What Are Good SAT Scores for Colleges 101 Schools + Advice

What Are Good SAT Scores for Colleges 101 Schools + Advice SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips As you apply to college, it's important to understand how high of an SAT score you will need to aim for on test day. This raises the question:what aregood SAT scores for colleges? And notjust any colleges, but your colleges specifically? In this article, we’ll examine the SAT scores needed for college and how these scores can varydue todifferences in factors such as school prestige and competitiveness. We’ll then show you how to look for average SAT scores for colleges and how to set your own SAT goal score. What Are Good SAT Scores for Colleges? First off, what are good SAT scores for colleges? In reality, there's no single answer to this question because good SAT scores for universities vary depending on where you’re applying. For some schools, an SAT score of 1400 will be significantly high, whereas for others (i.e., top-20 colleges) it’ll be fairly low. As you might've guessed, ultra-competitive,top-ranked schools typically look for some of the highest SAT scores in applicants. Below is a chart containing thetop 25 US schools (as ranked by US News) and their ranges of SAT scoresfor incoming students. This data highlights the SAT score you'll need to get in order to give yourself the best shot at securing admissioninto ahighly competitive school.For each school, we give you theaverage SAT score, 25th percentile score, and 75th percentile score of incoming students. A 25th percentile score means that 25% of students scored at or below this threshold, while a 75th percentile score means that 75% of students scored at or below this threshold. Thus, the 25th and 75th percentiles represent the middle 50% SAT scores of admitted applicants- the average SAT score range for a particular school.GoodSAT scores for universities are usually those in the 75th percentile or higher (i.e., anything above the middle 50%). Note:For those curious about what kinds of SAT scores are required for Ivy League schools, I’ve bolded all eight Iviesin the table below. This should make it easier to compare the SAT scores of Ivies with those of non-Ivies. SAT Scores for Top 25 US Schools School US News Ranking 25th %ile SAT Score 75th %ile SAT Score Avg SAT Score Princeton 1 1430 1570 1500 Harvard 2 1460 1590 1520 Columbia 3 (tie) 1450 1580 1515 MIT 3 (tie) 1490 1570 1528 UChicago 3 (tie) 1480 1580 1530 Yale 3 (tie) 1420 1590 1505 Stanford 7 1390 1540 1465 Duke 8 (tie) 1390 1580 1485 Penn 8 (tie) 1420 1560 1490 Johns Hopkins 10 (tie) 1460 1580 1520 Northwestern 10 (tie) 1420 1560 1490 Caltech 12 (tie) 1530 1590 1560 Dartmouth 12 (tie) 1430 1560 1478 Brown 14 (tie) 1405 1570 1488 Vanderbilt 14 (tie) 1400 1550 1475 Cornell 16 (tie) 1390 1550 1470 Rice 16 (tie) 1490 1580 1535 Notre Dame 18 1370 1520 1445 UCLA 19 (tie) 1240 1490 1365 WUSTL 19 (tie) 1470 1570 1505 Emory 21 1350 1520 1435 Georgetown 22 (tie) 1350 1520 1435 UC Berkeley 22 (tie) 1330 1530 1430 USC 22 (tie) 1300 1500 1400 Carnegie Mellon 25 (tie) 1430 1560 1495 UVA 25 (tie) 1290 1470 1365 As you can see from this chart, the SAT scores you’ll need for top 25 schools vary slightly but are overall quite high.Of these schools, UCLA has the lowest SAT scores: the middle 50% of its incoming students scored between 1240 and 1490, or the 80th and 98th percentiles. By contrast,Caltech maintains the highest SAT scores:only 25% of incoming studentsscored at or below 1530- an extremely impressive SAT score in the 99th percentile! Even more impressive, a whopping 75% of Caltech students scored at or below a near-perfect score of 1590. Top schools are like center brownies: lots of people compete for them, but only a few will win access to one. But what if you’re not interested in applying to only top-25 schools? To lend you a hand, we've gathered SAT score information for 76 additional schools.All of the schools selected for this listare relatively well known- some more so in their respective regions- andvary from large public institutions to small liberal arts colleges. Whereas some are extremely competitive, others are more laid-back. But all are definitely worth considering for college! All schools below areorganized alphabetically.To find a specific school, use ctrl + F to type in the name of the school you're searching for. Note that University of California schools are listed using "UC." SAT Scores for 76 Popular Schools School 25th %ile SAT Score 75th %ile SAT Score Avg SAT Score American University 1180 1350 1260 Amherst College 1430 1560 1492 Baylor University 1190 1360 1275 Binghamton University 1290 1431 1361 Boston College 1320 1490 1405 Boston University 1300 1480 1380 Bowdoin College 1290 1510 1390 Brigham Young University (BYU) 1210 1410 1310 California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) 1220 1400 1293 Chapman University 1190 1360 1270 Claremont McKenna College 1420 1560 1490 College of William and Mary 1300 1480 1390 Drexel University 1160 1360 1260 George Washington University(GWU) 1280 1440 1355 Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) 1090 1520 1295 Harvey Mudd College 1470 1570 1520 Indiana University Bloomington 1140 1350 1246 Lehigh University 1270 1430 1347 Loyola Marymount University 1180 1360 1269 Miami University 1190 1380 1285 Michigan State University(MSU) 1100 1320 1204 Middlebury College 1320 1510 1404 New York University (NYU) 1290 1490 1382 Northeastern University 1370 1520 1445 Ohio State University(OSU) 1260 1450 1344 Pace University 1070 1240 1137 Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) 1160 1340 1247 Pepperdine University 1200 1390 1294 Pitzer College 1310 1490 1394 Pomona College 1370 1530 1450 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute(RPI) 1320 1500 1399 Rutgers University 1190 1400 1300 Scripps College 1290 1460 1384 Stony Brook University- SUNY 1210 1410 1304 Syracuse University 1160 1350 1255 Temple University 1130 1310 1221 Texas AM University 1140 1360 1252 Texas Christian University (TCU) 1130 1330 1230 Trinity College 1190 1440 1320 Tufts University 1410 1540 1475 Tulane University 1330 1490 1410 UC Davis 1120 1360 1240 UC Irvine 1170 1410 1286 UC Riverside 1090 1300 1179 UC San Diego(UCSD) 1140 1380 1257 UC Santa Barbara(UCSB) 1270 1500 1385 UC Santa Cruz 1160 1370 1263 United States Military Academy(West Point) 1185 1400 1300 United States Naval Academy 1250 1450 1410 University of Alabama 1050 1280 1177 University of Arizona 1100 1340 1182 University of Cincinnati 1120 1340 1233 University of Colorado Boulder(CU Boulder) 1150 1345 1248 University of Connecticut (UConn) 1110 1390 1250 University of Florida 1240 1410 1318 University of Georgia (UGA) 1200 1370 1281 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign(UIUC) 1340 1500 1420 University of Iowa 1100 1400 1240 University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) 1180 1360 1269 University of Miami 1220 1410 1316 University of Michigan 1330 1500 1415 University of Minnesota, Twin Cities 1270 1480 1358 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) 1260 1440 1347 University of Pittsburgh 1240 1418 1330 University of Rochester 1250 1490 1370 University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) 1160 1390 1275 University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) 1220 1430 1315 University of Vermont 1180 1350 1259 University of Washington 1190 1420 1310 University of Wisconsin- Madison 1280 1450 1359 Vassar College 1370 1510 1420 Villanova University 1250 1440 1345 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) 1180 1360 1268 Wake Forest University 1260 1440 1350 Wellesley College 1360 1530 1437 Williams College 1400 1570 1468 School 25th %ile SAT Score 75th %ile SAT Score Avg SAT Score The list above is only a fraction of the length of Santa's naughty-or-nice list. Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free, SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today! How to Find Average SAT Scores for Colleges With these two charts, we've given you- in addition to the 25th and 75th percentile SAT scores for each school- the average SAT scores of admitted applicants. These averages tell us what kinds of SAT scores you shouldaim for in order to match (or even possiblyexceed!) the qualifications of previously admitted students. But where can you findaverage SAT scores for colleges? The two best resources to look for SAT averages are ourPrepScholar database andofficial school websites. Method 1: Use the PrepScholar Database We at PrepScholar maintain a robust databaseyou can use to get more information onthe SAT scores needed for college. Start by typing in "[School Name] PrepScholar"or "[School Name] PrepScholar SAT"on Google. For example, here's the page I got when I searched for "university of oregon prepscholar": Click the link to either your school'sAdmission Requirements page orSAT Scores and GPA page in our database. I decided to look at the University of Oregon's Admission Requirements page(the first link in the screenshot above). Once on your school's PrepScholar page, scroll down to look for a section about its SAT scores. Straight away, you should be able to spot your school'saverage SAT score in a blue banner: If you'd like to see the 25th and 75th percentile SAT scores for your school as well, simply scroll down to look at the percentile chart: This is all you need to do to find the average SAT scores for colleges. However, if you’re having trouble locating a specific school in our PrepScholar database, move on to Method 2. Method 2: Use Official School Websites This method involves lookingfor SAT score information on aschool's official website.The easiest way to do this is to hop on Google, search for "[School Name] average SAT scores," and then click any links to official pages discussing SAT scores for your school. Another (slightly less convenient) method is tobrowseyour school'swebsite and intermittently usectrl + F to look for anymentions of SAT scores. The best pages to searchare those offering information onadmission statistics, the new freshman class, and facts and figures. That said, not allschools report average SAT scores. Whereas some won't release any SAT score information at all,other schools might report SAT scores of admitted applicants in the form of 25th and 75th percentile scores. One example of this is Princeton, whichoffers middle 50% SAT score ranges for both sections on the SAT. According to this Ivy League school, the middle 50% is 730-790 for Math and 700-770 for Evidence-Based Reading and Writing. In other words,25% of students scored1430 or below and 75% of students scored 1560 or below. Although this range isn’tthe same as an average, it does give us the information we ultimately want to know:what kind of SAT scores are considered better than average (and below average) at this particularschool. This freakishly beautiful kitten is anything but average. How to Set an SAT Goal Score We've seen how widely SAT scores for universities can vary; now, it’s time to figure out what score you'll need for your colleges specifically. In other words, what shouldyourSAT goal score be? A goal score is the SAT score most likely to get you into at least one of the colleges you're applying to (excluding safety schools). Ideally, it'll get you into all of them! Because SAT expectations can vary greatly by school and because there's such an enormous array of colleges you can apply to,your SAT goal score will be yours and yours alone.Other students might have higher or lower goal scores than you- but none of that matters. In the end, what does matter is your goal score’s likelihood of getting you into the college of your dreams! To find your SAT goal score, follow these three simple steps. Step 1: Make a Chart First off, make a table for the schools you're applying to and their 25th/75th percentile SAT scores. You may download our worksheet or draw a table similar to the one below. On the left, list all the schools you plan to apply to (excluding any safety schools you’re about90% certain you’ll get into). Here's an example: School 25th Percentile 75th Percentile UT Austin Texas AM Baylor TCU Step 2: Find SAT Score Info Online Your next step is to look for SAT score information for each of the schools in your table.To do this, follow the same steps as outlined in Method 1 for finding average SAT scores for colleges. Once again, here are the steps you'll need to take: Step 1: Search for "[School Name] PrepScholar SAT" on Google and click on the PrepScholar page for your school (either the Admission Requirements page or SAT Scores and GPA page will work). Step 2: Scroll down to the SAT section on this page to find a chart listing the 25th percentile, 75th percentile, and average SAT scores for this school. Step 3: Recordthe 25th and 75th percentile scores in your chart. In addition to using our database, you can search for "[School Name] SAT scores" on Google and look for official web pagesfor your school. Many schools will report either average SAT scores or the middle 50% of SAT scores(which is what you'll want for your chart). As a reminder, the minimum score in a 50% range is the 25th percentile, and the maximum is the 75th percentile. Once you've found SAT score information for all your schools, your chart should look like this: School Name 25th Percentile 75th Percentile UT Austin 1160 1390 Texas AM 1140 1360 Baylor 1190 1360 TCU 1130 1330 Step 3: Find Your Target Score Now, you’ll use the information in your chart to findyour target SAT score. To do this, simply look for the highest 75th percentile score in your chart.This will be your SAT target score. You must hit this (or near this) score in order to give yourself the best chance of admission to all the schools you're applying to. In this case, my goal score would be 1390 (for UT Austin), as this is the highest score in my chart. To figure out your (estimated) goal scores for each section (Evidence-Based Reading and Writing + Math), you candivide your goal score by 2.So a composite 1390 goal score would come out to a 690-700 EBRW goal score and a 690-700 Math goal score. My goal score? 100% completion in Breath of the Wild. (Brett Chalupa/Flickr) Summary: What Are Good SAT Scores for Colleges? Simply put, there is no one definition for good SAT scores for colleges. On the contrary, the SAT scores needed for college can vary significantly depending on schools' SAT expectations and where you’re applying. While some institutions might look for scores in the 99th percentile, others might accept scores closer to the national average. In general, good SAT scores for colleges are those that arein the 75th percentile or higher for your schools.Such a scoreshould elevate you well above the average SAT scores for yourschools, ultimately allowing you tostand apartfrom other applicants. Tofind average SAT scores for colleges, we recommend perusingeither our PrepScholar database or your schools' official websites. Finally, to set an SAT goal score, just follow these three easy steps: Step 1: Make a chart with all of the schools you're applying to(excluding safety schools) and their 25th and 75th percentiles. Step 2: Find SAT score information online by using either our database or your schools' official websites. Record the 25th and 75th percentilesin your chart. Step 3: Locate the highest75th percentile score in your chart.This will be your SAT goal score, as it's the one most likely to get you accepted to all the schools you're applying to. What’s Next? Still curious about good SAT scores for colleges?Read all about average SAT scores to see how they vary for different groups of test takers and learn what great, good, and poor SAT scores look like. Need additional help with setting an SAT goal score? Check out our step-by-step guide on how to seta target score for your schools. Readyto get the best SAT score you can get?With our completely customizable prep program, you can target your weaknesses and hone the skills you'll need most for test day. We also offer a ton ofexpert SAT tips and tricks to help you get the score you need for college! Disappointed with your scores? Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: