Is 1300 a good SAT score?
A 1300 score on the SAT is above-average. It is a good score for some schools, but it’s not a good score for highly selective colleges and universities.
In this post, we’ll explore:
SAT scores + a balanced college list
Colleges for a 1300 SAT score
Is a 1300 SAT good enough for scholarships and special programs?
Athletic scholarships
Academic honors programs
Special majors and other academic programs
Academic scholarships
What’s a good score on the SAT?
As a test prep specialist with over a decade spent working with students to help them prep for the SAT, probably the #1 question that students ask me is what score they need to get on the SAT.
The thing is that there isn’t a single number that I can give to define a “good” score on the SAT.
(Or rather, the only score that’s definitely good enough for applying to any school is a 1550, which is near-perfect score. But fortunately most students don’t need a 1550!)
The average score on the SAT is 533 for the Evidence-Based Reading & Writing section, 528 for the Math section, and 1060 for the complete SAT.
That means that a score of 1300 on the SAT is clearly above-average.
To be more precise, a 1300 SAT score is in the 86th percentile for students who took the test in 2022 (source: College Board). That means that a student with a 1300 SAT scored higher than four fifths of the other students who took the test.
(Percentile means what percentage of students scored at or below that number. So if you scored in the 60th percentile, you did better than 60% of the other students who took the SAT.)
Because the students who actually take the SAT tend to be a little more prepared, the College Board also gives us an estimate of how that score would compare for all of the students in the US.
Compared to all students in the US, a 1300 SAT score is in the 91st percentile (source: College Board). That puts students who scored a 1300 in the top 10% of students nationally!
In many ways, that makes a 1300 a great SAT score.
However, let’s look at this in context:
You can see in this graph of SAT scores at a national level that test scores that test scores make approximately what we often call a “bell-shaped curve”: most students have scores in the middle, while few students have very low scores or very high scores.
Looking at the arrow, we see that a SAT score of 1300 is to the right of the main “hump” of the curve. It’s clearly stronger than the majority of scores, but we can see it’s still not really in that “long tail” of the top 10% of students who scored in the 1310–1600 range.
In the world of US college admissions, it’s the impressive students in that “long tail” who are going to be competitive for top-tier colleges and universities. A 1300 SAT is a strong score for many good schools, but it’s not in the same category as the high scores.
So how can you know where you’d be a competitive applicant with a 1300 SAT score?
Is 1300 a good SAT score?
The main reason that students take the SAT is to get into college, so ultimately the definition of a “good SAT score” will depend on the type of college you want to attend.
SAT scores + a balanced college list
When you apply to college, it’s important to have a balanced college list. This means that you have a mix of schools:
Safety schools: you can almost certainly get admitted
Target schools: your application profile is similar to the average student at this school — so it’s not a sure bet, but it’s fairly likely that you’d be admitted
Reach schools: your application profile probably isn’t strong enough to be admitted, but you should still go for it — you might get lucky!
A balanced college list should have at least two schools from each category.
We can look at data from admitted students in recent years to know what kind of SAT score is good enough for a particular college. At “safety schools,” your SAT score should make you one of the top applicants. At “target schools,” your SAT score should be about average.
Many colleges and universities publish data for the 25th percentile and the 75th percentile SAT scores of their freshman class. This data tells us the range of SAT scores of half of their student body. We sometimes refer to it as the “middle 50,” because 50% of students at that school have scores within that range.
Safety schools: your test scores and GPA should be above the 75th percentile, and the school should have an admittance rate greater than 30%
Target schools: your test scores and GPA should be within the middle 50% of students, ideally closer to the top of the range
Reach schools: your test scores and GPA can be lower than the 25th percentile, but this will make you unlikely to be admitted unless you have amazing extracurriculars or college essays!
Of course, having an SAT score that falls within the middle 50% of the students at that school doesn’t guarantee admission.
Your GPA, the difficulty of the classes you took in high school (academic rigor), your college essays, your extracurricular achievements and awards, and your letters of recommendation are also very important to your college applications.
Test scores are just one component of a successful college application — but having strong scores will help your application!
(There are a small handful of schools that are not using test scores in 2023, and test scores will not help at these schools. Check if your schools are one of the rare few not using test scores.)
When I work with students one-on-one for test prep or college essay coaching, I often help them make sure that their college lists are balanced for the strength of their application. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at info@ivybloomacademics.com.
Colleges for a 1300 SAT score
Using the data, here are some target colleges and universities for a 1300 SAT score:
School Middle 50% SAT score range
Iowa State University 1080 – 1330
University of Kentucky 1080 – 1330
Hofstra University 1080 – 1370
University of Rhode Island 1090 – 1290
Luther College (Iowa) 1090 – 1320
University of Kansas 1090 – 1330
Michigan State University 1100 – 1320
University of Arizona 1120 – 1370
University of Iowa 1130 – 1350
Butler University 1150 – 1340
Kalamazoo College 1160 – 1380
Baylor University 1160 – 1350
Indiana University 1160 – 1380
University of Colorado Boulder 1170 – 1390
School Middle 50% SAT score range
University of Tennessee Knoxville 1170 – 1340
Florida State University 1180 – 1340
Marquette University 1180 – 1360
Purdue University 1190 – 1430
The University of the South 1200 – 1390
University of Denver 1200 – 1390
Clemson University 1220 – 1420
St. Louis University 1220 – 1430
Illinois Institute of Technology 1230 – 1410
University of Texas Austin 1230 – 1500
St. Olaf College 1240 – 1430
Ohio State University 1250 – 1440
Sarah Lawrence College 1260 – 1470
Rochester Institute of Technology 1270 – 1450
As you can see, with a 1300 SAT score students can be competitive applicants at many large flagship public universities like the University of Iowa, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and Indiana University.
A 1300 is within the middle 50% range for many good colleges and universities. For the higher-ranked public universities like Ohio State University or the University of Texas at Austin, it’s still at the lower end of the range. Unless your grades, extracurriculars, and college essays are particularly strong, you should try to get your scores higher to be a competitive applicant at those schools.
A 1300 SAT score isn’t high enough to be a competitive applicant at the best public universities (like the University of Virginia or the University of Michigan).
It’s just beginning to be in range for selective liberal arts colleges; in this list you can see that a 1300 is at the low end of the range for good colleges like St. Olaf College or Sarah Lawrence College. Students who want to be competitive applicants at those schools should still aim to get a higher score and/or have extra-strong grades, extracurriculars, and college essays.
A 1300 SAT is still not a good score at highly-selective colleges and universities, and it’s definitely not in range for the Ivy League or any other school ranked in the top 30.
Don’t see your dream school on this list? Get the SAT score data for 975 more colleges and universities and check what SAT score you need for the colleges on your list.
If your SAT score isn’t currently high enough to be a competitive applicant at the college you want to attend, know that most students are able to raise their SAT scores with the right preparation and practice.
The students I work with one-on-one for SAT prep are able to improve their scores by about 250+ points on average. If you’d like to work with me, sign up here or reach out at info@ivybloomacademics.com.
Is a 1300 SAT good enough for scholarships and special programs?
Athletic scholarships
Are you a top athlete with scholarship offers for your sport?
Many students need to achieve certain minimum test scores in order to be eligible to receive athletic scholarships. I’ve helped a number of student-athletes who were offered scholarships from amazing schools like the University of Notre Dame or the University of North Carolina — but who needed to raise their SAT or ACT scores first.
These cutoffs vary by college and by sport. A 1300 SAT score may be high enough, but it might not. Be sure to check the details of your scholarship offer.
Academic honors programs
Many schools, especially larger universities, have special honors programs that provide extra mentorship, exclusive internships, smaller class sizes, and other advantages.
The difficulty of getting into one of these honors programs varies hugely depending on the school, but SAT minimums for honors programs tend to start around 1200+. This means that a 1300 SAT be strong enough to apply to academic honors programs at certain colleges and universities, although at more selective schools the cutoff is likely to be higher than 1300. Check with the specific requirements of the school.
Special majors and other academic programs
Some colleges and universities might have additional requirements in order to enter into a particular major or program, like pre-med, business, or engineering.
An SAT score of 1300 may be high enough to meet these cutoffs, but it might not. Check with your college guidance counselor and the admissions office at that school for more information.
Academic scholarships
Many academic merit scholarships are based on GPA and test scores. Unless you’re applying to local community colleges, it’s unlikely that a SAT score of 1300 is high enough to win an academic scholarship, whether from an external source or directly from the college or university — but it’s getting close to scholarship range!
For example, the Florida Bright Futures scholarships, which can award students 100% of tuition and fees, require a score of at least 1330 on the SAT.
Raise your SAT score from 1300 to 1550
With the right test prep, most students are able to raise their SAT scores.
The students I work with one-on-one for tailored SAT prep are typically able to raise their scores by about 250+ points.
That means that if you are currently scoring around a 1300 on the SAT, you may well be able to achieve a 1500 or 1550 with targeted practice. That would put you in range to be a competitive applicant to top-tier colleges and universities across the country — even Ivy-League schools!
Right now I’m sharing 5 days of SAT tips and exercises delivered to your inbox for free.
If you’d like to join my current student roster for one-on-one expert test prep, you can sign up here or reach out at info@ivybloomacademics.com.
Happy studying!