What SAT Score do I Need to Get into College?
Learn how to compare SAT scores!
Find out the 25th to 75th percentile SAT scores for top national universities!
Find out the 25th to 75th percentile SAT scores for top liberal arts colleges!
Learn how to improve your SAT scores!
The SAT Scores You Need for College
Taking the SAT can be a disorienting process. You put so much of your time into thinking about it or preparing for it, then you spend hours racing to answer as many questions as you can. In the end, you’re given a number between 400-1600 and may be left wondering what it all means for you!
It’s Relative
When many colleges have gone test-optional, and the merits of the SAT have been questioned, it can be hard to know what score to aim for. SAT scores remain an important aspect of applying for college, alongside other factors like GPA, extracurriculars, recommendations, and personal essays. One component isn’t going to make or break your chances of getting in somewhere, but a strong SAT score can be a great boost to your overall application!
A test score alone can’t tell you whether you will be accepted into a college or not, but one way you weigh your chances is by comparing your score against the scores of people who have been accepted.
A common way of doing this involves looking at the 25th and 75th percentiles of SAT scores for accepted students at your target school. Half of the scores of admitted students will fall between these two numbers, while one fourth will have scored higher, and the other fourth lower. If your score falls within this range, you have a competitive score for your application!
This method can give you a rough sense of where you stand in comparison to other applicants and what you may need to work on to have the best chance of getting in. A score above the 75th percentile will give you an edge in getting accepted while a score close or lower than the 25th percentile may be an indicator that this is a “reach school”.
For your convenience, we’ve compiled a list of the 25th to 75th percentile ranges of student scores for many of the best schools in the country. The schools below represent the top 40 National Universities and top National Liberal Arts Colleges as ranked by U.S. News, ordered from highest 75th percentile scores to lowest.
National Universities
MIT: 1520-1570
University of Chicago: 1480-1570
Duke University: 1450-1570
John Hopkins University: 1520-1560
Rice University: 1500-1560
Harvard University: 1490-1580
Princeton University: 1520-1570
Yale University: 1470-1560
Columbia University: 1500-1560
Brown University: 1500-1560
Stanford University: 1500-1570
California Institute of Technology: 1510-1570
Washington University in St. Louis: 1500-1570
Carnegie Mellon University: 1500-1560
Vanderbilt University: 1490-1570
University of Pennsylvania: 1500-1570
Dartmouth University: 1440-1560
Cornell University: 1400-1550
Northwestern University: 1500-1560
University of Notre Dame: 1420-1550
Georgetown University: 1410-1540
Tufts University: 1460-1540
Georgia Institute of Technology: 1370-1530
Emory University: 1450-1530
University of Southern California: 1330-1520
New York University: 1450-1550
University of Michigan Ann Arbor: 1350-1530
University of California Berkeley: 1490--1570
University of California Los Angeles: 1490--1570
University of Virginia: 1360-1530
William and Mary: 1375-1520
Boston College: 1430-1510
University of Rochester: 1410-1520
Wake Forest University: 1400-1500
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill: 1330-1500
University of California Santa Barbara: 1230-1480
University of California Irvine: 1215-1450
University of California San Diego: 1260-1480
University of Florida: 1320-1470
University of California Davis: 1140-1400
National Liberal Arts Colleges
Harvey Mudd College: 1480-1560
Amherst College: 1450-1550
Williams College: 1490-1550
Pomona College: 1480-1540
Haverford College: 1430-1540
Swarthmore College: 1440-1560
Carleton College: 1430-1550
Grinnell College: 1380-1530
Vassar College: 1440-1510
Middlebury College: 1420-1520
Wellesley College: 1440-1540
Colby College: 1430-1540
Hamilton College: 1440-1520
Barnard College: 1440-1550
Bowdoin College: 1340-1520
Smith College: 1370-1520
Claremont McKenna College: 1450-1540
Macalester College: 1340-1490
Wesleyan University: 1320-1510
Bryn Mawr College: 1280-1500
Washington and Lee University: 1410-1533
Colgate University: 1410-1530
Scripps College: 1410-1510
Mount Holyoke College: 1370-1500
Davidson College: 1360-1490
Pitzer College: 1340-1490
Colorado College: 1270-1460
Bates College: 1310-1505
Oberlin College: 1300-1460
University of Richmond: 1400-1530
Kenyon College: 1380-1490
United States Naval Academy: 1200-1440
Lafayette College: 1380-1480
United States Air Force Academy: 1320-1470
College of the Holy Cross: 1270-1420
Bucknell University: 1310-1470
Soka University of America: 1280-1410
Skidmore College: 1320-1440
United States Military Academy: 1230-1430
Berea College: 1136-1273
What if My Score is Below the Range?
Based on the data above, a score in the 1300 - 1400s is within the range for most of the top schools in the nation while a score in the high 1400s - 1500s is competitive to apply nearly anywhere. If your score doesn’t quite meet the range, it may be best to consider this a “reach school”
However, that does not mean you have to give up your dream school - one in four students score at or below the 25 percentile for a school and still get accepted. There are numerous factors that can lead to an acceptance even if your scores aren’t quite as high as other students.
Remember, the above lists do not show the only good schools out there, and schools with higher 75th percentile scores should not be your only targets. Comparing your SAT score is a great way to consider what you need to work on, but remember that your goal is to find the school that is the best fit for you!
