SAT scores

What Is a Good SAT Score?

"Good" is not a property of the number. It is a relationship between your score and the colleges you are actually applying to. A 1250 is a strong score at most state flagships and a below-range score at Stanford, and both of those statements are true at the same time. This guide gives you the three reference frames that matter — national percentiles, section-level benchmarks, and college middle-50% ranges — and then shows you how to turn them into one target number.

The national picture: where your score sits among test takers

The SAT is scored from 400 to 1600, combining two sections scored 200–800 each. Percentiles shift slightly with every cohort, but the shape of the distribution is stable. These are the anchors worth memorising:

Total score	Approximate percentile	What it means
1600	99+	Perfect score; a few hundred students per year
1500	98th	Top ~2% of test takers
1400	93rd	Top ~7%; strong nearly everywhere
1300	84th	Top ~16%
1200	68th	Top third
1100	51st	Just above the midpoint
1050	41st	Roughly the national average
900	19th	Bottom fifth

Percentiles are approximate and move a point or two between cohorts. Use them for orientation, not for precision.

Two things fall out of this table that students consistently get wrong. First, the distribution is densest in the middle: moving from 1050 to 1150 gains you far more percentile ground than moving from 1450 to 1550, even though both are a hundred points. Second, the top of the scale compresses hard. The difference between a 1520 and a 1570 is a handful of questions and almost no difference in how an admissions reader treats you.

Section benchmarks: a 1300 is not always a 1300

Two students with identical totals can look very different on paper. A 1300 built from a 700 Reading & Writing and a 600 Math reads differently to an engineering program than a 600/700 split does.

Section score	Approximate percentile	Read as
750–800	98th–99th	Exceptional
700–740	93rd–97th	Strong
650–690	85th–92nd	Above average
600–640	73rd–84th	Solid
530–590	50th–70th	Around average
Below 500	Under 40th	A weakness to address

If you are applying to a STEM program, your Math section is read more heavily than your total. If you are applying to a writing-intensive humanities program, the reverse. A lopsided score is not a problem when it leans toward your intended major — it is a problem when it leans away from it.

Middle-50% ranges by college tier

Colleges report the 25th and 75th percentile scores of their enrolled students. This "middle 50%" is the single most useful benchmark you have, because it describes the students who actually got in and enrolled, not the applicant pool.

College type	Typical middle 50% SAT	Typical acceptance rate
Highly selective private (under 15% admit)	1480–1570	4–15%
Selective private (20–50% admit)	1350–1500	20–50%
Top public flagships	1300–1480	15–40%
Other state flagships	1150–1370	50–80%
Regional publics	1000–1220	70–95%
Open-admission institutions	Often not reported	95–100%

Read the range correctly: the 25th percentile means a quarter of enrolled students scored below that number. Being under a college's 25th percentile does not make admission impossible — a quarter of the class is there. It means your score is not helping you, and something else in the application has to be.

Rather than working from tier averages, look up the actual numbers. We publish the reported middle-50% range, acceptance rate, net price and graduation rate for 354 four-year colleges from the federal College Scorecard.

How to set your own target score

This takes about twenty minutes and replaces every vague rule of thumb.

1. Write down 6–10 colleges you would genuinely attend, spread across reach, match and likely.
2. Look up each one's 25th and 75th percentile SAT. Put them in a single list, sorted.
3. Find the 75th percentile of the most selective college you consider realistic. That is your target. Not the most selective college on the list — the most selective one you would bet on.
4. Check the floor. The 25th percentile of your least selective college is the score below which you have a problem. Everything between floor and target is the working range.
5. Convert the gap into practice. A 60–100 point improvement is a realistic outcome from a disciplined few months. A 250-point jump is rare and usually means the first score was not representative.

Targeting the 75th rather than the 50th is deliberate. It builds in margin, and it positions your score as an asset rather than a neutral data point.

Test-optional: should you submit?

Most colleges are now test-optional, which converts "what is a good score" into "is my score good enough to help me". The working rule:

Your score vs. the college's range	What to do
At or above the 75th percentile	Submit. It is a clear strength.
Between the 50th and 75th	Submit. It confirms you belong in the pool.
Between the 25th and 50th	Judgement call. Submit if your GPA or coursework is on the weaker side and the score is the stronger signal.
Below the 25th percentile	Usually withhold, unless the college requires scores or you want merit-aid consideration.

One important exception: many merit scholarships still use score cutoffs even at test-optional colleges. If money is a factor, check the scholarship requirements separately from the admissions policy — the two often disagree.

What a good score is worth in money

Scores do not only affect admission. Automatic merit aid at many public universities is keyed to a score-and-GPA grid, and crossing a threshold can be worth thousands of dollars per year. A 1300 that becomes a 1340 may not change an admission decision at all and may still change a financial aid award. If you are near a published cutoff, one more test sitting is often the highest-return thing you can do. Browse scholarships and their requirements.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good SAT score?

There is no single good score. Around 1050 is roughly average nationally, 1200 puts you in the top quarter, 1350 in the top ten percent or so, and 1500 in the top one to two percent. What matters more is how your score compares to the middle-50% range at the specific colleges on your list.

Is 1200 a good SAT score?

A 1200 is well above the national average, around the 68th percentile. It is competitive at most regional publics and many state flagships, and below the middle 50% at highly selective private colleges. See the colleges where a 1200 is in range.

Is 1400 a good SAT score?

A 1400 is approximately the 93rd percentile and is strong almost everywhere — at or above the 75th percentile at most flagships and inside the middle 50% at many highly selective privates. See what a 1400 clears.

What is a good SAT score for Ivy League colleges?

The middle 50% at the most selective colleges typically runs from about 1480 to 1570. Below roughly 1480 your score is not doing work for you, and the rest of the application has to be exceptional.

How much can I realistically improve my score?

60 to 100 points from a disciplined few months of practice is a normal outcome. Larger jumps happen, usually when the baseline score was taken cold or under bad conditions. See how to improve your SAT score.

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