A “good” SAT score isn’t a number—it’s a match between your score and the colleges on your list.
Here’s how the scale works, and how to turn a college list into a target score.
The scale and the landmarks
- Scores run 400–1600, combining Reading & Writing and Math (each 200–800).
- The national average sits a little above 1000.
- Roughly speaking: 1200 clears three-quarters of test takers; 1350 approaches the top 10%; 1450+ is top-few-percent territory.
Turn your college list into a number
Every college publishes the middle 50% of admitted students’ scores. Your target: the 75th-percentile number of the most selective school you seriously want.
At or above that number, your score helps your application; below the 25th-percentile number, it needs offsetting strengths elsewhere.
Superscoring works in your favor
Many colleges combine your best section scores across test dates. That makes two planned sittings—one junior spring, one senior fall—a strategy rather than a failure plan.