What SAT Score Do You Actually Need? A Reality Check by School Tier

"What's a good SAT score?"

It depends. A 1350 is phenomenal if you're applying to Arizona State. It's below average if you're applying to MIT. Context is everything.

The frustrating truth is that there's no magic number that guarantees admission anywhere. But there are realistic targets based on where students actually get accepted. Let me walk you through what different scores mean for different types of schools.

How to Read College SAT Data

When colleges report SAT scores, they usually give you a "middle 50%" range—the 25th to 75th percentile of admitted students.

Here's what that actually means:

• 25th percentile: 25% of admitted students scored at or below this. If your score is here, you're on the lower end but still in the game.
• 75th percentile: 75% of admitted students scored at or below this. If you're above this number, your SAT is a strength.
• Middle 50%: Where most admitted students fall. Being in this range means you're competitive, score-wise.

So when Harvard says their middle 50% is 1480-1580, that means:

• About 25% of admitted students had scores below 1480
• About 25% had scores above 1580
• Half were somewhere in between

Here's the thing: that bottom 25% often includes recruited athletes, legacy students, and kids with exceptional hooks. If you're a "regular" applicant without special circumstances, you probably need to be closer to the 75th percentile to feel confident.

Ivy League and Top 10 Schools: You Need 1500+

Let's start with the schools everyone asks about.

School	Middle 50%	Realistic Target
Harvard	1480-1580	1530+
MIT	1510-1580	1550+
Princeton	1500-1580	1540+
Stanford	1500-1580	1540+
Yale	1470-1570	1520+
Columbia	1490-1570	1530+
UPenn	1480-1570	1520+
Duke	1470-1570	1520+
Caltech	1530-1580	1560+

At these schools, a 1500+ is essentially the floor for "regular" applicants. Can you get in with a 1450? Technically yes—especially if you have something remarkable about your application. But you're swimming against the current.

If you're scoring below 1480, you should either:

1. Focus on improving your score
2. Reconsider whether these schools are realistic targets
3. Make sure the rest of your application is genuinely exceptional

Be honest with yourself. A 1400 plus "pretty good" extracurriculars won't cut it at Harvard. These schools have 4-6% acceptance rates and can fill their classes multiple times over with perfect scorers.

Top 20-30 Schools: 1450-1530 Territory

The next tier down is still highly competitive, but slightly more forgiving:

School	Middle 50%	Realistic Target
Northwestern	1460-1560	1510+
Johns Hopkins	1470-1560	1510+
Vanderbilt	1460-1560	1510+
Rice	1460-1560	1510+
Notre Dame	1410-1540	1470+
Georgetown	1400-1530	1460+
Carnegie Mellon	1430-1550	1490+
UCLA	1360-1530	1440+
UC Berkeley	1350-1530	1440+

At these schools, a 1450 puts you in the competitive range. A 1500+ makes your score a non-issue. Below 1400, you're fighting an uphill battle.

The California schools (UCLA, Berkeley) deserve special mention. They're technically test-blind right now, meaning they don't look at SAT scores for admissions. But policies change, and many students still take the SAT for scholarship consideration or as a backup if they're applying elsewhere.

Top 50 Schools: 1350-1450 Is Competitive

This is where scores start to feel more achievable for more students:

School	Middle 50%	Realistic Target
NYU	1350-1510	1430+
Boston College	1360-1500	1430+
University of Michigan	1360-1520	1440+
USC	1360-1510	1430+
UVA	1350-1510	1430+
Georgia Tech	1370-1520	1440+
Tufts	1400-1530	1460+
Boston University	1330-1500	1410+

A 1400 is genuinely competitive at most of these schools. A 1350 isn't a dealbreaker. You're not out of the running with scores in the 1300s, but you'll want the rest of your application to be strong.

State Flagships: Wide Ranges, In-State Advantages

Public universities are a mixed bag. Some (like Michigan and UVA) are as competitive as top private schools. Others have much more accessible score ranges.

School	Middle 50%	Realistic Target
University of Michigan	1360-1520	1440+
UNC Chapel Hill	1310-1490	1400+
University of Florida	1300-1450	1370+
Ohio State	1260-1430	1340+
Penn State	1210-1390	1300+
University of Maryland	1300-1460	1380+
Indiana University	1140-1350	1240+
Arizona State	1110-1330	1220+

Big caveat: many state schools have different standards for in-state vs. out-of-state students. If you're a resident, you often get in with lower scores. Some states (like Texas with UT Austin) even have automatic admission for top-ranked students regardless of SAT scores.

Does Your Major Matter?

Yes, often more than people realize.

Engineering and Computer Science are almost always more competitive than other majors at the same school. Georgia Tech's middle 50% might be 1370-1520 overall, but for CS specifically, you're probably looking at 1450+. Same story at Purdue, UIUC, and other engineering-focused schools.

Business schools within universities (Wharton at Penn, Ross at Michigan, Stern at NYU) also tend to be more competitive. Add 30-50 points to whatever the overall school average is.

Liberal arts and humanities programs are often less competitive score-wise, though not always. If you're applying to a STEM school (MIT, Caltech, Georgia Tech) for a non-STEM major, your scores might actually matter less because you're in a smaller applicant pool.

Bottom line: research the specific program you're applying to, not just the overall university numbers.

Test-Optional: Should You Submit?

Many schools went test-optional during COVID and haven't fully gone back. As of 2025, some notable policies:

Still test-optional: UChicago, Wake Forest, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, and many liberal arts colleges

Returned to requiring tests: MIT, Georgetown, Purdue, and several state schools

Test-blind (don't consider scores at all): UC schools (for admissions), Caltech (for now)

The general advice: if your score is at or above a school's 25th percentile, submit it. If it's below, seriously consider going test-optional.

There's debate about whether test-optional applicants are disadvantaged. The honest answer is: it depends on the school, and we don't have great data. But if your score is significantly below a school's range, submitting it probably hurts more than withholding it.

Setting Your Target Score

Here's a practical framework:

1. Make a list of 8-12 schools you're genuinely interested in
2. Look up each school's middle 50% (Google "[School name] SAT scores" or check their Common Data Set)
3. Aim for the 75th percentile of your reach schools
4. If that feels unrealistic, either adjust your school list or plan for multiple SAT attempts

Say your reach schools have 75th percentiles around 1520. That's your target. If practice tests have you at 1380, you've got work to do—but 140 points of improvement is absolutely possible with focused prep.

If practice tests have you at 1280 and your reach schools want 1520... you might need a more realistic reach list, or a really compelling hook.

The Uncomfortable Truth

SAT scores matter more than colleges want to admit, but less than students often think.

At highly selective schools (sub-15% acceptance rates), being below the 25th percentile makes admission very unlikely unless you have something exceptional going for you. These schools get 30,000+ applications from students with high scores—they can afford to be picky.

At moderately selective schools (15-40% acceptance rates), scores in the middle 50% range keep you competitive, and the rest of your application can differentiate you.

At less selective schools (40%+ acceptance rates), meeting basic score thresholds is usually enough, and other factors drive decisions.

The SAT is one piece of a bigger picture. But it's a piece you have control over, and improving it is one of the most concrete things you can do to help your chances.

What To Do Next

Figure out where you stand. Take a practice test (or use your PSAT score as a baseline) and see how far you are from your target.

Use our Digital SAT Score Calculator to estimate your score range based on practice performance. Then make a realistic plan: how much improvement do you need, how much time do you have, and what's your strategy to get there?

The worst approach is hoping it'll work out without actually knowing the numbers. Know your starting point, know your target, and close the gap.