SAT Tips: SAT Scoring

The scoring breakdown of the SAT can be intimidating. Let us make things easier. Click play to learn more about SAT scoring.

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Full Video Transcript:
Hi, I’m Caitlin from Varsity Tutors. Today we are talking about SAT Scoring.

When looking at SAT scoring, it is important to understand section scores, percentile scores, and what your scaled score means.

You will receive 2 main section scores on your score report: one for Evidence-Based Reading and Writing, and one for Math. These are based on your raw score on each section. A raw score is simply the total number of questions you got right on each section. These raw scores are then converted to scaled scores ranging from 200-800. They are added together to give you a Total Score that ranges from 400 to 1600.

You will also receive 6 different percentile scores on your Score Report. A percentile score represents the number of people, out of 100, who scored equal to or lower than you. So, if your score report says that you scored in the 57th percentile, that means you scored equal to or better than 57 out of every 100 people who took the test.

What do all of these numbers mean? Students and parents constantly get frustrated trying to figure out these scores. First of all, it is important to note that your Total Score represents a range of scores rather than a specific grade. Your score range is plus-or-minus 40 points of your Total Score. So, if you score a 950 on the test, that is really saying that you would score 910 to 990 on any given test day.

It is also important to understand that SAT scoring follows a normal distribution. This results in one-third of all test takers scoring 450 or below, one-third scoring between 450 and 550, and one-third scoring above 550 on each section. Scoring a 500 is generally considered the mean score, or 50th percentile, of each section.

In summary when looking at SAT scoring, it’s important to understand three things: section scores, percentile scores, and scaled scores. Thanks for watching and learning more about SAT scoring.