What Does Your SAT General Score Mean October 2018

Understanding how SAT scoring is done and what makes for a good score is important because that knowledge enables students to set goals to achieve. Having a specific target in mind is always easier because it allows students to have a definite objective they can strive for. Understanding a SAT score is not just about the marks you may get - how others who also took the examination did is equally, if not more important.

What Is A Good Score?

The scoring range for the SAT examination is between 400 and 1600 marks for the total score and 200 to 800 marks for the math and the reading and writing subscores. As with all examinations, the higher the marks obtained the better the student has done. However, “doing well” is not enough. How other students did affects the value of the marks obtained. A “good score” may not be so good if the average scores of other students who sat for the examination are higher than yours. That is why the percentile ranking is so important. For example, if a student gets a 65 percentile score, that means that he or she has scored better than 64% of the others who took the exam.

The median or middle SAT score is in the range of 1050 and 1060 marks. The examination is deliberately designed so that the average score is in this range. In the case of math, the average score is between 520 and 530 (or the 49th to 53rd percentile) and for evidenced-based reading and writing it is 530 to 540 (or the 49th to 52nd percentile). As is common with many types of examinations, the majority of those attempting them score around the middle of the scale. Those who score very low or very high are a minority.

A look at a section of the 2018 SAT percentile chart will make the issue clearer.

Score       Percentile
1110       60
1240       80

In other words, an increase of 130 marks resulted in a jump from 60 percentile to 80 percentile.

Get The Right Guidance

Knowing what SAT score is good is the end of the process. It all begins with being able to study in the right way and having access to the coaching and support that is needed to be successful. This is not something that a student can achieve on his or her own. Being part of a study and learning programme from a reputed and successful online coaching organization that has SAT coaching among its specializations is the right way to maximize students’ ability to succeed in SAT and get the score that will enable admission to the academic institutions of their choice.