How To Win Scholarships And Research Colleges By Using Their Average SAT Score

Finding the average SAT score of prospective colleges is the first step to scoping out your competition. Most colleges disclose this information publicly along with preferred GPA and rank. You just have to google “*insert college name* average SAT score” or “*insert college name* average class rank” for it to pop up. 

For Example:

We can see here that SAT scores range from 1230-1480 by adding the upper and lower limits. Now this method of finding the average SAT score may be too broad, as colleges tend to offer a variety of majors. To narrow down the search, you can simply insert your education branch into the search as so:

Every college is different, so you might have to dig through their admissions page or some articles to find this information. UT Austin has the best engineering school my state has to offer, while also ranking top 10 in the nation. Consequently, the admission process is more competitive, causing the average SAT score to rise as well. However, if we take a look at other schools, i.e safety schools, then we can see the difference in scores.

I’ll use my state, Texas, as an example. Here in Texas, the main engineering college options, in order from least to most competitive, are the University of Houston, Texas A&M, and UT Austin.

University of Houston’s Average SAT Score: 1130-1310

Compared to UT’s 1400 average, University of Houston only has an average SAT score range of 1130-1310. The average SAT score for UT would be amazing at UH or any other safety school. Consequently, if you fall short of your goal for a competitive university, you’ll still be academically distinguished at safety schools which can lead to more scholarships.

How Knowing A College’s Average SAT Score Can Increase Your Scholarship Chances

You might be wondering, “Rodney, that’s great and all that their average SAT score is lower, but how does this affect me?” UT’s average (or any other highly competitive college’s average) is outstanding for a safety school. With an UT’s average SAT score, you may be an ordinary student academically there, but at a safety school you’d have extraordinary merits which can be leveraged for scholarships.

Here’s how I leveraged my academic merits and why you should.

  1. Apply to your major’s Honors College, for example Engineering Honors.

Honor’s college is not solely for prestige or limited to the overambitious students. The main benefit for applying to honors is for networking and consideration for academic scholarships. First of all, getting into Honors College is tough and not many students go the extra mile to make an entire new application to submit. Because of this, Honor’s college is one of the ways you can distinguish yourself from the crowd academically on top of your extracurriculars. I applied to every one of my school’s engineering honors programs, and though I didn’t get into the most competitive one at UT Austin. I was accepted into Texas A&M and University of Houston’s engineering honor programs, where I was offered four year renewable scholarships (see photos below) that I otherwise wouldn’t have received.  Don’t just take my word. Ask the seniors & alumni at your high school.

  1. Call the financial aid department, introduce yourself, and ask for scholarship opportunities

One of the best ways to separate yourself from the student body is simply to talk to people. Network. How is the world supposed to know who you are without a proper introduction? There are two benefits to networking. First, if you network properly, you’ll hopefully gain information on new opportunities that’ll help you, ranging from scholarships, internships, or mentorship programs. Secondly, the financial aid department wants to help you. So by asking them directly, you get a straightforward answer on where to look for grants and scholarships as well as pointers on how to apply to them. In my networking experience at UT Austin, once I reached out and talked to a few professors. Like a domino effect, those initial professors started introducing me to more faculty and professors who could give me the leg up. None of this could’ve happened if I never picked up the phone and emailed the professors at UT.

  1. Apply to university-specific scholarships as well as outside scholarships

This step may seem obvious, but seriously once you research scholarships. APPLY APPLY APPLY. It makes no sense to spend 3 hours digging up scholarships only to forget about them. Much like the SAT applying to scholarships is a time consuming process, but this is how you cash out the hard work you’ve done during high school.Trust me that extra scholarship money adds up and brings you closer to attending college for free. Loans are scary…

If you’re interested in learning how to boost your SAT score, then consider checking out my mini-course by clicking here and filling out the form or by filling out the form on the right. There I show students how to start studying for the SAT and research colleges. I believe everything in life requires a plan, and I want to share the plan I used to successfully make the high school to college transition.