Last Updated on June 21, 2023
If you’re considering taking the SAT, it’s important to understand the passing threshold. You’re probably asking what the highest SAT Scores are, wondering if your scores are good enough to get into your dream college, how to set a target SAT score, or maybe you’re just curious about how the SAT score works. This article will help you better understand the ins and outs of getting the highest SAT score and how you can do it at your fingertips.
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What is the Highest SAT score?
The SAT is scored out of 1600, and it is possible to get a perfect score of 1600/1600 making the highest SAT score possible 1600. This would require you to get a perfect score of 800 in both reading and maths sections of the SAT, which is also the highest SAT score possible on both those sections.
However, this is a very high benchmark and Test takers who secure a score of above 1400 composite score are generally ranked in the top 5% of all candidates and can land themselves a spot at most great colleges and so some consider any score above 1400 to be around the highest SAT score.
What are the average SAT score?
Now that you know the highest SAT score, what’s the average SAT score? The average SAT scores for the class of 2020 was 1051. The average SAT score on the reading and writing section was 528. The average SAT maths score for the class of 2020 was 523. However the averages are test specific and depending on how hard your test may be, the average for your attempt may move up or down as would.
In this case you can look at test percentiles. Your SAT Score Percentile indicates how well you performed on your test in relation to all other test takers. You can say being in the 50th percentile is “the average” as it implies you have scored better than half the test takers and worse than the other half- making the 50th percentile score the mean of all test takers. However, this percentile often won’t make the cut for most of the best Universities as they expect the top of the crop and want the highest SAT scores.
Colleges and High Schools with Highest SAT Score
The national average for SAT scores in the USA was 1051 in the year 2020 according to the College Board. But if you are trying to meet the entry requirements of many leading global universities the bar is on average set at above 1200. Ivy League universities have a higher SAT score benchmark of 1500, with a score of above 680 in Math and above 600 in Reading and Writing sections. These universities include Harvard, Yale and MIT to name few.
Among the ranked colleges and universities in the USA, these are the ones with the top scoring candidates, with the highest SAT scores, that is- combined average SAT reading, writing and math scores for fall 2019.
So, for example, by taking average applicant scores we can see that the minimum SAT requirement for Harvard is 1510. Obviously there is no upper limit and any university would be happy to accept the highest SAT scores, but these scores are indicative of the current threshold you should aim to pass should you want to attend any of these ivys & top schools.
How to Get the Highest SAT Score
To get the highest SAT score possible you would need to score a perfect 800 in both math and reading sections of the paper to amount to 1600 total. But out of the 2 million students who take the SAT every year, only 500 get the highest SAT score – that’s only 0.03% of candidates who achieve the perfect score!
But you can still ensure you secure a great score in a top percentile and a high score doesn’t have to mean the highest SAT score ever. You can always secure your spot in your dream college with the right practice and preparation.
What is the Perfect SAT Score?
A perfect score on the SAT requires you to secure 800 in both the reading and writing sections of the test as well as 800 in the math section of the test. Thus, making the perfect score of 1600 out of 1600 the highest SAT score possible.
Some test takers do achieve this score but it is not a requirement for most universities.
SAT Score Percentiles
Your SAT Score Percentile indicates how well you performed on your test in relation to all other test takers and is a good benchmark for you to know the highest SAT score. You can say being in the 50th+ percentile is “good” as it implies you have scored better than half the test takers. However, this percentile often won’t make the cut for most of the best Universities.
So to really have a “good” percentile you want to aim to get a 75th percentile, putting you in the top quarter of test takers and in the top 25% of the highest SAT score. The highest percentile is the 99+th percentile which means you have done better than more than 99% of all other test takers putting your score at the 1% highest SAT score.