What’s a Good SAT Score Updated 2022-2023

Are you wondering what an amazing SAT score is in 2022? Need an idea of the score that will get you into your dream college? You’ve come to the right place! We have compiled lists of colleges and their admitted freshmen’s average SAT score. Data for all our charts comes from the Class of 2021, people who entered college in the Fall of 2021.

As a caveat, please note these students applied to college during the COVID pandemic, which affected who was able to take the test. We know many tests were cancelled due to lockdowns, and most universities were test optional. We ask you take this data with a grain of salt, because admissions this year will likely be extremely competitive. Even with that being said, we do think this data is more in line with admissions this year than data in 2019 would be because we are still in a test optional environment.

Most of the data we collected includes the 25th and 75th percentile of SAT scores. This means you can see the median 50% of SAT scores for admitted and enrolled students at each school shown. Our general rule for students is if your score is above the 25th percentile on both sections, consider submitting. In fact, if you’re scoring at at least the 50th percentile, we recommend you submit your score even if the college is test optional. If your score is close to the 25th percentile and you’re from an underrepresented group, such as a minority, we still recommend you consider sending your score. If your score is below the 25th percentile, and you’re not from a background or context that warrants special consideration, we generally recommend not sending scores to schools that are truly test optional.

Decent SAT Scores

A decent SAT score is something that can get you into a college you’ve heard of, possibly a flagship university in your state, or a regional or local college. A decent SAT score is around an average score, which is 500 per section or 1000-1200 total. Below is our chart for school’s that should accept a decent SAT score. You’ll notice a number of regional and state universities that aren’t the most difficult to get into. However, they’re still nationally recognized.

Good SAT Scores

A good SAT score is one where you’re scoring about 600 per section with a total score around 1200-1300. You’ll notice in our chart below of schools that accept good SAT scores that these are bigger, more recognized universities. This is not an exhaustive list, there are many universities out there accept these scores.

Very Good SAT Scores

A very good SAT score is one where each section is in the mid to high 600s, and the total score is in the 1300s. Below is our chart of schools that are a good fit if you have a very good SAT score. You can see these are good, solid schools that you’ve most likely heard of. As we get into the higher score ranges, remember that these large state universities have many different majors, and this may affect their average scores. For example, an engineering major at Purdue will likely have a higher SAT score. If you’re planning on pursuing a super competitive major, you probably want a score on the upper end of the score range.

Great SAT Scores

A great SAT score is something in the 1400s, with each section being 700 or above. Below is our chart of schools where a great SAT score is a good fit. You may notice that certain schools will favor either the english or the math section. So you may have a 650 in one section and a 750 in the other. This list used to be much longer, but due to people hiding scores in a test optional environment, many schools that used to be good fits for a great SAT score now have higher averages.

Excellent SAT Scores

An excellent SAT score is above a 1500, with section scores in the mid 700s or higher. This is a score in the 98th or 99th percentile for all SAT test takers. Our chart below shows schools where an excellent SAT score is a good fit. As test optional became more prominent, we’ve seen more schools climb up to this list. This is because students with lower test scores went test optional and hid their scores. This caused the average score of accepted students to increase.