What A Good SAT Score Is & How Colleges Review Your Application

“Is XXXX a good SAT score.” I’m sure we’ve all googled that with hopes of finding some sense of validation. But the truth is that the criteria for a good SAT score varies from person to person. It carries a different weight on each college application, depending on your major, background, and school you’re applying to.

When determining what a good SAT score is, it’s important to know what college(s) and major you want to pursue. If you don’t know your post-high school goals, that’s ok. I wrote an article on “How To Research Colleges By Using Their Average SAT Score” too to help out, which you can access by clicking here. Nowadays, most college applications are holistically reviewed, meaning they take into account a large range of factors to judge your admittance: personal experiences, academic merit, and outside attributes like sports and extracurriculars.

Here’s why this is good for you. For example, if you’re an english or journalism major, will colleges care if you scored poorly on the math section of the SAT or flunked precal senior year? No. Admission officers are looking for work-ethic and performance in your english classes and R&W SAT. Conversely, as an engineer or other STEM major, is it life changing if you got a C in Mr. Le’s history class or a B in PE? Probably not. But your performance in math, physics, or chemistry might because as an engineer or STEM major  you’ll constantly be surrounded by math and your respected field of science. For me, I applied to schools for electrical engineering. Consequently, I took classes and extracurricular activities that aligned with my majors, like Electronics AC/DC, Calc BC, and Physics C: E&M as well as conveying experience in the field through my essays. On top of that, I scored above the average SAT for my dream school.

Remember as an admission officer their job is to gauge whether or not you can succeed in their college environment, and your application will convey that to them through your essays, extracurriculars, and specific parts of academic merit. 

What The SAT Score Distribution Shows

Before setting a goal for your SAT score, let’s take a look at 2019’s SAT score distribution (source: prepscholar)

Unless you’re aiming for ivy leagues, a 1400 is a solid SAT score which ranks in the 94th percentile.Objectively, it’s a great score, as the average SAT score hovers around 1170-1380 for most schools, but on the ivy league scale a 1400 is a below average score. Ivy leagues already attract the nation’s top SAT scores, causing their average SAT score to be around 1500 which is just nuts.  

Now, don’t get discouraged if you’re not at these benchmarks yet. The SAT isn’t the only differentiating factor in your college and scholarship application. If you’re struggling to find motivation to study, we could look at the SAT from this perspective. The difference between a 1400 and a 1500 is only 4% going from 94 to 98, while the difference between 1100 and a 1250 is far more going from 58 to 81. This means studying for a little bit can boost your testing percentile and admission chances substantially. 

If you want to learn how to score a high SAT that” separate you from other students, then fill out the form on the right or click here to gain access to my mini-course on “How To Start Studying For The SAT”