Understanding Your SAT Scores: What Does Your Score Mean?

You received your SAT scores. Now what?

Your SAT score report gives you more information than a single number. Understanding your total score, Math and Reading and Writing scores, percentiles, and individual performance areas can help you determine where you stand and what you should work on if you plan to take the SAT again.

Here is how SAT scoring works and how to make sense of your results.

How Is the SAT Scored?

The SAT is scored on a scale from 400 to 1600.

Your total score is the combination of scores from the SAT's two main sections:

• Reading and Writing: 200 to 800

• Math: 200 to 800

Your two section scores are added together to produce your total SAT score.

For example, if you receive a 650 in Reading and Writing and a 700 in Math, your total SAT score would be 1350.

What Is a Good SAT Score?

There isn't one SAT score that can be considered "good" for every student.

A good score depends heavily on where you plan to apply.

A score that makes you a competitive applicant at one college may be below the typical range at another. Instead of choosing an arbitrary number as your goal, look at the scores of students who were recently admitted to the schools you are considering.

Colleges commonly report a middle 50% SAT range for enrolled or admitted students.

For example, if a school's middle 50% range were 1200 to 1380, approximately one-quarter of students would have scored below that range, half would have scored within it, and one-quarter would have scored above it.

That gives you much more useful context than simply labeling a particular SAT score as good or bad.

What Is an SAT Percentile?

Your SAT percentile compares your performance with other students.

If your score is in the 75th percentile, for example, it means your score was equal to or higher than the scores of approximately 75% of the students in the comparison group.

Percentiles are useful because the difference between two SAT scores can be difficult to interpret by looking at the numbers alone.

Your score report provides percentile information that can help put your performance into context.

Keep in mind that percentiles can change over time, so use the percentile information provided with your current College Board score report rather than relying on an old chart you find online.

Look at Your Math and Reading and Writing Scores Separately

Your total score is important, but it should not be the only number you look at.

Two students can both receive a 1300 while having very different strengths.

One student might score:

Reading and Writing: 700Math: 600

Another might score:

Reading and Writing: 600Math: 700

They have identical total scores, but they probably should not use the same study plan before their next SAT.

Looking at your two section scores helps you identify where you have the most room to improve.

Look Deeper Than Your Section Scores

Your SAT score report can also provide information about your performance in different content areas.

For Reading and Writing, these areas include skills involving comprehension, analysis, expression of ideas, and Standard English conventions.

Math performance is broken down across areas including Algebra, Advanced Math, Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, and Geometry and Trigonometry.

These breakdowns can be particularly useful if you plan to take the SAT again.

A Math score of 620 tells you how you performed overall. Your performance breakdown can help you understand why you received a 620.

If Algebra is consistently strong but Geometry and Trigonometry is weaker, spending equal amounts of time reviewing both subjects probably isn't the best use of your study time.

How Does the SAT Turn Correct Answers Into a Score?

Your SAT score is not simply the percentage of questions you answered correctly.

Your performance on the test is converted to the SAT's 200-to-800 scale for each section.

The digital SAT is also adaptive. Each section contains two modules, and your performance on the first module helps determine the difficulty of questions you receive in the second module.

Because of this system, you should not try to calculate your final SAT score simply by counting the number of questions you believe you answered correctly.

Your official College Board score report is what determines your final section and total scores.

Should You Retake the SAT?

Receiving a score below your goal does not automatically mean you should retake the SAT.

Consider where you plan to apply, the score ranges at those schools, how much time you have before application deadlines, and whether there are identifiable areas where you could realistically improve.

Your score report can help with that decision.

Suppose you scored a 1280 and want to reach 1350. If your performance breakdown reveals several specific Math skills that consistently caused problems, you now have a clear place to concentrate your preparation.

That is much more actionable than simply deciding that you need to "study more."

Set an SAT Target Score Based on Your Colleges

One of the best ways to set an SAT goal is to research the colleges you are considering.

Look at the SAT score ranges reported by each school and create a list.

If most of your target schools report scores around 1200 to 1350, that information can help you establish an appropriate goal. If you are applying to schools where typical scores are considerably higher, your target may need to change.

Also check each college's current standardized testing policy. Some colleges require SAT or ACT scores, while others have test-optional or other testing policies.

Admissions policies can change, so check directly with each college before deciding whether or where to submit your scores.

Use Your SAT Score to Plan What to Study Next

If you are planning another attempt, your previous SAT should become part of your study plan.

Start with the areas where your score report indicates you have the greatest opportunity for improvement.

Then go deeper.

Don't just decide that you need to work on "Math." Determine whether you are struggling with Algebra, Advanced Math, Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, or Geometry and Trigonometry.

Do the same with Reading and Writing.

Once you identify the problem areas, practice those skills and then return to SAT-style questions to see whether you can apply what you have reviewed.

When Do SAT Scores Come Out?

SAT scores are not released immediately after you finish the test.

College Board publishes score release information for each SAT administration. Depending on when and how you take the SAT, your score release date can vary.

If you are taking the SAT close to a college application deadline, check the official SAT score release schedule beforehand so you know when to expect your results.

Get Help Improving Your SAT Score

If you are unhappy with your SAT score, the first step shouldn't necessarily be taking more full-length practice tests.

Your previous results can help identify exactly where you are losing points.

Tutoring by Alejandro provides online SAT tutoring focused on helping students understand difficult concepts, work through SAT-style questions, and concentrate their preparation on the areas where they need the most improvement.

Online tutoring also means you can work one-on-one with an experienced SAT tutor without being limited to tutors in your immediate area.

If you are planning to retake the SAT, understanding your current score is the starting point. The next step is figuring out what needs to change before your next test.