Anonymous
Post 04/24/2025 16:33     Subject: What’s considered the cutoff for a “good” SAT score these days?
4.3/1550 did not get my kid in at uva or tech. I don’t think they care much about SAT.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2025 16:28     Subject: What’s considered the cutoff for a “good” SAT score these days?
Anonymous wrote:As others have said, it is a part of a larger portfolio of work, so hard to pin it down to a specific number. But I would look at the CDS for the schools you're interested in and aim for the 25th percentile score as the floor of what you want to aim for. If going for merit aid at not-as-competitive schools, aim for the 75th percentile or better. Higher is better, to a point, but there's also a point of diminishing returns. The time spent moving a 1520 to a 1560 would be better spent on making sure grades are as high as possible, or, if that's covered, working at a job, serving the community, becoming a better human, working out, etc.


+1
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2025 13:18     Subject: What’s considered the cutoff for a “good” SAT score these days?
Anonymous wrote:As others have said, it is a part of a larger portfolio of work, so hard to pin it down to a specific number. But I would look at the CDS for the schools you're interested in and aim for the 25th percentile score as the floor of what you want to aim for. If going for merit aid at not-as-competitive schools, aim for the 75th percentile or better. Higher is better, to a point, but there's also a point of diminishing returns. The time spent moving a 1520 to a 1560 would be better spent on making sure grades are as high as possible, or, if that's covered, working at a job, serving the community, becoming a better human, working out, etc.


This is the answer. Also check whether the college reports its range as a total or separately by verbal/math. If the latter, you should use the separate scores for comparison, which often look quite different from the total.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2025 11:12     Subject: What’s considered the cutoff for a “good” SAT score these days?
Anonymous wrote:Is a superscore thought of less than a lower score in one sitting?

My son has a friend that has a superscore that is 170 points higher than his highest one test sitting. How is that even possible?

At many colleges, they're equivalent.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2025 11:02     Subject: What’s considered the cutoff for a “good” SAT score these days?
Is a superscore thought of less than a lower score in one sitting?

My son has a friend that has a superscore that is 170 points higher than his highest one test sitting. How is that even possible?
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2025 10:41     Subject: What’s considered the cutoff for a “good” SAT score these days?
Anonymous wrote:God I hate these questions. A good score is the score that gets your kid into the school they want that fits their needs.


Right! We know kids who had SATs in the 1400-1450 range who got into UVA and those with higher scores that didn't. The score isn't what gets you in our out. There may be a cutoff for consideration, but it's lower than people think.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2025 10:32     Subject: What’s considered the cutoff for a “good” SAT score these days?
Anonymous wrote:God I hate these questions. A good score is the score that gets your kid into the school they want that fits their needs.


Then scroll along. I am appreciating the candor about “1520 didn’t get my kid into ABC” when my kid is considering applying to ABC.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2025 10:29     Subject: What’s considered the cutoff for a “good” SAT score these days?
God I hate these questions. A good score is the score that gets your kid into the school they want that fits their needs.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2025 09:51     Subject: What’s considered the cutoff for a “good” SAT score these days?
‘24 kid- 1520, humanities - rejected at T-10, waitlisted at two T-30’s and accepted at 1 T-30, accepted everywhere else below T-30, except for a waitlist at a T-40ish school. Merit aid offered at the T-50 to T-100 schools. Everything else was solid but not unique or standout or cohesive. SAT is just one data point, there’s no magic range or formula.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2025 09:48     Subject: What’s considered the cutoff for a “good” SAT score these days?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I realize there are other attributes but 1560 earned a waitlist at UVA and NEU and denials from Penn and Harvard for HS class of 23. Rigor (9 APs, 2 DE but NO Lang or Lit) and GPA (3.98/4.5-FCPS) are more important.

Same. HS class of 2025, 1560, 12 AP/DE, 3.99 uw, waitlisted at Mich, Tufts, NEU, NYU, denied Brown Columbia BU UCs Georgetown USC.

I agree with the PP that a high score can help with merit offers, but at less selective schools.
l

How were awards, jobs, and ECs?
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2025 09:40     Subject: Re:What’s considered the cutoff for a “good” SAT score these days?
1480 was good enough for my son in-state UVA and USC. Strong ECs and high rigor (4.4 weighted). I think a test score just one piece, and not determinative.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2025 09:09     Subject: What’s considered the cutoff for a “good” SAT score these days?
Anonymous wrote:I realize there are other attributes but 1560 earned a waitlist at UVA and NEU and denials from Penn and Harvard for HS class of 23. Rigor (9 APs, 2 DE but NO Lang or Lit) and GPA (3.98/4.5-FCPS) are more important.

Same. HS class of 2025, 1560, 12 AP/DE, 3.99 uw, waitlisted at Mich, Tufts, NEU, NYU, denied Brown Columbia BU UCs Georgetown USC.

I agree with the PP that a high score can help with merit offers, but at less selective schools.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2025 09:07     Subject: What’s considered the cutoff for a “good” SAT score these days?
Anonymous wrote:Pre-covid, a 1500/34 was generally regarded as good enough for anywhere. I think that's more or less true today for the most selective colleges.


+1
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2025 09:03     Subject: What’s considered the cutoff for a “good” SAT score these days?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:1350 is the new 1200.


So is 1350/1400 as hard to get as it was in the 80s? Or is the scoring easier now?

-Former 1290 scorer who did a regular commercial prep class, attended a top 5 high school and top 20 college.


The SAT was a different test and was scored differently back then. It was much more difficult to score in the 1400s or higher. In fact you could have used the SAT as an IQ test to get into Mensa. Nowadays, it is much easier to score in the 1500s or even a 1600.
Anonymous
Post 04/24/2025 09:03     Subject: What’s considered the cutoff for a “good” SAT score these days?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:1350 is the new 1200.


So is 1350/1400 as hard to get as it was in the 80s? Or is the scoring easier now?

-Former 1290 scorer who did a regular commercial prep class, attended a top 5 high school and top 20 college.

The exam has been "recentered" since the 1980s. The conversation after the initial recentering was to add 98 points to an average score from prior years. A higher score, such as a 1290, would have a somewhat lesser adjustment.