What Is a Good SAT Score?
One score, two opinions
A junior gets 1250 on her first official SAT. Her friend tells her it is a great score. Her cousin, who goes to a very selective university, tells her it will not be enough.
Both are right. They are simply comparing it with different colleges. The question that matters is how 1250 compares with the colleges on her own list.
The national picture
The SAT is scored from 400 to 1600. The College Board publishes percentiles showing how a score compares with recent test takers.
| Total score | User percentile |
|---|---|
| 1020 | 50th |
| 1200 | 75th |
| 1360 | 90th |
| 1450 | 95th |
| 1530 | 99th |
These figures come from the College Board's user percentiles, which are based on the actual scores of students who graduated in the past three school years. For the class of 2024, the College Board reports that 1,973,891 students took the SAT and the average total score was 1024.
The national picture is useful context, and it does not answer the real question. A 75th-percentile score can be well above the range at one college and well below it at another.
How to read a college's score range
Most colleges publish the middle range of scores of the students they admitted or enrolled: the 25th percentile at the bottom and the 75th at the top. You will find it on the college's admissions profile or in its Common Data Set. A quarter of those students scored below the range, and a quarter scored above it.
Compare your best official score with that range.
| Where your score falls | What it means |
|---|---|
| Above the 75th percentile | The score is a clear strength in your application to that college |
| In the upper half of the range | The score supports your application |
| In the lower half of the range | The score is within the normal range but not a strength. Whether to retake depends on the rest of your list |
| Below the 25th percentile | The score is below most admitted students. Other parts of the application have to carry more weight |
This describes the score. It does not predict whether you will be admitted, because no college admits on the score alone.
It also helps to look at the two sections separately. A student applying to engineering should pay particular attention to the Math score, and a student applying to the humanities to Reading and Writing.
Retake or stop?
Most students take the SAT more than once. The College Board recommends taking it at least twice, in the spring of 11th grade and the fall of 12th, and says most students get a higher score the second time. The question is when to stop.
Pursiva's recommendation: take the test at least twice, and a third time when recent practice tests are scoring above the official result and the score still matters for the list, meaning it sits below the middle of the range at most match colleges. Stop when any one of these is true:
- the best score is already at or above the middle of the range at most colleges on the list;
- three sittings have produced similar section scores;
- application deadlines are close, and more practice would take time from the essays;
- the student has decided to apply test-optional.
After three sittings, scores usually change little. Recommending that a student stop is good advice, and it is not giving up.
Superscoring. Many colleges combine a student's best section scores from different test dates into one "superscore". Each college decides for itself whether to do this, and some ask to see every score. Check each college's policy. Practice tests never count.
For the student with 1250, the next step is to look up the ranges at her colleges. If 1250 sits in the upper half at most of her match colleges, she can stop. If it falls in the lower half at most of them, a new sitting makes sense.
Four mistakes to avoid
- Comparing with friends, or with the national averageThe only comparison that matters is with the colleges on your list.
- Chasing a perfect scoreOnce a score is in the upper half of the range at most of your colleges, more points add little and cost precious time that may be needed in other dimensions of your application.
- Ignoring the sectionsA total in range can hide a weak section in the subject your intended major relies on.
- Reading a range as oddsThe range describes students who were admitted. It does not tell you your chances.
How Pursiva helps
Pursiva's SAT coach reads the student's best official score against the colleges on their list, grouped into reach, target and likely, and says plainly whether it is below, within or above the range. It points out which section is holding the score back, especially when that section matters for the student's intended field. It calculates the student's superscore from their official sittings, and reminds them to check which colleges use one. It never turns a score into odds of admission.
That gives the student with 1250 a clear answer to the question her friend and her cousin could not settle: good for which colleges, and whether to test again.
Sources
See how your score compares with your own college list.
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