Sat Raw Score Conversion Chart

The SAT is a standardized testing program used for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is designed to assess student readiness for college and to predict first-year grades. It consists of three sections: Reading, Writing and Language, and Math. The writing section was added in March 2005 to replace the SAT I essay exam, which had been previously required.

Sat Raw Score Conversion Chart

1 These are scores out of a maximum raw score of 80 (without the essay), and a maximum combined score of 1600.

To convert a raw score to your scaled score, multiply the raw score by 0.945 and add this new number to your “combined” or overall combined score. The maximum possible combined RAW+WRITING scores are:

• 1600 (if you scored at least 300 on both the reading and writing sections)
• 1540 (if you scored at least 240 on both the reading and writing sections)
• 1480 (if you scored at least 220 on both the reading and writing sections)

2 SAT Raw Score

The raw score is the number of questions answered correctly. It’s not really a score, per se: it’s just the number of correct answers on your test minus any penalties and/or guesses you may have made. However, it’s a great way to gauge your overall performance on the SAT because your raw score will be what determines your final score (also known as an “equated” or scaled-score).

3 SAT Reading and Writing

In SAT Reading and Writing, the raw score is converted to a scaled score by multiplying it by a conversion factor. The conversion factors for SAT Reading and Writing are as follows:

• Critical Reading section: 10 points (1-10)
• Writing section: 20 points (1-20)

4 28

A score of 28 indicates that the student has answered correctly between 680 and 760 questions on the test. This is a combined score of 1600, which means their reading and writing raw scores are each 640 to 740.

This student may have missed about 10-14 questions on Reading and about 8-12 on Writing.

5 680 – 760

• 680 – 760:

You have a good SAT score. You’ve scored in the 97th percentile for 690 and higher scores (97th to 99th). Your score is higher than 98% of test takers.

6 27

• 27 is a score of 660-670
• 27 is a score of 630-650
• 27 is a score of 600-620
• 27 is a score of 580-590
• 27 is a score of 560-575

7 660 – 670

• Score 26
• Score 680 – 760
• Score 27
• Score 650 – 670
• Score 28

Score 640 – 650.

8 26

26

In this section, we’ll be discussing the conversion of the raw scores from your SAT Reading and Writing tests. For those who haven’t seen a chart yet, here’s one!

The following chart showcases a number of different possible raw scores and their corresponding scaled scores:

9 630 – 650

Your SAT score is between 630 and 650. This puts you in the range of a good score, which translates to competitive college admissions. You can be confident that your scores are high enough for most competitive colleges, but keep in mind that there are many other students with similar scores who also want to get into those same schools.

If you want to make sure your application stands out from the pack, we would recommend focusing on other aspects of your application: volunteer work, extracurricular activities and academic achievements (such as grades), letters of recommendation from teachers or mentors, etc. These factors will help distinguish yourself from other applicants—and they might just give you a boost over one of their competitors with an identical SAT score!

10 25

• 25 is the average score. You’ll notice that there are two different numbers listed as “25” in the chart below: one for the SAT with Essay and one for just SAT Reading and Writing. This is because, on average, students who take both sections do better than those who take only one section or—even more so—those who don’t take any section at all!

• The average score for SAT Reading & Writing without an essay is 25 points out of 80 total points possible. That means you should be aiming broadly around a 450+ range if you want to get anywhere near this target score.

11 600 – 620

You have a raw score of 600-620.

This means that you missed roughly 1 – 5 questions. In this range, you’re very likely to have a perfect 800 on the SAT if you take it again. If you’re hoping for an even higher score than that, then I would recommend some more challenging practice tests!

12 24

A raw score of 24 indicates that you have a reading and writing score between 580 and 590. You may feel proud of this accomplishment, but keep in mind that these scores are not the same as what you will see on your SAT score report.

Not sure where your score falls? Here’s how to figure out your SAT Reading/Writing score:

If your Reading or Writing subscore is higher than your other subscore, use the following conversion chart:

Reading & Writing Score Range = 500 – 990

Reading & Writing Test Score Range = 240 – 960

13 580 – 590

580 – 590

The upper middle range of SAT scores includes students who have scored between a 580 and 590 on the SAT. Scores in this range will most likely place you in an average college, though there are exceptions to this rule. Because of the high number of applicants for these colleges, it is important for students to note that their academic record is still crucial in determining admission decisions. While your SAT score may not be the only factor going into your decision process, it should be one of many criteria that admissions officers take into account when reviewing applications.

14 23

• If your SAT Writing and Reading scores fall between 580 and 590, your SAT Math score should be between 560 and 575.

“This is a big conversion range,” said Scholastica CEO Moira Keesler. “A student who wants to major in math or science could do well at Princeton or NYU with this range of test scores; a student interested in writing assignments may find it more difficult to get into Columbia or Yale with such high SAT Math scores.”

15 560 – 575

560 – 575

550 – 560

575 – 585

575 – 575

575 – 590

575 – 595

16 22

> 22

• 22 > 558 <576 (A)

> 23

• 23 > 555 <574 (A)

> 24

• 24 > 553 <573 (A)

> 25 -25 > 550 <570 (A)

17 540 – 550

If you earned a score of 540 – 550, this is a good result. However, there are still plenty of opportunities for improvement! You should aim to study more and take the SAT again. If you’ve already taken the SAT and received a 500 or higher score on it, then congratulations! You’re ready to start applying to colleges.

If you got less than 540 / 550, don’t worry too much – there’s no need to panic just yet! The best way to improve your test scores is by studying more and taking practice tests with questions that are similar in difficulty level as those on the actual test itself. Keep working hard, do your best on each practice test and make sure that this won’t be an issue anymore soon enough!

18 21

21 is a good score for students who are not good writers and/or readers. If you’re in this group and haven’t gotten above an 18 yet, 21 is an excellent choice!

21 also works well if you find that your writing style appeals more to the SAT’s word choice and grammar requirements than other skills tested on the essay. For example, if you’re particularly adept at using metaphors to illustrate your ideas but struggle with vocabulary words or sentence construction, then scoring higher in those areas may not give you the best return on your effort (though it will certainly help).

19 520 – 530

If your SAT score is between 520 and 530, then you should be very happy! As this means that your SAT score places you within the top 1% of test takers. Furthermore, with a score like this, you can apply to almost any college in the United States without worrying about whether or not they’ll take you. In fact, some selective colleges may even consider it a bonus to have someone with such high marks apply!

In addition to applying to all of these types of universities, if your SAT score falls within this range then there’s also a good chance (especially if you have strong grades) that some non-selective institutions will accept your application too.

20 20

You are a 20 if you scored 20 to 30 on your SAT Reading, but less than 18 on your Critical Reading.

You’re a 19 or 20 if you scored 500 to 530 on your SAT and 19 or 20 on the ACT Reading test.

You’re an 18, 19, or 20 if you scored between 490 and 500 on the SAT and/or 18 to 20 on the ACT Reading test.

You’re a 17, 18, 19, or 20 if you got between 480 and 490 on both tests (SAT & ACT).

You’re an 16-19 (17-18) if you came up with about 470-480 for both exams: SAT & ACT!

21 500 – 510

500 – 510 is a range of scores that indicates you have an average SAT Writing score. You may want to take a look at our tips and strategies for improving your SAT Writing score if you want a higher one.

Closing

The SAT score conversion chart is a useful tool to help you better understand how your scores compare with those of other test takers. Knowing this information can help you decide whether or not you want to retake the test and what kind of score would be considered satisfactory for colleges or graduate programs.