How to Get a Perfect SAT Score: Tips From Top Scorers

One essential part of preparing for college is to take college entrance exams. Many colleges use SAT and ACT scores to assess students, in addition to other application materials. A perfect SAT score can help you earn admission to prestigious colleges and may even qualify you for certain scholarships.

A 1600 SAT score is pretty rare, though. You’ll need to dedicate time to studying specifically for the SAT. We’ve outlined some tips to get you started from real students who aced the test.

Students who take the SAT receive a score on a scale of 400-1600, meaning a perfect SAT score is 1600.

The SAT consists of two sections: Math and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW). You’ll receive a score for each section between 200 and 800. Those two section scores are then added together to give you a total SAT score out of 1600.

Calculating your section scores is a little more complicated. The College Board uses a conversion chart that takes your raw scores (i.e., how many questions you answered correctly) and converts them into section scores out of 800.

That conversion chart is different every test date and scaled to other students who took the test. This means there could potentially be a bit of wiggle room, allowing you to miss a few questions and still get a perfect 1600.

We looked at the score conversion charts for official SAT practice tests provided by the College Board to get an idea of how many questions you can miss and still get a perfect 1600.

The conversion chart and number of missed questions differs depending on your test date, but based on practice test data, you’ll need a nearly perfect test. On average, you can miss one question on the entire SAT and still earn a perfect score.

The College Board doesn’t report the exact number of students who receive a perfect score, but we do have some understanding of its rarity.

Based on tests taken between 2020 and 2021, the 99th+ percentile score range was 1560-1600. This means that less than 1% of test-takers scored in that range. And according to a College Board report, only 8% of 2021 high school grads who took the SAT in high school scored between 1400 and 1600 — that’s just 118,704 students out of 1,509,133.

Basically, scoring anything above 1400 is a huge accomplishment. The average SAT score for all 2021 high school grads was 1060.

You don’t have to score a perfect 1600 or even in the 99th+ percentile to get into a prestigious college. The middle 50% of scores for students enrolled in top schools like Brown, Columbia, Duke, Princeton, and Stanford was between 1450 and 1570, or the 96th and 99th percentiles.

The term “middle 50%” means that out of all the students enrolled, half of them scored within that range. That leaves 25% of students who scored above that range and 25% below. Another way to look at it: If the middle 50% of SAT scores at Cornell is 1450-1540, then about 75% of students scored 1450 or higher.

It can be intimidating to prepare for the SAT, especially if you’re aiming for a perfect score. We spoke with actual students who earned a 99th percentile score or higher and compiled their expert advice.

You should start studying and preparing for the SAT at least three months before your test. You’ll need ample time to take practice tests, identify your weaknesses, and learn new material.

“If you start too late, the anxiety and pressure from reaching a goal within a short period of time will diminish the effectiveness of your efforts,” said Emma Wang, who scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT in high school.

Take advantage of official SAT study material and practice tests. These will give you the most accurate replications of the SAT. The College Board offers many free SAT resources, like full-length practice tests and study guides, and you should use them all.

“Do lots of practice exams and exercises,” advised Wang. “I did all the questions in the official guide, from third-party sources, and from any real past exams I could get my hands on.”

Part of your SAT prep should be practicing the test timed. We recommend mimicking the testing conditions you’ll encounter on the day of the test. If you practice your pacing, you’ll feel less time pressure during the test and be more likely to finish every question.

“For the SAT, pacing is critical to getting a perfect score, especially if you are only a few questions off,” said Alex Nelson, a mentor with Ivy Scholars and full SAT scorer. “This is because you will need that time to tackle the hardest questions — the ones to get you those last 10 points.”

Your score can improve if you become comfortable with the speed of the test and develop techniques for prioritizing questions. For example, you’ll want to move quickly through content you know well to leave you more time to work out harder questions.

“You will need to learn when to trust your gut on the earlier questions — ticking the right answer and coming back to recheck if there’s time at the end,” said Nelson.

Once you’ve taken a few practice tests, you’ll be able to detect subjects that need improvement. Consider the types of questions consistently keeping you from a perfect score.

For example, Nelson noticed that vocab was a consistent mistake on his practice tests when preparing for the SAT. So he carried around vocab cards to study during his free time.

Continue to study those weak areas and anything new you learned.

“Keep a running list of things you learned during practice exams — these could be some new vocabulary you saw or a new type of math problem,” said Wang. “Then take some time to review and absorb these in between practice exams.”

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