What Is a Good SAT Score? 2026 Benchmarks by College Type

The SAT is scored from 400 to 1600, combining the Reading & Writing and Math sections (200–800 each). The College Board's nationally representative percentiles are the cleanest way to see where a score sits versus all U.S. 11th- and 12th-graders.

As a rough 2024–2025 benchmark: a 1050 is roughly the 50th percentile, a 1200 is around the 75th percentile, a 1350 is around the 90th, and a 1450+ puts you in the top 5%. Scores at 1500 and above are inside the top 2% of all test-takers.

These are useful anchors, but they aren't admissions targets. Selective colleges aren't drawing from the whole population of test-takers — they're drawing from a self-selected, higher-scoring slice.

Admissions offices publish the 25th and 75th percentile SAT scores of their admitted or enrolled class. A score above the 75th makes you competitive on the SAT axis; below the 25th, you're working against the grade. Here are typical middle-50% ranges by college tier:

- Most-selective (Ivy League, MIT, Stanford, Caltech, top LACs): roughly 1490–1570

- Highly selective (UChicago, Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Rice, top publics like Michigan and UCLA): roughly 1440–1540

- Selective flagships and strong privates (UNC, UVA, Wisconsin, NYU, BU, USC): roughly 1340–1500

- Mid-selective public and private universities: roughly 1170–1380

- Open-access and broad-access institutions: SAT is often optional or used for placement only.

A 1350 is a strong score at a mid-selective state flagship and a below-average score at MIT. The number on the page is the same — the context isn't.

Roughly 80% of four-year colleges are test-optional or test-blind for the 2025–2026 cycle, according to FairTest. Test-optional doesn't mean tests don't help — it means submitting helps if your score is at or above the school's middle-50% range, and skipping is usually better if it isn't.

A simple decision rule: if your score is at or above the school's 50th percentile (the midpoint of the 25–75 range), send it. If it's below the 25th percentile, don't. In between is a judgment call that depends on the rest of your application.

1. Build a list of 6–10 schools you're seriously considering. Browse by state on the states directory or by program on the programs directory.

2. Look up each school's most recently published middle-50% SAT range (usually on the admissions page or in the Common Data Set, Section C9).

3. Take the median of the 75th-percentile scores across your list. That number — not a generic national average — is your target. Hitting it makes you competitive across the list.

4. Pair the score target with the school's net price and graduation rate, because admission is only half the question. A school you can get into but can't afford to finish isn't a good fit.

Most students improve 30–70 points between a first and second sitting with focused prep, and gains tend to flatten after the third attempt. If your current score is more than 50 points below your target, a retake is usually worth it. If you're already above your target, additional retakes have diminishing returns — your time is better spent on essays, course rigor, and the application itself.

Selective colleges almost all superscore (taking your highest section scores across dates) or accept Score Choice, so a lower retake rarely hurts. Check each school's policy before deciding.