This is a little difficult to answer simply because “good” means different things to different people. For the sake of simplicity, 1000 is an average SAT score, so we will say 1200 is a good score. We will also look at getting a 1400.
How Each Part of the SAT is Scored
First it’s important to point out that the Evidence Based Reading & Writing Section (which I am going to refer to as English because that is a ridiculously long name) is made up of two tests: Reading and Writing. Both are scored out of 400 points and then are added together to give your your total English score out of 800.
The Reading section is made up of 52 questions and the Writing section is made up of 44 questions. Because the Reading section has more questions, each question is worth slightly less points. Therefore you can get more wrong on Reading than on Writing to end up with the same score on each.
For example, based on one scoring table, 27 wrong (25 right) would give you a 250 in Reading, while only 21 wrong (23 right) would also give you a 250 in Writing. Together, you would have a 500 and be on pace for an average score.
For Math, there are two sections: No-Calculator and Calculator. To score the math section, simply count the total number of questions correct on both of the sections and add them up. It doesn’t matter which one has the most questions right or wrong, only the total matter.
Let’s look at what it takes to get good scores on the SAT.
In the analysis, we will split up all of the scores evenly and use the scoring table from The College Board’s SAT Practice Test 1.
How to get a 1200 on the SAT
Let’s split up all of the scores evenly in this analysis A 1200 overall would be a 600 in English and a 600 in Math. We would also assume 300 in Reading and 300 in Writing.
English:
18 wrong would give you a 300 in Reading
12 wrong would also give you a 300 in Writing.
Math:
20 wrong would give you a 600 in Math
Total:
1200 with 50 questions wrong
How to get a 1400 on the SAT
Let’s split up all of the scores evenly in this analysis also. A 1400 overall would be a 700 in English and a 700 in Math. We would also assume 350 in Reading and 350 in Writing.
English:
8 wrong would give you a 350 in Reading
5 wrong would also give you a 350 in Writing.
Math:
8 wrong would give you a 700 in Math
Total:
1400 with 21 questions wrong
To make a jump from 1200 to 1400, it will take a lot of work. Going up 200 points isn’t easy. However, with the right tools and the right support, you can do it. We can help you prepare for the SAT with one of many different options. Click here to find out more.
