By A good SAT score will get you into the college you want to attend and can get you a scholarship if you need it. What a good SAT score is for you will likely be different than someone else who has different collegiate aspirations.
A good SAT score is personal.
A 1200 might not be likely to get you into Harvard, but it would be a great score if you want to go to a lot of other pretty good schools. Many students would be thrilled to have a 1200, but others might feel devastated.
But here’s the deal. Regardless of your exact aspirations, your test scores matter.
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They matter in relation to some other stuff like GPA, class rank, and perhaps your admissions essay. All of these things play a role in the admissions process.
Maybe you’re looking at your SAT score report and trying to figure out if you have a good SAT score or maybe you’re still picking a test date and trying to determine what your score goal should be.
Either way, we’ll break this all down and help you determine what a good SAT score is for you. After all, that’s all that matters. Can your SAT score get you where you want to go or not? That’s the real question.
TL;DR What is a Good SAT Score?
The reality is, a good SAT score is personal. It depends on a variety of factors that we’re going to dig into below. But if you’re looking for the short answer, this should help.
A good SAT score for many students falls around a 1210.
- A 1210 is the 75th percentile.
- A 1210 is roughly 150 points higher than the national average. While it won’t be nearly high enough for an Ivy League or some top-tier state schools, it will make many students competitive at an average state university and many private colleges.
- A 1210 may qualify a student for some merit based aid, but you’ll likely need to aim for a higher score if you’re relying on significant merit-based scholarships.
Why Does Your SAT Score Even Matter?
While some schools have gone completely test blind in recent years, by and large, test scores still play a significant role in the admissions process at the majority of colleges and universities in the United States.
It may feel silly (or unfair) to put so much weight on a single test, but it’s the reality. Colleges use test scores as a way to filter students based on their aptitude. Usually, schools will do a first cut based on test scores. Then they will look at other less objective things like GPA, extracurricular involvements, and your admissions essay.
The more competitive the school, the more that all of these pieces matter a great deal. Top schools will be looking for the “complete package:” very high test scores, GPA, class rank, and a stand-out record of extracurriculars, volunteer experience, and other factors that provide evidence that you’d be a good fit for their student body.
While there is no magic SAT score that will gain you entry into any particular college, there is no doubt that the higher the SAT score, the more competitive you will be in the college admissions process.
What is a Good SAT Score Compared to Everyone Taking the SAT?
The average SAT score in 2021 was 1060. Many students will look at this and think that if they get higher than a 1060, they have a good score. And that’s not wrong…but it’s also not right. It’s a helpful benchmark, but it really isn’t the whole picture.
Scoring above a 1060 tells us that you have scored higher than 50% of all test takers. That’s great! But, it doesn’t necessarily mean (or not mean) it’s a good enough score for you.
Let’s look at some other important benchmarks to get an idea of where you stand among all test takers.
99th Percentile: 1520
Scoring a 1520 gets you a coveted spot in the top 1% of all SAT test-takers. This is a really high score. This score make you competitive at some of the best schools in the nation. This also corresponds roughly to the average score of accepted students at most Ivy League colleges. This is also where you’ll find you unlock a lot of scholarship potential.
90th Percentile: 1350
Your score is better than 90% of students. It’s still extremely high. But look closely and you’ll notice the 150 point difference between the 99th and 90th percentile. This is significant. This score would make most students competitive at a lot of great universities and is still likely to qualify you for some solid scholarships.
75th Percentile: 1210
Your score is better than 3 out of 4 students. This is also a good benchmark for many students who are aiming for admission to a state university. Increasingly, though, top-tier state universities are above this mark. Many students who take the SAT for the first time end up right around this mark.
One of the best ways to get an idea of where your score stands is to compare your score to that of other test-takers.
| SAT Score | Nationally-Representative Percentile | Percentile Among Actual SAT Test Takers |
| 1600 | 99+ | 99+ |
| 1590 | 99+ | 99+ |
| 1580 | 99+ | 99+ |
| 1570 | 99+ | 99+ |
| 1560 | 99+ | 99+ |
| 1550 | 99+ | 99 |
| 1540 | 99+ | 99 |
| 1530 | 99+ | 99 |
| 1520 | 99+ | 99 |
| 1510 | 99 | 98 |
| 1500 | 99 | 98 |
| 1490 | 99 | 98 |
| 1480 | 99 | 97 |
| 1470 | 99 | 97 |
| 1460 | 99 | 97 |
| 1450 | 99 | 96 |
| 1440 | 98 | 96 |
| 1430 | 98 | 95 |
| 1420 | 98 | 95 |
| 1410 | 97 | 94 |
| 1400 | 97 | 94 |
| 1390 | 97 | 93 |
| 1380 | 96 | 92 |
| 1370 | 96 | 92 |
| 1360 | 95 | 91 |
| 1350 | 94 | 90 |
| 1340 | 94 | 89 |
| 1330 | 93 | 89 |
| 1320 | 93 | 88 |
| 1310 | 92 | 87 |
| 1300 | 91 | 86 |
| 1290 | 90 | 85 |
| 1280 | 89 | 84 |
| 1270 | 88 | 83 |
| 1260 | 87 | 82 |
| 1250 | 86 | 81 |
| 1240 | 85 | 80 |
| 1230 | 84 | 78 |
| 1220 | 83 | 77 |
| 1210 | 82 | 76 |
| 1200 | 81 | 74 |
| 1190 | 80 | 73 |
| 1180 | 78 | 72 |
| 1170 | 77 | 70 |
| 1160 | 76 | 69 |
| 1150 | 74 | 67 |
| 1140 | 73 | 66 |
| 1130 | 71 | 64 |
| 1120 | 70 | 62 |
| 1110 | 69 | 61 |
| 1100 | 67 | 59 |
| 1090 | 65 | 57 |
| 1080 | 63 | 55 |
| 1070 | 61 | 54 |
| 1060 | 60 | 52 |
| 1050 | 58 | 50 |
| 1040 | 56 | 48 |
| 1030 | 54 | 46 |
| 1020 | 52 | 45 |
| 1010 | 50 | 43 |
| 1000 | 48 | 41 |
| 990 | 46 | 39 |
| 980 | 44 | 38 |
| 970 | 42 | 36 |
| 960 | 40 | 34 |
| 950 | 38 | 33 |
| 940 | 36 | 31 |
| 930 | 35 | 29 |
| 920 | 33 | 28 |
| 910 | 31 | 26 |
| 900 | 29 | 25 |
| 890 | 27 | 23 |
| 880 | 26 | 22 |
| 870 | 24 | 20 |
| 860 | 23 | 19 |
| 850 | 21 | 18 |
| 840 | 20 | 16 |
| 830 | 18 | 15 |
| 820 | 17 | 14 |
| 810 | 16 | 12 |
| 800 | 14 | 11 |
| 790 | 13 | 10 |
| 780 | 11 | 9 |
| 770 | 10 | 8 |
| 760 | 9 | 7 |
| 750 | 8 | 6 |
| 740 | 7 | 5 |
| 730 | 6 | 5 |
| 720 | 5 | 4 |
| 710 | 4 | 3 |
| 700 | 4 | 3 |
So where do you stand?
Understanding your national percentile can be a helpful place to start in determining what a good SAT score is for you. If you know you sit in the 25th percentile, you may have a sense for the type of colleges where you’d be a competitive applicant. It’s a good starting point.
But, as you get closer to application time, it’s important to have a very specific list of targeted schools. This college short-list will serve you in many ways. First of all, it’ll help you narrow your focus; you don’t have unlimited time for college campus tours and admissions essays. It can also be helpful in narrowing your focus on schools that will be where you will be most competitive.
You’ve likely heard of the term “reach schools.” These are schools where you may not fit the traditional applicant profile, but you want to give it a shot anyway. They might be a little out of reach (hence the name). There are plenty of stories of students being admitted to schools where their GPA and SAT score falls well outside the typical admission range. But, these are just the stories that make headlines and the town gossip.
Far more likely are cases where a student’s GPA and test scores align quite perfectly with the admissions profile of the school they are admitted to.
So let’s take a look now at what a good SAT score is based on your college short-list.
Don’t have a short-list yet? It’s time to get to work!
What is a Good SAT Score Based on Your College Short-List?
Honestly, this is the most important question. It might be interesting to see where you fall among all test-takers, but it doesn’t mean nearly as much as where you fall in relation to your college short-list.
For most students, college prospects depend largely on two things:
- SAT Scores
- GPA and class rank
Both of these things matter quite a lot. And they matter in relation to one another. Think of it like this: if you’ve worked hard to maintain a 3.5 GPA, an SAT score of 800 is going to significantly bring down the college prospects you thought you had. Colleges no-doubt look at these two things together. We need to think about test scores in the context of your GPA.
Wherever your GPA sits, you should be aiming for comparable or higher performance on the SAT. A good SAT score is one that is on par with or stronger than your GPA.
Colleges and universities always release their acceptance statistics. It’s a badge of honor. We tend to view schools that have a higher SAT or GPA average as more competitive, and therefore, more prestigious and higher quality. It doesn’t mean you can’t get a quality education from colleges with lower admissions requirements. It’s just a reality we need to consider as part of the admissions process.
It’s important to consider fully the admission statistics from your college short-list. While we can’t say for certain whether you’ll be admitted to a particular college or not, comparing your GPA and SAT score with that of the admissions stats of your target schools will give us a pretty good idea of the odds.
Do my test scores align with my college short list?
Some colleges will offer guaranteed admission with a particular test score. If you have it, you are literally automatically admitted. If all of your schools offer this and you are at or above the cut-off, you’re good to go. Easy enough, right?
The bad news is that most schools don’t offer guaranteed admission (or you might not meet the threshold), so you’ll probably need to look at things a bit more subjectively to see if you have a good SAT score for admission or not.
For each college or university on your list:
- Look up the SAT score ranges. For example, Google “University of Virginia SAT score range.”
- Compare the Average, 25th percentile, and 75th percentile scores against your own.
What is the 25th percentile?
25th percentile means the lowest 25% of applicants admitted. You can read this as the sort of “minimum” considered for admission. This isn’t an absolute, but it’s a pretty good rule of thumb.
What is the 75th percentile?
75th percentile means the highest 25% of applicants admitted (i.e. you are higher than 75% of applicants). A score in this range makes you above the average for students who are admitted. It doesn’t guarantee admission, but it does give you a stronger chance than being in the 25th percentile (or even the average).
Real Scenario:
Real scenarios are more fun than talking theoreticals. Let’s invent a student, Macy, who has a 1350 on the SAT. She’s wondering if she has a good SAT score or not. She lives in Virginia and is looking at two in-state schools: George Mason University and the University of Virginia.
After Googling each school’s SAT score ranges, she came up with the following information on the schools’ SAT scores:
| Average | 25th percentile | 75th percentile | |
| George Mason University | 1215 | 1120 | 1300 |
| University of Virginia | 1430 | 1340 | 1500 |
Based on this, what is a good SAT score for her? Is Macy’s current SAT score of a 1350 good enough?
A 1350 puts her higher than the 75th percentile for George Mason, so this school would be a really good fit for her. She’s going to look quite competitive for the admissions team.
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However, the same 1350 puts her just slightly above average for the University of Virginia. This school is definitely not out of reach for Macy, but she may be more competitive if she can get her score closer to a 1450 or 1500. This would be very realistic with some targeted SAT test prep.
Score Ranges for Popular Colleges and Universities
| College Name | Average SAT Score |
| Arizona State University | 1245 |
| Cal Tech | 1545 |
| Colorado State University | 1180 |
| Florida International University | 1195 |
| Florida State University | 1270 |
| Harvard University | 1520 |
| Indiana University | 1255 |
| Kansas State University | 1160 |
| Louisiana State University | 1180 |
| MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) | 1535 |
| Michigan State University | 1210 |
| NYU | 1440 |
| Northern Arizona University | 1135 |
| Oklahoma State University | 1160 |
| Princeton University | 1505 |
| Rice University | 1505 |
| Rutgers | 1300 |
| San Diego State University | 1215 |
| SMU (Southern Methodist University) | 1390 |
| Stanford University | 1505 |
| Texas A&M | 1275 |
| Texas Tech University | 1155 |
| The Ohio State University | 1355 |
| UCLA | 1405 |
| University of Alabama | 1180 |
| University of Arizona | 1235 |
| University of Arkansas | 1210 |
| University of California at Berkeley | 1415 |
| University of California at Irvine | 1310 |
| University of Central Florida | 1330 |
| University of Chicago | 1520 |
| University of Florida | 1360 |
| University of Georgia | 1325 |
| University of Illinois | 1350 |
| University of Illinois at Chicago | 1120 |
| University of Kansas | 1240 |
| University of Maryland | 1380 |
| University of Michigan | 1435 |
| University of Minnesota | 1350 |
| University of Missouri | 1190 |
| University of Oklahoma | 1210 |
| University of South Florida | 1250 |
| University of Southern California | 1440 |
| University of Texas at Austin | 1355 |
| University of Washington | 1340 |
| University of Wisconsin | 1390 |
| Vanderbilt University | 1505 |
| Virginia Tech | 1285 |
| Yale University | 1515 |
1500+: The best universities in the world, including Harvard, Stanford, Cal Tech, MIT and Princeton.
1400-1500: Almost-Ivies, like UC-Berkeley, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, UCLA and Notre Dame.
1300-1400: Tons of good private and public universities, including the University of Texas at Austin, University of Florida, George Washington University and Pepperdine.
1200-1300: This is probably the most common range for quality state universities, including the University of Colorado, University of Arizona and Texas A&M. There are also many quality private schools in this range, including TCU and Syracuse.
1100-1200: Broad range of schools, including flagship state universities like the University of Missouri and Ole Miss and quality second-tier state universities like the University of Illinois-Chicago and UC-Riverside.
Below 1100: There are actually quite a few universities in this category, including tons of non-flagship state universities and a lot of small private colleges. Some examples include Arkansas State University, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Regis University and Illinois State.
Bottom line: The SAT score you need is determined by the college you want to attend.
What’s a Good SAT Score for Test Optional Schools?
Some colleges and universities have opted to go test optional in recent years. This is different than test blind. Test blind means the school will not review or consider test scores at all (very rare). While, test optional means test scores will be considered if they are submitted, but they’re not required for admission consideration.
If you have one or more test optional schools on your list, what should be your target SAT score? Well, it depends.
Rule of thumb: If your SAT score supports or enhances your full admissions package, you should submit them. If not, you either retest to aim for a higher score or consider not submitting your scores.
What does this actually look like?
- First, follow our advice earlier and take a look at the 25th and 75h percentile scores for the colleges on your list.
- Then, compare your own scores to these ranges.
If your scores are lower than the 25th percentile, you should either retest and aim for a higher score or consider not submitting your scores. They will only bring down your application.
If your scores are within the 25th – 75th percentile ranges (or higher), you most likely want to submit them.
So, in other words, a “good” SAT score for test optional schools will be one that is within the median 50th percentile for the admitted class and that overall will aid in supporting your application.
Ere on the side of submitting your scores if in doubt.
Think about it like this. If a school gets too essentially identical applicants in terms of their backgrounds, GPAs, high school transcript, and extracurriculars, and one submits scores that are within the school’s 50th percentile range and the other student didn’t submit any scores, who do you think will be admitted? The student who submitted scores.
While test optional can prove to even the playing field for many students who otherwise would never be considered for admission (and we really should consider this a win overall), it can prove a detriment for some students if they do not understand the implications of not submitting scores.
What if My SAT Score isn’t Good Enough?
So you’ve made your college short-list and realized your current SAT score isn’t quite good enough. It’s time for some honest self-reflection.
I know you didn’t come here for some life advice. But you’re going to get some anyway! 🙂
You need to ask yourself: is my college short-list realistic? Oof. No one wants to admit that their dream school is out of reach, but doing so could help you optimize your application for another school that may end up being a better fit anyway!
Based on your current SAT score (and your GPA), how far off are you from the entry averages for the schools on your list? Are we talking maybe 30 points? Or 300 points? Those are two very different things.
If you’ve thought about it and you do think it’s realistic, you have some work cut out for you!
It’s time to come up with a game plan to retake the SAT and lock in the score you need.
Whether you took the test “blind” without any studying or you did some test prep, it’s not uncommon to be disappointed by your first score. There’s so much pressure to do well on this test. Maybe you had test day anxiety, you overslept and forgot to eat breakfast, or maybe you just simply didn’t grind hard enough to prepare.
Regardless of the reason, 54% of students opt to retake the SAT.
If you’re thinking about a retake, make sure you are thoughtful about the timing. Rushing to retake the test right away may not be the best idea. There’s probably some studying you could do to boost that score. The average score improvement for an SAT retake is 40 points. That’s considering all students who took the test for a second time – not just those who opted for some extra studying. Score improvements with test prep can be much higher. Our average is 210 points of improvement.
- Self-Study: build your own game plan using free or paid test prep resources.
- Take an SAT prep class.
- Work with a private SAT tutor.
If you don’t think it’s realistic to improve your score enough to gain admission, it’s time to adjust that list of schools!
Maybe you’ve been dreaming about a school since you were a kid…maybe you even have the school flag above your bed. Regardless, it’s probably going to hurt to cross it off your list. But, if this is worth anything: it will be okay! Your college choice does not define you as a person. Maybe you’ll find that your updated college list is full of schools that, in the end, will be a better fit anyway. Stay optimistic!
Summary: What is a Good SAT Score?
A good SAT score should get you into the college you want and get you scholarships if you need them. Benchmarking yourself against the national average of 1060 can be a good starting point, but to really understand if you have a good SAT score, you need to do some more work.
First, you should come up with your college short list.
Then, compare your score against the 25th and 75th percentile SAT scores for students who were admitted to the colleges on your list.
If you fall within or above the ranges, decide then if your score will make you competitive enough for the scholarships you need. If you’re outside of a school’s range or even towards the 25th percentile, you should look to either improve your score or focus on other more suitable college options.
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