Think you can score higher on the SAT® than Bill Clinton? Or pop star Kesha? Or even NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick? Here are some celebrity SAT® scores you may know about.
Actors and Musicians
Actors Ben Affleck, Will Smith and James Franco are said to have received near-perfect scores on their SAT’s®. While Affleck went to Occidental College to study Middle Eastern affairs, Franco prolonged his educational pursuits well into his career, attending UCLA and taking as many as 62 units a quarter, and later earning an MFA in writing from Columbia. Smith decided to not go to college, and found success as a TV and movie star, and (briefly) as a musician.
Singer and songwriter Kesha has one of the highest know celebrity SAT® scores, earning a 1500 on her exam. However, she did not attend college. Instead, she signed with a record label at the age of 18.
Jesse Eisenberg, who portrayed controversial Facebook “creator” Mark Zuckerberg in the 2010 film The Social Network, scored a 1260 on his SAT®, while the film cites Zuckerberg himself having scored perfectly on the exam.
In the film, there’s an ambiguous line stating that Zuckerberg was “the biggest thing on a campus that included nineteen Nobel Laureates, fifteen Pulitzer Prize winners, two future Olympians, and a movie star.” While the movie doesn’t reveal the identity of this mysterious “movie star,” many have deduced that the line was referring to Natalie Portman, who attended Harvard from 1999-2003 after scoring in the 1400’s on her SAT®.
Scarlett Johnasson, reported in 2018 as the highest paid actress in Hollywood, scored a 1080, and Friends star Courtney Cox scored an 1150.
Politicians
Former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both attended extremely prestigious universities (Georgetown and Yale respectively), though their scores may surprise you. Clinton scored a 1032, and Bush a 1206.
Scoring higher than both of them was Clinton’s own vice president, Al Gore. He received a 1355 on his exam and attended Harvard. Gore later went on to pursue secular studies at Vanderbilt, before switching to law school. He didn’t complete law school either, however, as he worked as a journalist before he ran for his father’s former seat in the House of Representatives.
Gore and former Secretary of State John Kerry each lost to George W. Bush in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, respectively. Kerry and Bush both attended Yale together, and Kerry received a similar score of 1190.
Technological Innovators
Microsoft co-founders and childhood friends Bill Gates and the late Paul Allen unsurprisingly scored incredibly high on the SAT®. Gates, who attended Harvard, scored a 1590. Allen scored a perfect 1600 on his way to attending Washington State University.
While his full score is not known, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak scored an impressive 800 on the math section. Steve Jobs’ SAT® score remains unknown, but he did score a 32 on the ACT.
Athletes
Longtime New York Yankees teammates Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter took similar paths to reach success as professional athletes despite scoring very differently on their exams. Rodriguez scored a 910 on his SAT®, and decided to skip college when he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners. Jeter, on the other hand, scored a 1200 on the exam. He planned to attend the University of Michigan on a scholarship but chose to forgo his college education to play for the Yankees.
Like Major League Baseball, the NBA allows players to enter the league upon completing high school. Kobe Bryant scored a 1080 before playing for the Lakers right out of high school, and at the time became the youngest person to play in an NBA game.
The NFL, however, requires students to be at least three years out of high school to enter the draft. In this sense, the SAT® matters a little more for athletes looking to play football collegiately and professionally. Legendary quarterback Peyton Manning scored a 1030, while Harvard alum and current Tampa Bay Buccaneer QB Ryan Fitzpatrick earned a near perfect 1580.
While important, the SAT® does not solely determine your future. Everyone’s experience is different, and people with a wide range of scores have gone on to achieve success in a variety of fields. However, you are only strengthening your own chances of success by scoring your best. Study hard!
