Is 1490 a Good SAT Score?

A 1490 is in the top 10 percent of SAT takers (1360 and up). It is 10 points from 1500, the line where only 3 in 100 SAT takers score higher. Among all US juniors and seniors a 1490 is at the 99th percentile.

Split evenly, a 1490 is about 740 in Reading and Writing and 750 in Math, which on the paper Practice Test 11 table leaves room to miss 5 of 66 and 3 of 54 questions. One step down, a 1480 is at the 97th percentile of SAT takers; one step up, a 1500 is at the 97th percentile. The College Board prints the same 97th for all three, so 10 points here barely move you.

The College Board publishes two percentiles for every total. Against recent SAT takers a 1490 is at the 97th percentile; against a research sample of all US 11th and 12th graders it is at the 99th percentile. The middle of that wider group is 1010, 480 points under your 1490.

On the official ACT and College Board concordance, 1490 falls in the 1490 to 1520 band, which matches an ACT composite of 34. See that row on the ACT to SAT conversion chart or see whether 34 is a good ACT score.

On the College Board's paper version of Practice Test 11, an even 740 and 750 takes 61 of 66 Reading and Writing answers and 51 of 54 Math answers, 112 of 120 in all. Moving to 1500 takes about 1 more right answers, though the College Board prints the same percentile for both. Spread any way you like, the table allows at most 10 misses for 1490 and 9 for 1500.

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 1490 clears the 25th percentile wherever C9 starts at 1490 or lower, beats the middle student where the 50th is under 1490 and reaches the top quarter where the 75th is 1490 or lower. At a test optional college, send your 1490 where the 50th percentile is 1490 or lower and leave it off where the 25th is above 1490.

Some colleges post SAT minimums for merit scholarships on their own aid pages; check whether 1490 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.