Is 1030 a Good SAT Score?

A 1030 beats the median SAT taker (1020) by 10 points and lands 170 points under the 1200 line where the top quarter begins. Among all US juniors and seniors it reads higher still, at the 54th percentile.

Split evenly, a 1030 is about 510 in Reading and Writing and 520 in Math, which on the paper Practice Test 11 table leaves room to miss 25 of 66 and 21 of 54 questions. One step down, a 1020 is at the 50th percentile of SAT takers; one step up, a 1040 is at the 53rd percentile.

The College Board publishes two percentiles for every total. Against recent SAT takers a 1030 is at the 52nd percentile; against a research sample of all US 11th and 12th graders it is at the 54th percentile. The middle of that wider group is 1010, 20 points under your 1030.

On the official ACT and College Board concordance, 1030 falls in the 1030 to 1050 band, which matches an ACT composite of 20. See that row on the ACT to SAT conversion chart or see whether 20 is a good ACT score.

On the College Board's paper version of Practice Test 11, an even 510 and 520 takes 41 of 66 Reading and Writing answers and 33 of 54 Math answers, 74 of 120 in all. Moving to 1080 takes about 5 more right answers and passes roughly 7 in 100 SAT takers. Spread any way you like, the table allows at most 60 misses for 1030 and 53 for 1080.

Score a full Bluebook practice test with the SAT score calculator to see which section gives you more points per extra right answer, then aim your next test date at that section; many colleges superscore.

That depends on the college, so we list no admission ranges. To check one, search its name plus "Common Data Set" and open section C9: the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile SAT scores of enrolled first-year students. A 1030 clears the 25th percentile wherever C9 starts at 1030 or lower, beats the middle student where the 50th is under 1030 and reaches the top quarter where the 75th is 1030 or lower. At a test optional college, send your 1030 where the 50th percentile is 1030 or lower and leave it off where the 25th is above 1030.

Some colleges post SAT minimums for merit scholarships on their own aid pages; check whether 1030 clears them, because a retake that does can pay off even where scores are optional. National Merit uses the PSAT/NMSQT, not the SAT: see what a good PSAT score is.

Percentiles: College Board Research, SAT Nationally Representative and User Percentiles (2026), checked Oct 17, 2026. ACT match: ACT and College Board, 2018 ACT/SAT Concordance Tables, checked Oct 17, 2026. Right answer counts: College Board, Scoring Your SAT Practice Test 11 (paper version of the digital test), 2026, checked Oct 17, 2026.

The guide to a good SAT score reads the same files. Official scores come only from the College Board.