Understanding Your SAT Score and Where You Stand

Now that have you have received your SAT score back, you want to understand where you stand or what score you need to aim for the next time you appear. It is important to note that the old SAT score was on the scale of 2400 while the new SAT is scored on the 1600 scale. However, for the class of 2017, most colleges will accept scores from both these SATs.

Is your SAT score good?

Simply put, in the new SAT scale, scoring a 1000 is considered to be an average score. While in the old SAT, 1500 was considered to be an average score. Purely focusing on the new SAT scoring system, the top 25% of students would score over 1200 which is considered to be quite good. Whether this is good enough to get into you a college of your choice is a different question though.

The bottom 25% of SAT takers score 840. If your score is in this range, chances are you may find it difficult to get into a college of your choice.

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Whether or not your score is really considered good may depend on the colleges you are planning on applying to. When aiming for a specific score in your SATs, you want to take into account not the national or the international average but the average score of the students at the schools that you intend to apply to. This is because if you don’t score above the targeted cut off set by those colleges, you will find it hard to get into a university of your choice.

What is a Good Score that you Should be Aiming for?

One of the most common questions students ask today is – how high does MY SAT score need to be? Believe it or not, having a concrete target for your SAT exam can prove to be rather helpful. This gives you a goal to work on when you are studying and helps you track your progress.

Remember that your target needn’t be the same as everyone else’s because you may have unique goals. What you need to aim for should be decided on the basis of the colleges you have shortlisted. At no point should you aim for what your parents or friends think is an “acceptable” score.

When you have set your target, make sure that you have shared with your parents and other key motivators so that everyone is on the same page as you.

Finally, don’t get stressed out about meeting your target. Know life is more than scores and examinations.  Focus on gaining knowledge.

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