What Are SAT Score Percentiles

Apart from the overall score and sectional score, the College Board also provide  SAT Score Percentiles to  test takers. These rankings range from 1-99 and are provided for the overall as well as sectional scores in critical reading, math and writing. So, what are SAT score percentiles? Essentially, it is a number which measures your performance with other test takers. So, if you have got 75 percentile ranking on your composite score, it means that you have scored better than 75% of the students. Needless to say, higher the percentile the better your chances for admission to the top colleges in the country. Many students confuse percentiles with percentages. Percentage tells your score as a fraction of 100. Percentiles are used to compare your score with other test takers. In fact, the College Board. Percentiles are based on the SAT scores achieved by students in the previous year’s graduating class. The College Board assigns a percentile both for the total test takers and your state. The College Board releases percentile ranking data for composite score as well as section scores. Let’s look at a couple of numbers to understand the percentile system better. If you have a composite score of 2100, you will have a percentile ranking of 96 while a composite score of 1800 will fetch you only 81 percentile. At 1500, you will go down lower to 52 percentile. You can find the entire data here. For data on section scores, you can go here. Remember that percentiles tend to vary more among the middle scores. So, if your practice scores show an average score of 1500 every time, remember that scoring just 100-200 points more will propel your SAT score percentile rank. Getting a good percentile score will make you more competitive for the colleges of your choice. What Is A Good SAT Percentile? Generally, higher percentile is always good. To achieve it, you have to score distinguishingly. Two sections divided into 800 marks each has to be attempted by students. Out of these 800, there is a national average score of 500 that is considered admission-worthy for most of the prestigious colleges. In terms of Ivy League colleges, it becomes 650 for each section while for lesser competitive state colleges; you need to stay amongst top 25% applicants to get admissions. SAT Scores For Scholarships Higher percentile can help you in a lot many ways than you think. It looks great on your college applications and also earns you many more rewards. Colleges around the country offer merit awards in the form of scholarships for academic excellence of students. An improvement in your SAT score makes you eligible for thousands of dollars as financial aid. Details of their scholarship programs are available on college websites. Normally, students getting 75th percentile or higher can easily secure third party funding but even low scorers have chances to get need-based scholarships from some colleges. To wrap up, it is essential to know that SAT percentile is not the only criterion of college admissions. It also takes into account your participation in extra-curriculum, grade points, and recommendation letters for improving your chances. Get your profile reviewed