What is a good SAT score? You took the SAT, got your scores back, and now want to know how you did. Or maybe you want to know what score to aim for next time. In this guide, we discuss how to figure out how your SAT scores stack up against those of all the other test takers. We'll then help you determine what a good SAT score for you is based on the colleges you are interested in. Finally, we provide the SAT score ranges of more than 50 popular schools and discuss what to do if your score turns out to be lower than you expected. The SAT score range is 400–1600 for your total score and 200–800 for each of your two section scores. One section score is Math; the other is Reading and Writing. As you would expect, the higher your score, the better you did compared with all the other test takers. But is there a certain SAT score cutoff that marks a "good" score? To determine what makes for good SAT scores relative to everyone else's, you need to know exactly how SAT scoring works. Your total score out of 1600 (and each of your two section scores out of 800) corresponds to a percentile ranking. Your SAT percentile tells you what percentage of students you scored the same as or better than. So, for example, if you got a 60th percentile score, you've scored better than 60% of all test takers! The mean, or average, SAT composite score is 1050. Note that the test is deliberately designed so that the mean score hovers around 1000 on the 1600-point scale—about 500 per section. The average score for Math is 521, and the average score for Reading and Writing is 529. SAT scores follow a normal distribution. This means that student performance tends to cluster around the middle of the scale (1000 is the halfway point between the minimum score of 400 and the maximum score of 1600). Far fewer test takers score toward the higher and lower ends of the scale. Here's an abbreviated SAT score chart with percentiles for 2022 SAT composite scores so you can check out the score distribution for yourself: As you can see from the percentiles and corresponding scores, more students score toward the middle of the scale than at the top or bottom. For example, a score jump from 1000 to 1100 (100 points) moves you from the 45th to the 63rd percentile—so you've moved up past nearly an entire fifth of test takers! But moving 100 points from 1250 to 1350 only brings you up about 10%, from the 81st to the 90th percentile. Finally, moving from 1450 to 1550, a 100-point margin near the top of the scale, nets you only about 3%! In terms of what makes for good SAT scores based on this chart, you already know that 1050 is about average, so anything above that would be an above-average score. A 1250 places you in the 81st percentile—that is, in the top fifth of test takers—which is very good. A 1350 puts you in the top 10%, making it a strong score. A 1400 is in the 93rd percentile, or the top 7% of all test takers. And any score 1500+ puts you in the coveted top 1%–2%! By contrast, anything lower than a 1050 is a below-average score. For example, a 950, which is in the 37th percentile, places you in the bottom third of test takers. And a 900, which is in the 29th percentile, places you nearly in the bottom fourth—not so great comparatively. Here's a chart showing the SAT score percentiles for both the Math and Reading and Writing sections. The distributions are pretty similar, but there are some slight differences. For example, fewer people do really, really well on Reading and Writing than on Math. You can tell this is the case because a 750 is a 98th percentile score for Reading and Writing, meaning you're in the top 2% of test takers. But that same score is in the 95th percentile for Math, placing you only in the top 5%. Bonus: Want to get a perfect SAT score? Read our famous guide on how to score a perfect 1600 on the SAT. You'll learn top strategies from the country's leading expert on the SAT, Allen Cheng, a Harvard grad and perfect scorer. No matter your level, you'll find useful advice here - this strategy guide has been read by over 500,000 people. Read the 1600 SAT guide today and start improving your score. So far, we've discussed how your SAT score and corresponding percentile ranking show how you compare with other test takers. But how well you did compared with everyone else isn't the most important thing for you. What is more important is what makes a good SAT score for you personally, based on the schools you are interested in. A 1280 is an 84th percentile score, meaning that you scored the same as or better than 84% of test takers; therefore, this would be a solid score for schools such as Arizona State University (average SAT score: 1245) and Temple University (average SAT score: 1245). However, it would be a very low score for highly selective institutions, such as MIT, Princeton, Duke, the University of Chicago, and Johns Hopkins. Of course, not everyone is trying to get into highly selective schools. A score of 1040 (just below the 1050 average) is solid for less selective colleges such as Indiana University Northwest (average SAT score: 1050) and (average SAT score: 1050). To sum up, a good SAT score is a score that makes you competitive for the schools you want to attend. It's also worth noting that the higher your test scores are, the more likely colleges offering merit scholarships are to give one to you. For the purposes of this guide, we're going to focus primarily on figuring out the score you need for admission (not scholarships), but it's something to keep in mind. For more information, check out our guide to scholarships based on SAT and ACT scores. Another thing to consider is that a high test score can help you get admitted to certain schools if you have a lower GPA than what their typical admits have. (However, this won't help you so much at highly selective institutions—they expect students to have high marks across the board!) In this section, we'll walk you through how to figure out what makes a good SAT score for you based on the schools you're applying to. Our quick five-step process requires only a worksheet (linked below), a writing utensil, and an internet-browsing device! First, you'll need to download our worksheet so you can fill it out with information for your schools of interest. Click here to download it, or click the image below. Next, fill in all the schools you want to apply to in the leftmost column. If you don't know what schools you're aiming for yet, feel free to use ones that have been suggested to you by parents, friends, teachers, or counselors. Nevertheless, I recommend taking the time to do some research on schools you might want to attend first so that you have a realistic SAT goal score. The more your list reflects the schools you actually end up applying to, the more accurate your target score will be. For example, if I'm interested in the University of Alabama, I'd do the following search: Click on the link to our SAT Scores and GPA page (or our Admission Requirements page—they'll both have the information you need), and scroll down to the 25th- and 75th-percentile composite SAT scores. The 25th–75th percentile range describes the scores of the middle 50% of all students admitted to a particular school. For the University of Alabama, you'll find that the 25th percentile SAT score is 1060; this means that 25% of admitted students have a score of 1060 on the SAT. That would be a below-average score for admitted students to Alabama. The 75th percentile SAT score for Alabama is 1280. That means that students with that score did better than 75% of all other admits. In other words, scoring at 1280 or above puts you in the top quarter of admits, giving you a very competitive score for admission! If you score at or above the 75th percentile for any school, you'll have an excellent chance of getting in (assuming your other credentials are on point for the school). So that's a good SAT score for that school. If you're at the 25th percentile, however, you'll need to have a particularly strong application to boost your odds of getting in. For each school on your list, Google the PrepScholar SAT score information, and write down the 25th- and 75th-percentile scores in the appropriate row for that school on your goal score sheet. To determine your target SAT goal score, look at the 75th percentile column. Find the highest SAT score in that column; that'll be your SAT score goal. By scoring at the 75th-percentile level for the most competitive school on your list, you'll be competitive at all the schools you're applying to. So that's a good SAT score for you! Another advantage of choosing a high goal score is that if you end up falling 10–50 points short, it's not a huge deal because you'll still be competitive for most of your schools. You might be thinking, "Hey, wait! Why did I fill out that entire sheet if I was just going to pick the highest 75th percentile score?" Well, the advantage of filling out this information is that you now have it handy as a reference. You'll be able to compare your own SAT score with the 25th–75th percentile ranges of all your schools of interest as soon as you get your scores back. As a last step, I suggest that you do two things with your target SAT score: #1: Share it with your parents. This can turn into a helpful conversation about your personal goals and how you want to achieve your target SAT score. Plus, your parents can help hold you accountable throughout the test-prep process! #2: Tape it to your wall. This will keep your goal score front and center in your mind, encouraging you to stay motivated to keep up with your SAT study schedule. Here are the scores you need to get five stars on your college applications at some of the top U.S. schools. To help you determine your goal score, we're giving you an SAT score chart with the 25th and 75th percentile SAT scores for 2022 for over 50 popular schools. I've also provided the current US News ranking and acceptance rate to give you an idea of how selective each school is. All schools are arranged in order of ranking. For an even longer list, check out our collection of good SAT scores for 101 popular schools. School 25th-Percentile SAT Score 75th-Percentile SAT Score US News Ranking Acceptance Rate Princeton* 1510 1570 1 6% MIT 1520 1570 2 4% Harvard* 1490 1580 3 3% Stanford* 1500 1570 3 4% Yale* 1470 1560 5 5% Penn* 1500 1570 6 7% Caltech** N/A N/A 7 3% Duke* 1490 1560 7 6% Johns Hopkins* 1520 1560 9 7% Brown* 1500 1560 9 5% Northwestern* 1500 1560 9 7% Cornell* 1470 1550 12 7% Columbia* 1470 1530 12 4% UChicago* 1510 1560 12 5% UC Berkeley** N/A N/A 15 11% UCLA** N/A N/A 15 9% Dartmouth* 1500 1580 18 6% Vanderbilt* 1480 1570 18 7% Rice* 1500 1560 17 9% Notre Dame* 1420 1550 20 13% U of Michigan* 1360 1530 21 18% Georgetown 1410 1540 22 12% UNC Chapel Hill* 1330 1500 22 17% Washington U St. Louis* 1480 1560 24 11% University of Virginia* 1400 1510 24 19% U of Southern California* 1460 1540 28 12% U of Florida 1320 1470 28 23% UC San Diego** N/A N/A 28 24% UC Davis** N/A N/A 28 37% UT Austin* 1230 1500 32 31% UC Irvine** N/A N/A 33 21% Georgia Tech 1370 1530 33 17% UC Santa Barbara** N/A N/A 35 26% U of Wisconsin* 1370 1500 35 49% NYU* 1370 1510 35 12% U of Illinois Urbana-Champaign* 1350 1510 35 45% Boston College* 1430 1510 39 17% Tufts* 1450 1530 40 10% Purdue University 1210 1450 43 53% Boston U* 1370 1480 43 14% The Ohio State University* 1260 1420 43 53% Wake Forest University* 1400 1500 47 21% U of Rochester* 1410 1520 47 39% U of Georgia 1220 1400 47 43% Lehigh* 1350 1480 47 37% Case Western* 1420 1520 53 27% Northeastern* 1450 1535 53 7% * 1375 1520 53 33% Brandeis* 1360 1500 60 39% Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute* 1380 1500 60 65% Villanova University* 1390 1480 67 23% Tulane* 1400 1500 73 11% *Test-optional schools through at least 2024. Check out our article to learn more about test-optional policies and schools! What if your SAT score ends up being lower than your goal score? What should you do? In this situation, you have a few options to consider. We'll go over them here and help you figure out which one is best for you. If you have the time to do additional preparation for the SAT and retake it, this is probably your most straightforward strategy. That said, keep in mind that if you really want a better SAT score, you'll need to invest a lot of time into prep and really work on shoring up your weaknesses. These are the estimated time estimates for different total score improvements (not per section) on the SAT: If you were just under your goal score (i.e., within 50 points), you might not actually need to do anything if that slightly lower score is still competitive. For example, if you were aiming for a 1560 for your most selective school but got a 1530, you'd definitely still be in the competitive range for that school. Depending on how soon you'll be applying to college, it might make more sense to use the time and energy you'd spend preparing for and retaking the test on other parts of your application. If you were more than 50 points short of your SAT goal score, consider Strategy 1 or 3. If you're 50+ points short of your goal score and don't have time to retake the test, you might need to make some adjustments to your list of schools. Although you definitely should still apply to your dream schools as reach schools, it's wise to pad out your list of match and safety schools to align with the lower scores. For instance, maybe you were going for 1510 but got 1410 instead. With your goal score, you had NYU (middle 50%: 1370–1510) as one of your match schools. But with an actual score of 1410, this school is now more of a reach (its 75th percentile is more than 50 points higher than your score). You also had Lehigh University (middle 50%: 1300–1430) as a safety school, but with your current score, it's better as a match school. Finally, you might consider adding some additional safety schools that align better with your 1410 score, such as American University (middle 50%: 1220–1380) and Penn State (middle 50%: 1160–1370). Read our guide to learn more about choosing appropriate safety, match, and reach schools. So what are good SAT scores? Your total SAT score out of 1600 corresponds to a percentile ranking that compares you to everyone else who took the test. The current mean, or average, SAT score is 1050. What is a good SAT score for you, though? The answer to this question depends on what schools you want to attend. In this article, we described a five-step process to figure out good SAT scores for you based on the middle 50% of scores for the colleges you're applying to. We also listed SAT score ranges for 50 popular schools. Finally, we provided some advice on what to do if you don't hit your goal score. You can retake the test, do nothing (if you were pretty close to your goal score), or adjust your list of schools based on what kinds of SAT scores they're looking for. All in all, what is a good SAT score? The most important thing to remember is that good SAT scores are specific to you. You won't necessarily need the same scores as your friends or peers, so don't feel the need to compare your goals with those of other people. What ultimately matters is that your SAT score is high enough to get you into the college of your dreams! Trying to figure out a good SAT score for the Math and Reading and Writing sections? Or are you wondering what makes a good SAT score for highly selective institutions? We can help! If you received a low SAT score, we have a low score guide! We can also help you figure out whether or not you should retake the SAT. Aiming for a high SAT score? Then check out our expert guide to getting a perfect 1600, written by an actual full scorer. What's a Good SAT Score Compared to the Entire Country?
SAT Composite Score (Out of 1600) Percentile (2022) 1600 99+ 1550 99 1500 98 1450 96 1400 93 1350 90 1300 86 1250 81 1200 75 1150 69 1100 63 1050 53 1000 45 950 37 900 29 850 22 800 14 750 8 700 3 650 1 600 and below 1- SAT Score (Out of 800) Math Percentile (2022) Reading and Writing Percentile (2022) 800 99 99+ 750 95 98 700 91 93 650 85 85 600 76 73 550 63 59 500 46 43 450 33 27 400 19 13 350 6 3 300 1 1 250 and below 1– 1– What's a Good SAT Score for You?
How to Find Your SAT Goal Score: A Five-Step Guide
Step 1: Download This Worksheet
Step 2: Fill in the Schools You're Applying To
Step 3: For Each School, Google "[School Name] PrepScholar SAT"
Step 4: Find Your Final SAT Target Score
Step 5: Make Your Goal Known
Good SAT Scores for Popular Schools
**Test-blind schools. For more information, check out our complete guide!What If My SAT Score Is Too Low? Three Strategies
Strategy 1: Retake the SAT
Strategy 2: Don't Worry About It
Strategy 3: Adjust Your List of Schools
Review: What Is a Good SAT Score for You?
What's Next?
FAQs
What Is a Good SAT Score? A Bad SAT Score? An Excellent SAT Score? ›
A score of 1580 or higher is excellent, placing you in the top 99% A good score is 1210 or higher, placing you in the top 25% A score of 890 or lower places you in the bottom 25%
What is a good SAT score and a bad SAT score? ›The average SAT score is around 1050. Any score above that would be above average. A score of 1350 would put you in the top 10% of test takers and help make your application competitive at more selective schools.
Is an 870 a bad SAT score? ›Data Summary. The median total SAT score is 1030. Scoring 870 puts you at the bottom 25% of test-takers.
Is a 1250 SAT score good or bad? ›Is A 1250 SAT Score (81st Percentile) Good? A 1250 SAT score is generally considered a good score — it makes you an eligible and competitive candidate at a majority of schools. It also has the added perk of putting you in the merit aid range, meaning that you'll likely earn some cash for college just for your score!
Is a 900 SAT score good or bad? ›Is 900 a good SAT score? A “good” SAT score is one that makes you a competitive candidate at a majority of colleges, including your ideal college. A 900 doesn't give you as many college options as we'd normally like students to have, so raising your score closer to that national average (1150-1100) is encouraged.
Is 950 a bad SAT score? ›The scoring scale runs from 400 to 1600, with the average test taker receiving a composite result between 1050 and 1100. A 950 falls in the 31st percentile, short of what most colleges and universities would like to see on applications for admission.
Is 800 a bad SAT score? ›With the national average SAT score always hovering near 1000 (purposefully), 800 falls short of that average and leaves few college options.
Is a 1200 a good SAT score? ›A 1200 is an above average score that places you in approximately the 74th percentile of all high school students taking the exam. A score of 1200 makes it possible to apply to the vast majority of schools throughout the nation and be competitive for admission at a sizable number of colleges.
Is a 990 a good SAT score? ›A 990 SAT score is indeed on the lower end of the spectrum, but that doesn't mean you can't find colleges that are a good fit for you. You'll likely want to look for schools with less competitive admissions, regional institutions, and community colleges.
How bad is a 910 on the SAT? ›Thanks for your help! A 910 SAT score is considered below average when it comes to college admissions, particularly for more selective institutions. Generally, a score of 1050-1100 is considered an average SAT score, and higher scores are required for more competitive colleges.
Is 1100 SAT score ok? ›
A score of 1100 on the SAT puts you at the 58th percentile, meaning you scored higher than 58% all 2 million+ test takers. Earning an 1100 makes you eligible to apply to most colleges and universities as a decent candidate.
Can you get into Harvard with a 1200 SAT? ›There's no absolute SAT requirement at Harvard, but they really want to see at least a 1460 to have a chance at being considered.
Can I get into Duke with 1200 SAT? ›Duke University has an acceptance rate of 6%. Half the applicants admitted to Duke University who submitted test scores have an SAT score between 1490 and 1570 or an ACT score of 34 and 35.
Is 1000 a bad SAT score? ›Earning a 1000 puts you in the 40th percentile, meaning you scored better than 40% of all other test takers in the country. Being in the top half of all test-takers is a major boost for college applications.
Is 700 on SAT bad? ›A 700 on a single section of the SAT is a solid score, although it depends on your target schools and overall application. The SAT has two sections: Math and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW). Each section is scored on a scale of 200-800, making the highest possible total score 1600.
How bad is a 1080 on the SAT? ›Composite Score (Out of 1600) | Percentile Rank |
---|---|
1080 | 50 |
1050 | 44 |
1030 | 40 |
1000 | 34 |
Is 1200 a good SAT score? The average SAT score is 1059, putting a 1200 SAT score just above the average. It makes you a competitive candidate at a good number of institutions, which is the primary goal, making a 1200 SAT a good score.
Is a 1300 a bad SAT score? ›Is a 1300 a good SAT score? The average composite SAT score is 1059, and the highest possible score is 1600, putting 1300 above average and competitive. A 1300 SAT score allows you to apply competitively to a large number of schools, making it an objectively good score for most students.
Is a 1100 a good SAT score? ›An 1100 SAT score is about average, as the national median score hovers around 1050-1060. However, whether it's "good" or "bad" really depends on the colleges you're targeting. If you're aiming for more competitive schools, then you should definitely consider retaking the SAT to boost your score.