Is 1520 a Good SAT Score?
A 1520 SAT score is at the 98th percentile of SAT takers and above the 99th of all US juniors and seniors: an excellent score that only about 2 in 100 SAT takers beat.
- SAT takers
- 98th
- percentile, 98 in 100 at or below
- All US juniors and seniors
- 99+
- percentile, tested or not
- ACT match
- 34
- 1490 to 1520 on the concordance
- Points to 1560
- +40
- about 3 more right answers
What a 1520 SAT score means
A 1520 leaves only about 2 in 100 SAT takers ahead of you and fewer than 1 in 100 of all US juniors and seniors. It is 80 points from a perfect 1600.
Split evenly, a 1520 is about 760 in Reading and Writing and 760 in Math, which on the paper Practice Test 11 table leaves room to miss 3 of 66 and 3 of 54 questions. One step down, a 1510 is at the 98th percentile of SAT takers; one step up, a 1530 is at the 99th percentile.
| Reading and Writing | Math | Right answers | Misses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 760 | 760 | 63 + 51 = 114 | 6 |
| 800 | 720 | 66 + 49 = 115 | 5 |
| 720 | 800 | 59 + 54 = 113 | 7 |
How 1520 compares with other SAT scores
The College Board publishes two percentiles for every total. Against recent SAT takers a 1520 is at the 98th percentile; against a research sample of all US 11th and 12th graders it is above the 99th percentile. The middle of that wider group is 1010, 510 points under your 1520.
| Score | What it marks | SAT takers | All US students | Points from 1520 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1360 | Top 10 percent of SAT takers starts | 90% | 95% | -160 |
| 1500 | Top 3 percent of SAT takers | 97% | 99% | -20 |
| 1520 (you) | Your score | 98% | 99+ | |
| 1600 | Perfect score | 99+ | 99+ | +80 |
Percentiles: College Board Research, SAT Nationally Representative and User Percentiles, checked Oct 17, 2026.
On the official ACT and College Board concordance, 1520 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.
What it takes to go from 1520 to 1560
On the College Board's paper version of Practice Test 11, an even 760 and 760 takes 63 of 66 Reading and Writing answers and 51 of 54 Math answers, 114 of 120 in all. Moving to 1560 takes about 3 more right answers and passes roughly 1.5 in 100 SAT takers. Spread any way you like, the table allows at most 7 misses for 1520 and 3 for 1560.
| Target | Why it matters | Reading and Writing + Math | Right answers | More than 1520 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1520 (you) | Where you are | 63 + 51 | 114 | |
| 1560 | the top 1 percent of SAT takers | 65 + 52 | 117 | +3 |
| 1570 | 50 points up | 65 + 53 | 118 | +4 |
Table: College Board, Scoring Your SAT Practice Test 11 (paper version of the digital test), 2026, checked Oct 17, 2026. The real SAT is adaptive and has no published raw to scaled table, so read these counts as a practice guide, not a promise.
Is 1520 enough for your colleges?
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 1520 clears the 25th percentile wherever C9 starts at 1520 or lower, beats the middle student where the 50th is under 1520 and reaches the top quarter where the 75th is 1520 or lower. At a test optional college, send your 1520 where the 50th percentile is 1520 or lower and leave it off where the 25th is above 1520.
Some colleges post SAT minimums for merit scholarships on their own aid pages; check whether 1520 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.
Where the 1520 numbers come from
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.
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Is 1520 a good SAT score?
A 1520 SAT score is at the 98th percentile of SAT takers and above the 99th of all US juniors and seniors: an excellent score that only about 2 in 100 SAT takers beat. Whether it is good for you depends on the colleges on your list.
What percentile is a 1520 SAT score?
The 98th percentile of SAT takers and above the 99th of all US juniors and seniors, on the College Board's current tables. A 1510 reads 98th and 99th. A 1530 reads 99th and 99+.
What ACT score is a 1520 SAT?
About 34. The official 2018 ACT and College Board concordance puts SAT totals from 1490 to 1520 next to an ACT composite of 34. It compares the two scales; it does not predict what you would score on the ACT.
How many more questions does a 1520 need for 1560?
About 3 on the paper version of Practice Test 11, where an even split for 1520 takes 114 right answers of 120 and 1560 takes 117. 1570 (50 points up) takes 118. Real test forms are adaptive, so the count on test day can differ by a few questions.
Is it worth retaking a 1520?
Usually only if a college you want lists a 75th percentile above 1520 in its Common Data Set. A 1520 is 80 points from 1600 and already ahead of 98 in 100 SAT takers, so a few more points rarely change how a college reads it; on the paper practice table the even split misses 6 questions.
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