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Dr. Allen Grove is an Alfred University English professor and a college admissions expert with over 20 years of experience helping students transition to college.
Updated on February 24, 2020You've taken the ACT, and gotten your scores back. You may be wondering if you have the ACT scores you need to get into one of the top Illinois colleges or universities. The comparison table below shows ACT scores for the middle 50% of enrolled students. If your scores fall within or above these ranges, you're on target for admission to one of these top Illinois colleges.
Illinois Colleges ACT Score Comparison (mid 50%)
(Learn what these numbers mean)
| Composite 25% | Composite 75% | English 25% | English 75% | Math 25% | Math 75% | GPA-SAT-ACT Admission Scattergram | |
| DePaul University | - | - | - | - | - | - | see graph |
| Illinois College | - | - | - | - | - | - | see graph |
| IIT | 26 | 31 | 25 | 32 | 27 | 32 | see graph |
| Illinois Wesleyan | 25 | 29 | 25 | 31 | 24 | 29 | see graph |
| Lake Forest | - | - | - | - | - | - | see graph |
| Loyola University | 24 | 29 | 24 | 31 | 23 | 28 | see graph |
| Northwestern University | 32 | 34 | 32 | 34 | 32 | 34 | see graph |
| University of Chicago | 32 | 35 | 33 | 35 | 31 | 35 | see graph |
| UIUC | 26 | 32 | 25 | 33 | 25 | 32 | see graph |
| Wheaton College | 27 | 32 | 27 | 34 | 25 | 30 | see graph |
*Note: Augustana College and Knox College are not included in this table due to their policy of test-optional admissions.
If you're looking for Illinois colleges that aren't in the table above, click on the school in my extensive list of college admission profiles. Also be sure to keep in mind that ACT scores are just one piece of the college admissions equation. The admissions officers in Illinois will also want to see a strong academic record, a winning essay, meaningful extracurricular activities and good letters of recommendation. Many of these schools have holistic admissions.
To get a visual sense of this, just click on the "see graph" links along the right column. These graphs will show how other applicants fared, and what their GPA and SAT/ACT scores were. Because these schools take other factors into account, you may find that some students with good grades or test scores were rejected, while some with lower grades or scores were admitted.
It's important to remember that, with enough time, you can retake the ACT if you aren't satisfied with your scores. Check with your schools to see if you can submit your original scores, and then replace them with the higher ones once those scores come in.
To view a profile of each of the schools listed here, just click on their names in the table above. There you'll find information on admissions, financial aid, enrollment, popular majors, athletics, and more.
To learn more about what ACT scores you'll need for different colleges, check out these articles:
