It’s time to talk about the SAT; the exam every student vying for a position at a US university loves to hate.
While you need a SAT score to apply to US universities, exactly what score you need is less clear.
You might think the higher the university’s ranking or the lower its acceptance rate, the better your SAT score needs to be, but that’s not the case.
Top universities don’t expect perfect SAT scores, and they don’t only accept perfect scorers.
In fact, from 2010 to 2015, Stanford University rejected 69% of those who applied with a perfect SAT score. That's right, Stanford had no interest in educating them despite their obvious academic ability.
Why would one of the greatest universities in the world not be interested in the academically gifted?
Well, it is, but with more than 270,000 applicants to US institutions like Stanford every year, it's a seller's market. The best colleges want to build unique, culturally diverse and balanced classes. Your application needs to show more than your academic ability (in fact, academics only account for about 40% of your application).
That being said, having a good, or rather, a great SAT score will definitely boost your chances of getting in.
So, in order to make your SAT study as targeted and efficient as possible, you should first know what your target university considers a good (and great!) score.
In this blog, I’ll help you figure that out, and show you how your score compares to other applicants.
How is the SAT Scored?
Before we go any further, you need to understand how the SAT is scored.
The SAT consist of four scores:
- Math
- Reading and Writing
- Composite
- Essay
For the purpose of this blog, I won’t talk about the essay score because it’s optional (although if you want to get into a top 100 university you should sit the essay).
Anyway, the Math and Reading and Writing sections are each scored between 200 and 800 and combined to form your composite score out of 1600.
The average SAT score in 2016 was 1080, with 508 the average Math section score and 494 the average Reading section score.
Once you know what the average SAT score is, you can deduce that any score higher than 1080 is an above average score and any score below 1080 is a below average score.
Simple enough, right?
Now, I'll help you to better understand SAT scores.
There are two factors that can help you determine whether your SAT score is good or not:
-
Percentile
-
Your dream university
SAT Percentiles Explained
First, let’s take a look at your percentile.
Percentiles reveal how well you did on your exam in comparison to everyone else who took the exam on the same day.
For example, if you’re in the 15th percentile, you did better than 15% of the students who took the exam that day. If you’re in the 90th percentile, you did better than 90% of the students and so on.
Got it?
Good.
You can use your percentile to see just how bad, good or great your SAT score is in comparison to others.
If you are in the 15th percentile, you are well below average – 85% of students did better than you. Really anything below the 50% mark is considered “bad”.
If you’re in the 50-70th percentile you did “good” and if you’re above the 90th percentile you did great!
Check out the chart below to see what SAT scores line up with which percentiles. Keep in mind that these percentiles may change slightly depending on when you take the exam.
| Composite Score | Percentile |
|---|---|
| 1600 | 99+ |
| 1550 | 99+ |
| 1510 | 99 |
| 1450 | 97 |
| 1410 | 95 |
| 1340 | 90 |
| 1250 | 80 |
| 1190 | 71 |
| 1130 | 60 |
| 1080 | 50 |
| 1030 | 40 |
| 980 | 31 |
| 920 | 20 |
| 830 | 10 |
| 770 | 5 |
| 680 | 1 |
| 640 | 1- |
| 400 | 1- |
While percentiles are a good way to figure out how you stack up against everyone else, different colleges in the US have different SAT expectations. For example, a 1290 would be a great score for the University of Oregon but wouldn’t give you a good chance of getting into Harvard where the average SAT score is 1540.
So, the only way you can truly tell how good your score is is by comparing it to the average scores at your dream university.
In the end, it’s all about getting into the college you desire!
SAT Score Range for Universities
Below is a list of the 25th perentile, 75th percentile and average SAT scores at the top 20 universities in the US (based on 2018 US News and World Reports rankings).
Scoring in the 75th percentile of your dream uni gives you a good chance of getting in (if, of course, the rest of your application is up to par). This is the ultimate goal, but ideally you want to be scoring above average, or there’s going to be a lot more pressure placed on the rest of your application.
The best strategy is to figure out what the 75th percentile score is for the most competitive university you apply to is and then aim for that score.
Worst case scenario, you fall a few points below and still have a good chance to get into the majority of the universities on your list.
1. Princeton University: Princeton, New Jersey
Lowest Score Accepted: 1100
25th Percentile: 1470
75th Percentile: 1590
Average: 1520
Cost of Attendance: $70,010 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 6.4%
2. Harvard University: Cambridge, Massachusetts
25th Percentile: 1470
75th Percentile: 1600
Average: 1540
Cost of Attendance: $69,600-$73,600 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 5.1%
3. University of Chicago: Chicago, Illinois
Lowest Score Accepted: 1020
25th Percentile: 1490
75th Percentile: 1590
Average: 1540
Cost of Attendance: $81,210 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 8.7%
4. Yale University: New Haven, Connecticut
25th Percentile: 1490
75th Percentile: 1600
Average: 1540
Cost of Attendance: $70,570 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 6.9%
5. Columbia University: New York City, New York
25th Percentile: 1470
75th Percentile: 1590
Average: 1530
Cost of Attendance: $74,173 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 5.8%
6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Cambridge, Massachusetts
25th Percentile: 1480
75th Percentile: 1590
Average: 1520
Cost of Attendance: $67,430 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 7.2%
7. Stanford University: Stanford, California
25th Percentile: 1450
75th Percentile: 1590
Average: 1520
Cost of Attendance: $69,109 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 4.7%
8. University of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
25th Percentile: 1450
75th Percentile: 1570
Average: 1510
Cost of Attendance: $59,318-$72,584 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 9.3%
9. Duke University: Durham, North Carolina
25th Percentile: 1480
75th Percentile: 1590
Average: 1540
Cost of Attendance: $72,710 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 10%
10. California Institute of Technology: Pasadena, California
25th Percentile: 1530
75th Percentile: 1600
Average: 1560
Cost of Attendance: $68,901 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 8%
=11. Dartmouth College: Hanover, New Hampshire
25th Percentile: 1410
75th Percentile: 1580
Average: 1500
Cost of Attendance: $71,827 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 10.4%
=11. Johns Hopkins University: Baltimore, Maryland
25th Percentile: 1460
75th Percentile: 1570
Average: 1510
Cost of Attendance: $65,060- $69,918 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 13%
=11. Northwestern University: Evanston, Illinois
25th Percentile: 1480
75th Percentile: 1580
Average: 1510
Cost of Attendance: $60,332-$72,980 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 9.3%
=14. Brown University: Providence, Rhode Island
25th Percentile: 1440
75th Percentile: 1580
Average: 1500
Cost of Attendance: $71,050 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 8.3%
=14. Cornell University: Ithaca, New York
25th Percentile: 1410
75th Percentile: 1570
Average: 1480
Cost of Attendance: In-state: $52,951 USD a year, without financial aid, out-of-state: $70,321 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 12.6%
=14. Rice University: Houston, Texas
25th Percentile: 1450
75th Percentile: 1570
Average: 1510
Cost of Attendance: $63,188 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 16%
=14. Vanderbilt University: Nashville, Tennessee
25th Percentile: 1480
75th Percentile: 1590
Average: 1530
Cost of Attendance: $67,392 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 10.9%
18. University of Notre Dame: Notre Dame, Indiana
25th Percentile: 1410
75th Percentile: 1550
Average: 1490
Cost of Attendance: $69,395 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 18.9%
19. Washington University in St. Louis: St. Louis, Missouri
25th Percentile: 1190
75th Percentile: 1420
Average: 1300
Cost of Attendance: $71,976 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 16%
20. Georgetown University: Washington D.C.
25th Percentile: 1390
75th Percentile: 1550
Average: 1460
Cost of Attendance: $72,050 USD a year, without financial aid
Acceptance Rate: 15.4%
If Your SAT Score Sucks...
If your SAT score is not to your liking (a.k.a. it isn’t even close to 25th percentile of your dream university), don’t stress. There are a couple strategies you can use to improve your score.
1. Study harder and re-sit the exam
Luckily, you can take the SAT as many times as you’d like (although try to keep it under three, as anything more isn’t a great look on your application)!
However, simply sitting the exam over and over again won’t improve your score. In order to actually make a change, you’ll need to improve your study habits, come up with a proper SAT prep plan and perhaps even get some tutoring!
Your hard work will pay off in the long run.
Pro tip: Some colleges “superscore” your SAT.
A superscore is a combination of your highest score on every section across every SAT you take. Therefore, instead of using your scores from only one date, certain schools combine your highest section score across all dates and create your highest possible composite score!
2. Find better fit universities
If you’ve taken the SAT a few times and still aren’t hitting the scores you need to get into your top unis, it may be smart to add a few more “safety” colleges to your list just in case!
3. Don’t give up
Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get the score you need to get into your dream uni.
Thanks to the holistic US application system, you can make up for a lower SAT score by having incredible grades, writing fantastic essays and getting involved in unique extracurricular activities!
There is always a way in as long as you’re willing to put in the work and crush the rest of your application.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, your SAT score isn’t the be all and end all.
Although your score is concrete and objective, each university decides how much weight to give to the exam.
In fact, some universities don’t even require the SAT anymore, which goes to show you just how dependent your scores are on ideologies of the universities you send them to!
All I can say is do your very best and try to hit at least the 75th percentile of your dream university to improve your chances of getting in but remember, don’t stress!
The other parts of your application need attention, too.
How will you find the college that's the right fit for you academically, athletically and socially? Complete our registration form and one of our Sports Consultants will be in touch to kick-start the process.
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