Historical SAT Percentiles New SAT 2016, 2017, and 2018

Historical SAT Percentiles New SAT 2016, 2017, and 2018 SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you took the new SAT in 2016, 2017, or 2018, you might be wondering what percentile your score is in. Is a 700 on Math in 2016 the same as a 700 in Math in 2018? How much do percentile scores change from year to year? In this article, I'll explain what new SAT percentile scores are and how they've changed over time. I'll also provide percentiles for SAT combined and section scores for 2016, 2017, and 2018. What Are SAT Percentile Scores? Your SAT percentile score tells you how well you did compared to other students who took the SAT. If you scored in the 97th percentile, then you scored higher than 97% of the people who took the test. If you scored in the 50th percentile, you did better than 50% of the people who took the test. Every year, the College Board determines that year's SAT percentile scores based on how college-bound high school seniors that year scored on the SAT. The higher the percentile your SAT score is in, the better you scored compared to other high school seniors. Special Note: Nationally Representative Sample Percentiles vs. SAT User Percentiles On your score report, you'll see information about two different kinds of percentiles: Nationally Representative Sample Percentiles and SAT User Percentiles. For this article, when we talk about percentiles we'll be exclusively referring to SAT User Percentiles, which are based on only actual SAT scores of students in the classes of 2016-2018 who took the new SAT. Read this article to find out more about the differences between the two percentile types on your SAT score report. Do Percentile Scores Change? In the past, SAT scores stayed pretty much at the same percentile, year over year. For instance, on the old SAT, a score of 1880 was in the 87th percentile for 20, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. That SAT percentile scores haven't changed much over time is intentional- the whole idea behind the SAT scoring system is that colleges can know that a student who got a 1880 SAT score in 2010 performed about the same as a student who got a 1880 SAT score in 2006 or 2015. If an 1880 was in the 80th percentile in 2010 and the 95th percentile in 2015, the scores would be meaningless for comparison purposes on their own. Because the SAT in its current format has only been administered for a few years, however, new SAT scores aren't quite as tied to specific percentiles. As an example, a 1280 new SAT score was in the 83rd percentile in 2016, 86th percentile in 2017, and 84th percentile in 2018. The biggest differences changes in percentiles on the new SAT happened for students who scored between 860 and 1200, with the same score differing by as many as six percentile points between 2016 and 2018 (for instance, a 950 was in the 25th percentile in 2016 and 31st percentile in 2018). As the new SAT is administered to more students over more years, these differences will no doubt shrink, making it easier to compare the same scores. For now, though, if you're scoring in the 860-1200 range, you can expect the percentile of your score to shift by up to six percentile points compared to past years. How Should You Use This Info and Why Does It Matter? Because the same SAT scores have had such varying percentiles in the last couple of years, your percentile score is the easiest way to figure out how well you did on the SAT. If you scored higher than 50 percent of test-takers, then you're above average; if you scored higher than 75 percent of test-takers, then you did very well indeed. When you apply to college, however, you're not being compared to all students who took the SAT, but to all students who took the SAT and are applying to that school. To help students figure out how they stack up against past successful applicants, colleges usually publicly post 25th and 75th percentile scores of admitted students. If you want to be a competitive candidate for a school, your target SAT score should be around or above a school's 75th percentile score. On a section level, percentiles can help you put your scores in context. It might seem like you're doing about equally well on Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and Math if you get a 690 on ERW and a 640 on Math. However, a 690 ERW score is in the 93rd percentile, while a 640 Math score is in the 83rd percentile. Raising each section score by 100 points would raise your Math percentile ranking by 13 points and your ERW percentile ranking by only 6+ points. If you're thinking about retaking the SAT and trying to figure out where you should focus your studying efforts, your percentile scores can help identify how you can improve the most. Finally, percentile scores also tell us that a small increase in your composite score can have a large impact on your percentile score, particularly if you're scoring around or even a little below the middle of the pack. For instance, in 2018 an SAT score of 1050 was at the 49th percentile, but a score of 1210 was at the 76th. Increasing your score by just 160 points can take your score from below average to the top quarter of all SAT scores. Composite Score Percentiles, 2018, 2017, and 2016 SAT Composite Score 2018 Percentile 2017 Percentile 2016 Percentile 1600 99+ 99+ 99+ 1590 99+ 99+ 99+ 1580 99+ 99+ 99+ 1570 99+ 99+ 99+ 1560 99+ 99+ 99+ 1550 99+ 99+ 99+ 1540 99 99+ 99 1530 99 99+ 99 1520 99 99 99 1510 99 99 99 1500 99 99 98 1490 98 99 98 1480 98 99 98 1470 98 98 98 1460 97 98 97 1450 97 98 97 1440 96 97 96 1430 96 97 96 1420 95 96 95 1410 95 96 95 1400 94 95 94 1390 94 95 94 1380 93 94 93 1370 92 94 92 1360 92 93 91 1350 91 92 91 1340 90 91 90 1330 89 90 89 1320 88 90 88 1310 88 89 87 1300 87 88 86 1290 86 87 85 1280 84 86 83 1270 83 85 82 1260 82 83 81 1250 81 82 80 1240 80 81 78 1230 79 80 77 1220 77 78 76 1210 76 77 74 1200 74 76 72 90 73 74 71 80 72 73 69 70 70 71 67 60 68 69 65 50 67 68 64 40 65 66 62 30 63 64 60 20 62 63 58 10 60 61 57 00 58 59 55 1090 56 57 52 1080 54 55 50 1070 52 53 48 1060 51 51 46 1050 49 49 44 1040 47 47 42 1030 45 45 40 1020 43 43 38 1010 41 41 36 1000 39 40 34 990 37 38 32 980 36 36 30 970 34 34 29 960 32 32 27 950 31 31 25 940 29 29 24 930 27 27 22 920 26 26 20 910 24 24 19 900 23 22 18 890 21 21 16 880 20 19 15 870 18 18 14 860 17 17 13 850 15 15 12 840 14 14 830 13 13 10 820 12 12 9 810 8 800 10 9 7 790 9 8 7 780 8 8 6 770 7 7 5 760 6 6 4 750 5 5 4 740 4 4 3 730 4 4 3 720 3 3 2 710 3 3 2 700 2 2 2 690 2 2 2 680 1 1 1 670 1 1 1 660 1 1 1 650 1 1 1 640 1 1 1- 630 1- 1- 1- 620 1- 1- 1- 610 1- 1- 1- 600 1- 1- 1- 590 1- 1- 1- 580 1- 1- 1- 570 1- 1- 1- 560 1- 1- 1- 550 1- 1- 1- 540 1- 1- 1- 530 1- 1- 1- 520 1- 1- 1- 510 1- 1- 1- 500 1- 1- 1- 490 1- 1- 1- 480 1- 1- 1- 470 1- 1- 1- 460 1- 1- 1- 450 1- 1- 1- 440 1- 1- 1- 430 1- 1- 1- 420 1- 1- 1- 410 1- 1- 1- 400 1- 1- 1- Sources: SAT Understanding Scores 2016, SAT Understanding Scores 2017, SAT Understanding Scores 2018 Section Score Percentiles Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Score 2018 Percentile 2017 Percentile 2016 Percentile 800 99+ 99+ 99+ 790 99+ 99+ 99+ 780 99+ 99+ 99+ 770 99+ 99+ 99 760 99 99 99 750 99 99 99 740 98 98 98 730 97 98 97 720 97 97 96 710 96 96 95 700 94 95 94 690 93 94 92 680 92 92 91 670 90 91 89 660 88 89 86 650 86 87 84 640 84 85 81 630 81 82 78 620 78 79 75 610 75 77 72 600 72 73 69 590 69 70 66 580 66 67 63 570 63 64 60 560 59 60 56 550 56 57 52 540 52 53 49 530 49 49 45 520 45 46 42 510 42 42 38 500 38 39 35 490 35 35 31 480 31 32 28 470 28 28 25 460 25 25 22 450 22 22 20 440 19 19 17 430 16 16 15 420 14 14 13 410 12 400 9 10 9 390 8 8 7 380 6 6 6 370 4 5 5 360 3 4 3 350 2 3 3 340 2 2 2 330 1 1 1 320 1 1 1 310 1 1 1 300 1- 1 1- 290 1- 1- 1- 280 1- 1- 1- 270 1- 1- 1- 260 1- 1- 1- 250 1- 1- 1- 240 1- 1- 1- 230 1- 1- 1- 220 1- 1- 1- 210 1- 1- 1- 200 1- 1- 1- Sources: SAT Understanding Scores 2016, SAT Understanding Scores 2017, SAT Understanding Scores 2018 Math Score 2018 Percentile 2017 Percentile 2016 Percentile 800 99+ 99+ 99+ 790 99 99 99 780 98 99 98 770 98 99 98 760 97 98 98 750 96 97 97 740 96 97 96 730 95 96 95 720 94 95 95 710 93 94 94 700 92 94 92 690 91 92 91 680 89 91 89 670 88 89 88 660 86 88 87 650 85 86 86 640 83 84 83 630 81 82 81 620 79 81 79 610 77 78 76 600 75 76 73 590 72 73 70 580 69 70 67 570 66 67 64 560 64 65 60 550 61 61 57 540 57 58 53 530 53 54 49 520 49 49 45 510 44 45 40 500 40 40 34 490 37 37 30 480 34 34 27 470 31 32 24 460 28 29 21 450 25 25 18 440 22 22 16 430 20 20 14 420 17 17 12 410 15 14 10 400 13 12 8 390 10 7 380 9 8 5 370 7 7 4 360 6 5 3 350 4 4 3 340 3 3 2 330 2 2 1 320 1 1 1 310 1 1 1 300 1 1 1 290 1 1- 1- 280 1- 1- 1- 270 1- 1- 1- 260 1- 1- 1- 250 1- 1- 1- 240 1- 1- 1- 230 1- 1- 1- 220 1- 1- 1- 210 1- 1- 1- 200 1- 1- 1- Sources: SAT Understanding Scores 2016, SAT Understanding Scores 2017, SAT Understanding Scores 2018 What's Next? How do you compare to other students in your state? Find out with our regularly updated list of average SAT scores by state. Where does your SAT essay score fit into all this? Learn more about SAT essay scoring and what the average SAT essay score is here. Would you be able to score in a higher percentile on the ACT? We help you figure out if the ACT or SAT is a better test for you with this foolproof method. Disappointed with your scores? Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: