One of the most frequently asked questions about the SAT is how the scores are calculated. In the same way that you should know the scoring rules before you play any game or sport, you would want to know how your SAT test is going to be scored if you want to win.

Why Should You Understand How the SAT is Scored?

Know your strengths. The sections where you scored better will tell you a lot about your potential. If you’re still undecided about your college course, this will help you consider options where you know you will be able to do well.

Know what to improve on. If you are retaking the test, focus on preparing for the sections where you scored low. This will help improve your overall score.

Set goals. Knowing how the SAT is scored will help you set score goals for your scholarship and college applications.

Related Topic: SAT Math Practice Test

SAT New Scoring

Taking the SAT test before March 2016: If you took the test before March 2016, the raw scores were computed based on the items you answered correctly, incorrectly, or that you left blank. For every correct answer, you would receive 1 point. For incorrect answers on multiple-choice questions, .25 points would be deducted from your raw score. There were no deductions for items you did not answer and for incorrect answers on student-produced response math questions. The scores are reported on a scale from 200-800.

Related Topic: 2020 – 2022 SAT Test Dates for US and International Students

Taking the SAT test after March 2016: The biggest difference between the old and new SAT scoring system is you will no longer get deductions for wrong answers. It is better to make a calculated guess than to leave items blank. The new scoring system also includes subscores and cross-test scores to better reflect your strenghts and knowledge.

Raw vs Scaled Scores

Raw SAT Scores

Your raw score is simply the number of questions you answered correctly for each section. You will not be penalized for giving wrong answers or skipping questions. The only questions that will matter are those you answered correctly. The list below shows the number of questions each section in SAT will have.

Reading test – 52 questions

Writing and Language test – 44 multiple choice questions

Math – 58 questions

If you answered 50 reading test questions correctly, then that is your raw score for that section.

If you answered 43 writing and language test questions correctly, then that is your writing test raw score.

If you correctly answered 58 questions in the math section, then that is your raw score and you are a math wiz!

Related Topic: SAT Requirements

SAT Scaled Scores

Once you have your raw scores for each section of the SAT test, then it is time to convert them to the scaled score. To do that, you would need the table below. Here is the rule in converting raw scores to scaled scores.

For the Math raw score, just refer directly to the table below. If you got 58 answers correctly, then you get a scaled score of 800. If you only got 50 correct scores in math, your scaled score for math would be 700.

For the Writing and Reading test though, it is a little more complicated. As you can see, the perfect scaled score for each of them is from 10 to 40, whereas math is from, 200 to 800. So how do you calculate the scaled score for both reading and writing tests?

First, you need to get the scaled score for the writing and reading test separately. Then you add the writing and reading scaled scores and multiply the sum by 10. Some examples are presented below the table.

Raw Score Math Section Score Reading Test Score Writing and Language Test Score 58 800 57 790 56 780 55 760 54 750 53 740 52 730 40 51 710 40 50 700 >39 49 690 38 48 680 38 47 670 37 46 670 37 45 660 36 44 650 35 40 43 640 35 39 42 630 34 38 41 620 33 37 40 610 33 36 39 600 32 35 38 600 32 34 37 590 31 34 36 580 31 33 35 570 30 32 34 560 30 32 33 560 29 31 32 550 29 30 31 540 28 30 30 530 28 29 29 520 27 28 28 520 26 28 27 510 26 27 26 500 25 26 25 490 25 26 24 480 24 25 23 480 24 25 22 470 23 >24 21 460 23 23 20 450 22 23 19 440 22 22 18 430 21 21 17 420 21 21 16 410 20 20 15 390 20 19 14 380 19 19 13 370 19 18 12 360 19 17 11 340 17 16 10 330 17 16 9 320 16 15 8 310 15 14 7 290 15 13 6 280 14 13 5 260 13 12 4 240 12 11 3 230 11 10 2 210 10 10 1 200 10 10 0 200 10 10

Here are some examples of the conversion from the raw score to scaled score.

Let’s say for example you answered 45 math questions correctly, that would mean your scaled score for math is 660.

Now for reading and writing. Let’s say you got a raw score of 40 for reading and 37 for writing and language. You need to get the scaled score for each: Using the table above, you see that the raw score of 40 for the reading test is equal to 36. And the raw score of 37 for the writing and language test equal to 34.

Now you have to add them together and multiply them by 10

36 + 34 = 67

70 x 10 = 700

Your Reading and Writing scaled score, therefore, is 700.

Let’s put it all together and get the composite score.

Related Topic: SAT Practice Tests

SAT Composite Scores

Now that you have your scaled score for the three major sections in SAT, you can determine your actual SAT composite score. The way to get your composite score is very simple. Just add your three scaled scores together and that’s it.

In the above example, you have a scaled score of 660 for math and a combined scale score of 700 for reading and writing test. That makes your SAT composite score 1360. Not a bad score.

Now that you know how your score is calculated, you can use this to make a strategy to get a good SAT composite score. For example, if you doubt your skills at math, then you can calculate how much score you need to get in reading and writing and language test to make up for the low math score. Note however that some colleges, especially highly competitive universities, will require or look into your subject test scores.

Related Topic: SAT Registration

Practice Tests Will Give You A Clue

SAT practice tests are based on the actual SAT test.

If you use SAT practice tests, you would have an idea how well you will do on the actual SAT test. That is because practice tests are designed to closely resemble the actual test.

Related Topic: SAT Overview, Registration, SAT Subjects, Test Dates, & Tips To Prepare For High SAT Scores

SAT practice tests will tell you what your strong and weak areas area.

If in the SAT practice test you only get a score of 35 in math, then you should work on studying the topics where you make the most mistakes and increase your scores in reading and writing tests. Know your weak areas and focus on these.

The best way to get a good SAT score is by preparing for it with a study strategy. Follow a consistent study schedule and take practice tests. These tests familiarize you with the test structure and tell you a lot about areas where you need to improve.

SAT Practice tests are not only a diagnostic tool, but also a memory enhancer tool!

SAT practice tests help you remember concepts you’ve reviewed as you put what you’ve learned into practice. Study for each of the SAT test subjects, specifically math, which makes up a big part of the score.

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