Many students worry that a bad SAT score will be the kiss of death for their college applications. The SAT is an important part of the admissions process, so you obviously don’t want to submit a crummy score—but how do you know whether your score is all that bad to begin with?

If you're worried about low scores, understanding where your scores stand in relation to other students’ is the first step to improvement. In this post, I’ll talk about comparing your own scores to those of the general population, your peer group, your target schools, and even your own potential scores. I'll finish off with strategies to bring up scores no matter your goals or study timeline. With this information, you'll be well-prepared to make necessary steps in improving your SAT scores.

While the definition of a “Good SAT Score” is can seem subjective, in fact, there are valid and objective ways to quantify it.  In this article, I’ll go through four different methods you can use to decide what a good SAT score means for you. Having the wrong definition can be catastrophic to your college future, and having the right definition can be a strong motivator to achieve your SAT goals.

The SAT is a long exam, and it tests your knowledge of a lot of topics. To get a top score, you'll need to have strong skills across reading comprehension, algebra, grammar, geometry and more. The SAT is also infamous for its tricky wording and sometimes confusing questions.

To excel on the SAT, you need to know what to expect from it, and the best way to do that is to become familiar with the types of questions you'll see on the test. That's where we come in! This guide includes official sample questions from Khan Academy for every type of SAT question you'll see for both the Reading and Writing section and Math section. There are over a dozen question types, and we explain them all with these new sample SAT questions. We'll also go over what to expect from the exam and where you can find additional study resources.

Are you trying to register for the SAT but can't find any testing centers close to where you live? What should you do?

College Board, the corporation that develops and administers the SAT, offers a way for students to take the SAT at a location closer to them, called “testing closer to home.” Read on to learn more about this special accommodation, its benefits and drawbacks, and how to apply for it.

Standardized test scores are an important component of the college application process. However, since most people take the SAT multiple times, it's not always clear which scores colleges will look at when judging an applicant's potential. In this article, I'll give you an overview of which SAT scores colleges use in the admissions process. 

If you’ve taken the SAT or will be taking it, you may have heard of something called SAT college and school codes and wondered what they are.

This guide will explain everything you need to know about SAT college and school codes: what they are, why they’re important, and when you’ll need to use them.

When you register for your SAT, you have to submit codes for your high school and test center, the location where you are going to take your SAT. The codes make it easier for the College Board to keep track of the high school and test center of everyone who takes the SAT.

You want to make sure you submit the right codes, since making a mistake can result in your having to take the SAT at a random high school that's far away from where you live or sending your scores to the wrong college.

In this article, I tell you how to look up SAT high school and test center codes and advise you how to use them properly.

You know it’s important for you to do well on the SATs because better scores will get you into a better college - top colleges want high SAT scores because they are supposed to indicate insight that a particular student is academically strong. Ultimately, a better college education is supposed to help you be more successful in your career. But do your SAT scores really speak to how competent or prepared you are as a potential student? And does a great college really increase your chances of professional success? These are tough, but important, questions - I’ll address them all here.

First, I’ll talk about what the research says about the relationships between SAT scores, college success, and income. Then, I’ll present some explanations for why these factors are (or are not) related - it might not be for the reasons you think. So what’s the real relationship between your SAT scores, college success, and income? Why do these questions even matter? Read on to find out!

The SAT score is one of the most important parts of your college applications because it's one of the only things that's standardized. When all student applicants are taking the same exam, admissions officers can use it as a barometer to compare students that come from different backgrounds, educations, strengths, weaknesses, and intellectual abilities.

If all students take the same exam, and all admissions officers look at those exam scores in the same way, then it should be easy to figure out what an excellent SAT score is, right? Not necessarily. Like most things, an excellent SAT score is all relative. In this post, I'll talk about different types of "excellent" scores in relation to the entire US, your general peer group, your prospective colleges, and (maybe most importantly) yourself.

Between college applications and standardized testing, you’ve probably heard CEEB codes mentioned at some point during your high school career. You may have even wondered what they were other than mysterious four digit numbers.

This guide will explain everything you need to know about CEEB codes.

Unfortunately, studying for the SAT isn’t much fun. There’s really no way to make reading passages or dissecting math problems super entertaining — and believe me, I’ve tried.

But if you’re looking for a quick break from studying, check out these 8 random SAT test facts. You may even learn something helpful!

Not on our watch.

To do well on the SAT/ACT, you need to commit to a certain amount of study hours. The higher the score you want, or the more points you need to improve, the more hours you need to put in. (Read more about how long exactly you need to study for the SAT or ACT here.)

If total hours is your main goal for studying, then procrastination is what you need to defeat to be successful. So we’ll talk a bit about why procrastination happens, and then give actionable advice for fighting it.

Read in to conquer procrastination once and for all!

Maybe you already know your top college choice. Now you want to know what SAT score you need to get into your dream school. Unfortunately, there’s no simple answer. Generally, there is no SAT score requirement that guarantees you admission, especially for the most selective colleges. Conversely, there usually isn’t an SAT score that will automatically disqualify you from admission because schools use holistic admissions. Your application will be evaluated on your GPA, extracurricular activities, recommendations, personal essay, and SAT score.

However, your SAT score will significantly increase or decrease your likelihood of admission, and you can use available statistics to determine the SAT score you need to improve your chances of being able to attend a certain college. Colleges generally say that they don't have SAT requirements, but if you get an 800 and want to go to Harvard, statistically, you have nearly a 0% chance of gaining admission.

In this article, I will discuss SAT score requirements and how your SAT score impacts the college admissions process.

Because the SAT is such a high stakes test, the College Board has implemented a series of rules to ensure that there is no cheating and that all students have as close to the same test-taking experience as possible. Before you take the SAT, you should familiarize yourself with these rules. It would be a shame to spend months preparing and be in the middle of acing your SAT, only to get kicked out of the test and have your score canceled because your phone was on, and you received a text during the last section. That’s an extreme example, but it's possible. Know the rules so you can protect yourself.

In this article, I will discuss SAT rules, the reasons behind the rules, and the possible consequences for violating SAT rules and regulations.

If you're taking the SAT, you're definitely not alone! While colleges use SAT scores as an indicator of smarts and aptitude for college, smart people do not always perform well on the SAT test. In this article, I'll share the SAT scores of some reputedly smart people, former and current Presidents, CEOs, authors, etc. Hopefully, their scores will make you feel proud of your own!