Share this post

Getting a good score on the SAT is a critical component for high school students applying to colleges and universities, especially in the USA. Understanding how the SAT is scored and how scores are calculated is essential to devising a winning test-taking strategy. In this blog post, we will demystify the scoring process by providing an in-depth overview of how SAT scores are calculated, what raw scores are, and how they are converted into final scores.

In this blog:

  1. When Do Sat Results Come Out
  2. SAT Results Date
  3. Calculating SAT Score
  4. How Do You Get Your SAT Results/ SAT Scores
  5. Understanding SAT Percentiles or SAT Marks
  6. How Schools May Use SAT Score Reports
  7. Percentile for Total Scores: Breaking Down Good SAT Scores
  8. Bottom Line

From raw scores to final results, the process of calculating SAT scores can be complex and confusing for many test-takers. Whether you are a first-time test-taker or a seasoned pro, this guide will help you understand the scoring process and give you the tools you need to succeed on the SAT.

When Do Sat Results Come Out

Your SAT results will be available to you online within a couple of days after the test day.

Suggested Reads:
SAT Exam 2023: dates and registration deadlines
How to register for the digital SAT exam?

SAT Results Date

Below is the SAT results date for students taking the SAT after March 2023:

SAT Score Release Schedule 

Test Date Score Release Date
Mar 11, 2023 Mar 24, 2023
May 6, 2023 May 19, 2023
June 3, 2023 June 16, 2023

Below is the SAT results date for students taking the SAT in school on a weekday:

SAT Score Release Schedule: Weekday Tests 

Test Date Most Scores Available
Mar 1, 2023 Mar 23, 2023
Mar 22, 2023 Apr 14, 2023
Apr 12, 2023 May 3, 2023
Apr 25, 2023 May 18, 2023

You can also visit College Board’s official website to see updated SAT score release dates.

Calculating SAT Score

Students receive a score for each section of the SAT, and these scores are added together to create a total score. To calculate the section scores, look at how many questions the student answered correctly in each section. There are no penalties for incorrect answers or unanswered questions. Then convert the raw section scores to scaled scores between 200 and 800. The scaled scores are the scores that appear on score reports. This adjustment process ensures that scores are consistent across different test versions, even if the difficulty level varies slightly.

How Do You Get Your SAT Results/ SAT Scores

Students can access their SAT scores by checking them online through their College Board account on its official website.

How Schools May Use SAT Score Reports

The student score report provides a clear summary of a student’s academic progress and offers suggestions on how to improve their readiness for college and career. Teachers can help students understand their scores’ meaning by reviewing the report with them. The report includes an indicator that shows whether the student has met the college readiness benchmark. If a student has met this benchmark, they are on track to be prepared for college after graduating high school. If a student falls short of the benchmark for a section of the test, their teacher can create a plan to help them improve their skills in that area. The score report also highlights the student’s strengths, which can boost their confidence and help them identify subjects in which they are capable of handling more advanced coursework.

Suggested Reads:
Hardest SAT Verbal questions with solutions
SAT Math practice questions with solutions

Understanding SAT Percentiles or SAT Marks

A student’s percentile rank is a measure of how their SAT score compares to those of other students. It represents the percentage of students whose score is equal to or lower than the student’s score. For instance, a student with a 75th percentile rank means that 75% of the comparison group achieved scores at or below that student’s score. In other words, the student performed better than 75% of the total test-takers.

This blog provides two types of percentile ranks for both total and section scores, which compare student scores to two different reference populations. The first type is Nationally Representative Sample Percentiles, which are based on a research study of U.S. students in grades 11 and 12 and are weighted to represent all students in those grades, regardless of whether they typically take the SAT.

The second type is SAT User Percentiles, which are based on the actual scores of students in the past three graduating classes who took the current SAT during high school.

Percentile for Total Scores: Breaking Down Good SAT Scores

 

 

Total Score

 

Nationally Representative Sample

SAT User
1600- 1520 99+ 99+- 99
1510 – 1450 99 98 -96
1440 – 1420 98 95-94
1410 – 1390 97 93-92
1380 – 1370 96 92-91
1360 95 90
1350-1340 94 90-89 99
1330 – 1320 93 88-87 99
1310 92 87 98
1300 99           86 98
1290 90 85 98

Bottom Line

A good SAT score can land you admission at your dream college abroad, get you into your preferred program, win you scholarships, and, most importantly, give you an edge over other applicants in the vast pool of undergrad applications. And we at Jamboree, are helping students ace the SAT exam for the last 30 years. With the highest SAT scores in the industry, our students have won admissions to top U.S. universities, including Yale, Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, and many more. Sign up for a free SAT demo class and experience Jamboree’s expert SAT training.

Share this post