The SAT, the ACT and test-optional admissions
What the scores mean, and how to read a university’s middle 50% range.
The two tests
The SAT is scored from 400 to 1600, in two sections: Reading and Writing, and Math, each scored from 200 to 800. The ACT is scored from 1 to 36. Universities that consider scores accept either test and do not prefer one.
Reading the middle 50%
Each university page on Student Verdict shows the middle 50% of SAT and ACT scores: the range between the 25th and 75th percentile of enrolled students who submitted scores. A quarter of those students scored below the range and a quarter above it.
A score inside the range is typical for the university. A score below it does not rule you out, and a score above it does not guarantee admission.
Test-optional and test-required
Policies vary and have changed in recent years. Some universities are test-optional, some are test-blind and do not consider scores at all, and several selective universities, including MIT, Harvard, Brown and Dartmouth, have returned to requiring scores.
At a test-optional university, a common approach is to submit scores that fall within or above the middle 50% range and to withhold scores well below it. Confirm the current policy on each university’s admissions website before you apply.
Deadlines and policies change each year. Confirm them on each university’s admissions website.