The complete Answer to "What Is a Good SAT Score?"
You’ve asked the question, and you’ve seen the same vague answer everywhere: “a good SAT score depends on your goals.” While technically true, it’s deeply unhelpful. You’re looking for a real, numerical answer, and this guide is built to give you one.
To do this, we’ve gone beyond generic advice. We analyzed data from multiple sources, including hundreds of students, to tell you what scores actually open doors, cause stress, or lead to success. This is a no-BS guide based on real-world data. By the end, you will have a definite number for what a “good” SAT score means for you.
The Four Tiers of "Good SAT Score"
- The Elite Score (1550-1600): This is the golden ticket. A score in this range makes you a top-tier applicant anywhere and will never be a weakness in your application. This is the target for Stanford, MIT, and the Ivy League.
- The Highly Competitive Score (1500-1540): This is the “Top 20” score. It puts you comfortably in the running for almost any elite university (e.g., Duke, UChicago, Northwestern). Your score is a clear asset.
- The Competitive Score (1400-1490): This is the “Scholarship & Top 100” score. It makes you a strong candidate for a huge range of excellent universities and is often the key to unlocking significant merit-based scholarships.
- The Good Foundation Score (1200-1390): This is the “Door Opener.” A score in this range makes you a viable applicant at hundreds of great universities and is a solid benchmark for the majority of students.
Before we dive deep, here’s the immediate answer you’re looking for. These are the four major benchmarks for the Digital SAT.
The Data: How Your Digital SAT Score Stacks Up
A percentile tells you what percentage of students you scored higher than. For example, a 94th percentile score means you performed better than 94% of all test-takers. Here’s a breakdown of the latest official Digital SAT score percentiles. For the most up-to-date information, always check the official College Board website.
| SAT Score | Percentile |
|---|---|
| 1550-1600 | 99th+ |
| 1500 | 98th |
| 1450 | 96th |
| 1400 | 93rd |
| 1350 | 90th |
| 1300 | 86th |
| 1250 | 82nd |
| 1200 | 76th |
| 1100 | 63rd |
| 1000 | 48th |
| 900 | 33rd |
| 800 | 18th |
Try our New Digital SAT Score Calculator
Good for What? Matching Your Score to US University Tiers
1550+ : In this tier, a high SAT score is an expectation. While a 1520 won't get you rejected on its own if the rest of your application is flawless, a score of 1550 or higher ensures your test score is on par with the very best applicants. It lets your essays and extracurriculars shine.
1400-1490: For sought-after programs at universities like Georgia Tech, UT Austin, and UIUC, a score in the 1400s makes you a highly competitive applicant. A score of 1450+ is a particularly strong benchmark that puts you in a great position for admission to their engineering programs.
1500-1540: For schools like UChicago, Johns Hopkins, Duke, and top liberal arts colleges like Williams and Amherst, this range is the sweet spot. A score within this bracket is a significant asset to your application. Below 1500, and your score starts to move from a strength to a neutral factor.
1300-1400: A score of 1300-1400 not only makes you a strong applicant but is often the trigger for significant merit-based financial aid at many well-regarded institutions. The College Board suggests that scoring 480 in Reading and Writing and 530 in Math indicates a student is prepared for college-level work
The Global Student: What's a Good Score Outside the US?
For the UK (Oxford, Cambridge)
Grades are king, but a 1480+ helps: UK universities prioritize your A-Levels or IB scores above all else. The SAT is a supplementary credential. Based on real applicant data, a score below 1480 is unlikely to add much value. A score of 1480-1520+ can be a positive supporting factor, but it will never replace top marks in your core curriculum. Having great AP scores are a huge value add.For Singapore (NUS, NTU) & Hong Kong (HKU, HKUST)
1450+: These universities are highly quantitative and score-focused, especially for popular courses like business, computer science, and engineering. A score below 1450 will struggle to be competitive. Aiming for 1480 or higher is the realistic target for a strong application. Similar to US Schools, top Asian schools focus on your school grades. Your CBSE grades can also help land a decent scholarship at the Hong Kong schools.
For India (IIM Indore, BITS Pilani and IIIT Hyderabad)
1400+. A "good" score for Indian universities is all about strategy. A 1400+ on the SAT is an exceptionally good score because it can unlock direct admission routes to elite institutions like IIM Indore and IIIT Hyderabad, allowing you to bypass local entrance exams with sub-1% acceptance rates. You can read more in our guide to IIM Indore admission via the SAT. A 1550 almost guarantees admission to Computer Science at IIIT Hyderabad.
Finding and getting to your target SAT Score?
Ultimately, a “good” SAT score is a number that strengthens your application to the specific universities on your list. Your next step is to research the “middle 50%” SAT score range for admitted students at your target schools. Your definitive “good score” is a number that falls comfortably within, or above, that range.
Once you have your target score, the question becomes: “How do I achieve it?” A generic plan won’t work. True score improvement comes from a personalized strategy that identifies your unique weaknesses and systematically turns them into strengths. At SAT Prep Gurgaon, this is our specialty. We’ve helped hundreds of Indian students reach their target scores—whether it’s breaking 1400 for scholarships or pushing past 1550 for the Ivy League. If you’re ready to build a focused plan to achieve your number, we’re here to help.