Which colleges have the highest ACT midpoint?

First is Brown University at 35. The 50 colleges listed are ranked on the figure the college reported to the US Department of Education, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17. The last place shown, number 50, is Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus at 33.

Does this say anything about how good these colleges are?

No. This page orders colleges on one number a college reported to the federal government. It is not a quality ranking, it carries no survey, no reputation score and no weighting, and it says nothing about teaching, outcomes or fit. A cheaper college is not a better college and a more selective one is not either. It also states no admission probability, because none can be derived from public data.

Can I see what essays these colleges ask for?

46 of the 50 colleges in this table have a NudgeEssay requirements page carrying their 2026-27 essay prompts word for word, with word limits, application deadlines and the date each was read on the college's own admissions site. Those college names in the table are links. The rest are in the federal file but not in our prompt dataset, so each of their names links to its federal record instead.

The 50 colleges with the highest ACT midpoint

Brown University reports the highest ACT composite midpoint of any four-year college in the federal file, at 35. The table below is the 50 highest of the 883 four-year US colleges that report one, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17.

The ordering on this page is the federal figure and not our opinion. No college paid to appear here and nothing is weighted. Every figure on this page is computed from the federal file when the page is built. See the method below for which colleges are counted and what each number is.

Updated 17 September 2026. Written and maintained by NudgeEssay; how facts on this site are sourced and corrected is on the about page.

The 50 colleges

Ranked on act midpoint, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17. 46 of the 50 have a NudgeEssay page carrying their essay prompts word for word, and those names are links. A dash means the federal file carries no figure for that college, not a zero.

The 50 colleges with the highest ACT midpoint
#	College	Where	ACT midpoint	Admit rate
1	Brown University	Providence, RIPrivate nonprofit	35	5.4%
2	Carnegie Mellon University	Pittsburgh, PAPrivate nonprofit	35	11.7%
3	Columbia University in the City of New York	New York, NYPrivate nonprofit	35	4.0%
4	Duke University	Durham, NCPrivate nonprofit	35	5.7%
5	Harvard University	Cambridge, MAPrivate nonprofit	35	3.6%
6	Harvey Mudd College	Claremont, CAPrivate nonprofit	35	12.7%
7	Johns Hopkins University	Baltimore, MDPrivate nonprofit	35	6.4%
8	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Cambridge, MAPrivate nonprofit	35	4.5%
9	Princeton University	Princeton, NJPrivate nonprofit	35	4.6%
10	Rice University	Houston, TXPrivate nonprofit	35	8.0%
11	Stanford University	Stanford, CAPrivate nonprofit	35	3.6%
12	University of Chicago	Chicago, ILPrivate nonprofit	35	4.5%
13	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, PAPrivate nonprofit	35	5.4%
14	Vanderbilt University	Nashville, TNPrivate nonprofit	35	5.9%
15	Amherst College	Amherst, MAPrivate nonprofit	34	9.0%
16	Barnard College	New York, NYPrivate nonprofit	34	8.8%
17	Boston College	Chestnut Hill, MAPrivate nonprofit	34	16.4%
18	Bowdoin College	Brunswick, MEPrivate nonprofit	34	7.1%
19	Carleton College	Northfield, MNPrivate nonprofit	34	20.4%
20	Case Western Reserve University	Cleveland, OHPrivate nonprofit	34	36.5%
21	Claremont McKenna College	Claremont, CAPrivate nonprofit	34	9.6%
22	Colgate University	Hamilton, NYPrivate nonprofit	34	13.9%
23	Cornell University	Ithaca, NYPrivate nonprofit	34	8.8%
24	Dartmouth College	Hanover, NHPrivate nonprofit	34	5.4%
25	Emory University	Atlanta, GAPrivate nonprofit	34	10.7%
26	Hamilton College	Clinton, NYPrivate nonprofit	34	13.6%
27	Haverford College	Haverford, PAPrivate nonprofit	34	12.4%
28	Middlebury College	Middlebury, VTPrivate nonprofit	34	10.8%
29	New York University	New York, NYPrivate nonprofit	34	9.2%
30	Northeastern University	Boston, MAPrivate nonprofit	34	5.2%
31	Northwestern University	Evanston, ILPrivate nonprofit	34	7.7%
32	Pomona College	Claremont, CAPrivate nonprofit	34	7.1%
33	Smith College	Northampton, MAPrivate nonprofit	34	21.0%
34	Swarthmore College	Swarthmore, PAPrivate nonprofit	34	7.5%
35	Tufts University	Medford, MAPrivate nonprofit	34	11.5%
36	University of Maryland-College Park	College Park, MDPublic	34	44.8%
37	University of Notre Dame	Notre Dame, INPrivate nonprofit	34	11.3%
38	University of Richmond	University of Richmond, VAPrivate nonprofit	34	22.2%
39	Washington and Lee University	Lexington, VAPrivate nonprofit	34	14.0%
40	Washington University in St Louis	St. Louis, MOPrivate nonprofit	34	12.1%
41	Wellesley College	Wellesley, MAPrivate nonprofit	34	14.1%
42	Wesleyan University	Middletown, CTPrivate nonprofit	34	16.5%
43	Williams College	Williamstown, MAPrivate nonprofit	34	8.3%
44	Yale University	New Haven, CTPrivate nonprofit	34	3.9%
45	Bates College	Lewiston, MEPrivate nonprofit	33	13.3%
46	Boston University	Boston, MAPrivate nonprofit	33	11.1%
47	Colby College	Waterville, MEPrivate nonprofit	33	7.1%
48	Davidson College	Davidson, NCPrivate nonprofit	33	13.4%
49	Georgetown University	Washington, DCPrivate nonprofit	33	12.9%
50	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus	Atlanta, GAPublic	33	14.1%

Method

Source: the US Dept of Education College Scorecard, Most Recent Institution-Level Data, pulled on 2026-09-17 from the bulk download. Every college in it reports these figures to the US Department of Education itself.

ACTCM50 in the College Scorecard is the midpoint of the ACT cumulative (composite) score a college reports, on the 1 to 36 scale. Half the reported cohort scored above it and half below. It is not a cutoff.

Counted: the federal file carries 1,944 institutions under the filter PREDDEG=3 (bachelor-predominant) AND CURROPER=1 (operating). 1,564 are used on this page family. 144 private for-profit institutions are excluded, and 236 reporting fewer than 250 undergraduates are excluded, because at that size a reported admit rate describes a small specialised applicant pool rather than selectivity. 883 met this page’s criteria and the table shows the top 50.

681 colleges in the pool report no ACT midpoint. The federal file carries no figure for them, so they are absent rather than ranked last.

The ordering on this page is the federal figure and not our opinion. No college paid to appear here and nothing is weighted. No admission probability is stated anywhere on this site, because none can be derived from public data: colleges do not publish admit rates conditional on a score, so any single percentage would be invented. The free chance me tool and college finder sort a list into reaches, targets and likelies from the same federal figures and give no percentage either.

The federal file behind this family carries no earnings column, so no list here says anything about what graduates are paid. Rather than estimate one, this site says what is missing. What one named college costs after aid, income band by income band, is on its own page in the cost family. Our own essay dataset, which is a different source, is described on the supplemental essay data page.

Questions

Which colleges have the highest ACT midpoint?: First is Brown University at 35. The 50 colleges listed are ranked on the figure the college reported to the US Department of Education, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17. The last place shown, number 50, is Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus at 33.
Where does this ranking come from?: From the US Dept of Education College Scorecard, Most Recent Institution-Level Data, pulled on 2026-09-17. ACTCM50 in the College Scorecard is the midpoint of the ACT cumulative (composite) score a college reports, on the 1 to 36 scale. Half the reported cohort scored above it and half below. It is not a cutoff. The ordering on this page is the federal figure and not our opinion. No college paid to appear here and nothing is weighted.
Which colleges are counted and which are left out?: The federal file carries 1,944 institutions under the filter PREDDEG=3 (bachelor-predominant) AND CURROPER=1 (operating). 1,564 are used here: 144 private for-profit institutions and 236 with fewer than 250 undergraduates are excluded, because at that size a reported admit rate describes a small specialised applicant pool rather than selectivity. 883 of those met this page's criteria and the table shows the top 50. 681 colleges in the pool report no ACT midpoint. The federal file carries no figure for them, so they are absent rather than ranked last.
Does this say anything about how good these colleges are?: No. This page orders colleges on one number a college reported to the federal government. It is not a quality ranking, it carries no survey, no reputation score and no weighting, and it says nothing about teaching, outcomes or fit. A cheaper college is not a better college and a more selective one is not either. It also states no admission probability, because none can be derived from public data.
Can I see what essays these colleges ask for?: 46 of the 50 colleges in this table have a NudgeEssay requirements page carrying their 2026-27 essay prompts word for word, with word limits, application deadlines and the date each was read on the college's own admissions site. Those college names in the table are links. The rest are in the federal file but not in our prompt dataset, so each of their names links to its federal record instead.

The other rankings in this set

All computed from the same federal file, pulled on 2026-09-17, with the same pool and the same exclusions.

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