Lawrence University	Wisconsin	27	32	63.03%	SOLID MATCH
	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	Virginia	27	32	57.03%	SOLID MATCH
	Baylor University	Texas	27	32	50.99%	SOLID MATCH
	The University of the South	Tennessee	27	32	50.9%	SOLID MATCH
	Gettysburg College	Pennsylvania	27	32	47.51%	SOLID MATCH
	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	Pennsylvania	27	32	54.22%	SOLID MATCH
	Thomas Jefferson University	Pennsylvania	27	32	86.14%	SOLID MATCH
	Willamette University	Oregon	27	32	79.11%	SOLID MATCH
	The College of Wooster	Ohio	27	32	54.32%	SOLID MATCH
	University at Buffalo	New York	27	32	69.3%	SOLID MATCH
	SUNY at Purchase College	New York	27	32	72.83%	SOLID MATCH
	Loyola University Maryland	Maryland	27	32	76.33%	SOLID MATCH
	Indiana University-Bloomington	Indiana	27	32	80.37%	SOLID MATCH
	Wheaton College	Illinois	27	32	89.98%	SOLID MATCH
	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks	Pennsylvania	26	29	97.13%	HIGH SAFETY
	Siena College	New York	26	29	70.57%	HIGH SAFETY
	Kettering University	Michigan	26	29	79.09%	HIGH SAFETY
	Endicott College	Massachusetts	26	29	72.29%	HIGH SAFETY
	Salve Regina University	Rhode Island	26	30	69.91%	SOLID MATCH
	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Harrisburg	Pennsylvania	26	30	96.39%	SOLID MATCH
	Arcadia University	Pennsylvania	26	30	79.19%	SOLID MATCH
	Rowan University	New Jersey	26	30	77.82%	SOLID MATCH
	University of Massachusetts-Lowell	Massachusetts	26	30	85.24%	SOLID MATCH
	Goucher College	Maryland	26	30	72.9%	SOLID MATCH
	Maryland Institute College of Art	Maryland	26	30	77.29%	SOLID MATCH
	Beloit College	Wisconsin	26	31	57.36%	SOLID MATCH
	Marquette University	Wisconsin	26	31	87.44%	SOLID MATCH
	Gonzaga University	Washington	26	31	75.96%	SOLID MATCH
	Patrick Henry College	Virginia	26	31	81.98%	SOLID MATCH
	Texas Christian University	Texas	26	31	42.6%	SOLID MATCH
	University of Rhode Island	Rhode Island	26	31	77.07%	SOLID MATCH
	Duquesne University	Pennsylvania	26	31	78.85%	SOLID MATCH
	University of Dayton	Ohio	26	31	61.65%	SOLID MATCH
	Miami University-Oxford	Ohio	26	31	82.09%	SOLID MATCH
	Clarkson University	New York	26	31	77.16%	SOLID MATCH

Your best choices will be the schools and colleges where the average ACT score of the admitted students is 28 to 32. We are also showing you the 25th percentile and 75th percentile ACT Score of the admitted students so that you can have a clear understanding of how many students score what ACT Score. If your 30 ACT Score is higher than 25th percentile, it means your score is better than the quarter of the admitted students, and if it is higher than 75th percentile, then it means your ACT score of 30 is higher than 75% of the students admitted at that school.

Choose a college where your score is near to 75th percentile, this will maximize your chances of admission. You can also apply to other schools as well, but to be on safe side, you must apply to at least 2-3 such schools and colleges.

FAQ for ACT 30 Score

How does a 30 ACT score compare to the SAT?

A 30 ACT score is roughly equivalent to a 1440 SAT. It’s a strong score for many competitive colleges.

What scholarships are available for a 30 ACT score?

Many schools offer merit scholarships for scores in the 30 range, especially if you combine it with a good GPA.

Can I get into Ivy League schools with a 30 ACT score?

Ivy League schools generally expect higher scores, but a 30 could still be competitive if you have a strong overall application.

Should I retake the ACT to improve my score?

Consider retaking only if you’re targeting specific schools that demand higher scores. Your current score is solid for many schools.

What is the national average ACT score?

The national average ACT score is about 20–21, so a 30 is well above average and places you in the top 5% of test-takers.

Do test-optional colleges consider a 30 ACT score if submitted?

Yes, submitting a 30 can improve your chances, even in test-optional environments.

What GPA is a 30 ACT?

A 30 typically corresponds to a GPA of around 3.5–3.7, showing strong academic ability.

Can I get into NYU with a 30 ACT?

Yes, NYU accepts students with scores in this range. Combined with a good GPA, this score will make you a competitive applicant.

Is 30 a good ACT score for Harvard?

Harvard’s average is higher, but a 30 still shows potential for highly competitive programs.

Can I get into MIT with a 30 ACT?

MIT generally expects scores around 34 and above, so a 30 is lower than their usual range. Still, high academic achievement may compensate.

Can I get into Princeton with a 30 ACT score?

Princeton prefers scores around 34, but a 30 is still strong enough to be considered if you have a strong academic record and extracurriculars.

What if you improve your ACT score by 2 points (to 32)?

Improving to 32 would increase your chances for more selective schools and scholarship opportunities.

Best Suited Colleges for ACT Score