33 ACT to SAT: Is a 33 a Good ACT Score?

How a 33 compares nationally

Only about 1% of test-takers land on exactly a 33 (the 97th rank at 32 versus the 98th at 33). Up here, each point separates a small slice of students. The share at exactly 32 is the same, about 1%. Against the national average Composite of 19.4 (ACT), a 33 is 13.6 points above average. The same 33 means slightly different things by section: it ranks highest in Math and Science (98th) and lowest in Reading (95th), because fewer students score that high in Reading.

Ranks from ACT national ranks for tests taken September 2026 through August 2027.

Questions you need right for a 33

On ACT's official practice test, here's how many scored questions it takes to earn a 33 in each section (ACT scoring key); other test forms use slightly different tables.

English, Math and Science each have exactly one raw score that converts to 33, so there's no slack: one more miss drops you below it. Reading skips 33 entirely: 24 correct gives 32, and 25 correct jumps to 34, so in Reading a 33 really means a 34. Measured by the share of questions you can miss, Math is the most forgiving section at a 33 (5 of 41) and English the least (3 of 40).

Section scores that add up to a 33

Your Composite averages English, Math and Reading and rounds halves up, so a 33 doesn't need three 33s. Any three section scores adding up to 98 to 100 give a 33, and 166 different combinations of section scores do that. Near the top there's less room to be lopsided, because no section goes past 36. The widest spread that still makes a 33 is 36, 36 and 26.

33 ACT to SAT

On the official 2018 concordance, a 33 ACT lines up with 1460 on the SAT, with a range of 1450 to 1480 (ACT/SAT concordance). That range covers four SAT scores. Moving up to a 34 ACT adds about 40 points to the SAT equivalent.

Convert SAT scores back to ACT or check any other score.

How far is a 34?

Your three section scores need to add up to 101. That one point moves you from the 98th rank to the 99th, a small move in rank, because scores this high are spread thin (1 percentile point). Starting from a 33 in every section on the practice test, the cheapest single-section route is English: 1 more correct answer moves it from 33 to 35. ACT's published average retest gain only covers first scores from 13 to 29, so there's no official figure for how often a 33 becomes a 34. Your best sections from every test count, so add up your best section scores before deciding. Planning prep help? Price a tutoring plan before you commit.

Colleges where a 33 falls inside the middle 50%

Of the 61 colleges in our table, a 33 ACT falls inside the middle 50% of enrolled students' scores at 18, above the 75th percentile at 31 and below the 25th percentile at 12. Ranges come from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard (latest College Scorecard data, retrieved September 26, 2026).

Inside the range (18)

• Cornell University 33 to 35
• Dartmouth College 33 to 35
• Northwestern University 33 to 35
• University of Maryland-College Park 32 to 35
• University of Notre Dame 33 to 35
• University of Virginia-Main Campus 32 to 35
• Washington University in St Louis 33 to 35
• Yale University 33 to 35
• Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus 30 to 34
• Purdue University-Main Campus 27 to 34
• University of Georgia 29 to 34
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 30 to 34

Plus 6 more in the full table.

Above the 75th percentile (31)

• Clemson University 28 to 32
• Ohio State University-Main Campus 28 to 32
• University of South Carolina-Columbia 26 to 32
• Auburn University 26 to 31
• Michigan State University 25 to 31
• Texas A&M University-College Station 25 to 31
• The University of Alabama 24 to 31
• The University of Tennessee-Knoxville 25 to 31

Plus 23 more in the full table.

Below the 25th percentile (12)

• Brown University 34 to 35
• Columbia University in the City of New York 34 to 35
• Duke University 34 to 35
• Harvard University 34 to 36
• Johns Hopkins University 34 to 36
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology 34 to 36
• Princeton University 34 to 35
• Rice University 34 to 35

Plus 4 more in the full table.

Middle 50% ranges describe enrolled students who submitted ACT scores. At test-optional colleges, fewer students submit, so the range can run higher than the whole class. Admission depends on much more than one score.

What a score in the 31 to 36 range means

Scores from 31 to 36 run from the 96th rank up, the top few percent nationally. Kaplan puts a competitive score for the Ivy League at about 34 (Kaplan), so a 33 sits just below that general mark, and each school's own range matters more than one number.

ACT's rank table runs out of room up here, so compare section scores and each college's published range (Common Data Set section C9, Common Data Set) rather than percentile points.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and how this page is built

Sources

1. ACT National Online Practice Test Scoring Key (ACT)
2. Average ACT Test Scores by State (ACT)
3. ACT Test Score Percentiles and National Ranks (ACT)
4. ACT/SAT Concordance (ACT)
5. Understanding Your ACT Scores (ACT)
6. Common Data Set Initiative

To check where a practice test lands, score it from your raw answers and look it up in the full national ranks chart.

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