SAT Score Percentile

Information about the performance of students can be obtained by just a glance at the SAT score percentiles chart. The score percentage is indicative of the ability of the student to perform at the college level. This is the reason that the colleges lay a lot of importance on the percentiles chart. However, it could be confusing for a student who does not know how the percentile is perceived by the colleges.

Average SAT Percentile

An average exam percentile is one which shows a position somewhere in the middle of the total number of test takers. Since it depends on the test score, it is also an average of the total scores. For example, if a score of 500 is considered an average score in critical reading section, then theaverage percentile is 50. This means 50% of students have got a better score than 500, and the other 50% have scored lesser. Thus an average score percentile is a rank in the middle of the percentiles chart. Generally an average score percentile is the minimum requirement of most of the colleges for the purpose of admissions.

Which SAT Percentile Is Good Enough?

It is always a concern amongst students as to which rank on the percentiles chart is considered good enough. Although it is obvious that a higher percentile is always better, but not all can score enough to get a percentile of 90. Thus it is a common question in the minds of students to know the percentile that is considered competitive enough to get admission in colleges.

While a test score above average is considered good, the same holds true for the test percentiles. Thus, test percentiles above the average are generally considered good by many colleges. A percentile of about 75 is thus considered good. Any test percentile above this, for example, a percentile of about 80 or 85 is considered competitive enough by most of the colleges, while any test percentile above 85 can get you a college of your choice for sure.

How To Improve Your SAT Percentile?

A good score percentile is desired by everyone. However, a test score that can get you a desired percentile is not easy to achieve. One needs to put in a lot of effort to score well in the test and to get a good percentile, you need to do better than most of the test takers. Thus you need an extra edge over other students who are taking the test along with you. For this you can only improve your level of performance by preparing for it to the best of your ability.

There are various methods of studying for the test that can help you in preparing well for the exam. Online preparation methods, books, software, coaching classes and tutorials are some of the choices available to help one to prepare for the exam. These are special means of preparation that aim at preparing the student for the exam. Thus the sole aim of these methods of preparation is to help the students gain a higher score and a better percentile. Students can resort to such methods to learn the skills required to appear for the test, identify their weaknesses, correct their mistakes, and test themselves in order to bring out their best. Thus they can achieve a higher SAT percentile by making efforts in this direction.