What is Superscoring?

Think about your favorite artist/musician. What are the chances that all of their music is good? Probably zero. Maybe one song has a really good beat but terrible lyrics. Can we conclude that that artist can’t write lyrics and should hire a ghost writer? No, because maybe another one of their other songs has good lyrics and a bad beat. Colleges that superscore have the same mindset in that just because you score poorly on the Math section one time you take the SAT, doesn’t mean you are bad at math. Superscoring is about seeing the potential in you so even if you haven’t made a complete song yet, we know you have the talent to create one.

Superscoring is when colleges take your highest scores from all SAT scores that you submit and use those scores to create one “superscored” composite score. Colleges realize how stressful the SAT is and want to see the positives in you so they created superscoring in order to see the greatness in you! The superscoring process creates the highest possible composite score for you so you can portray the best you!

Example: The first time you take the SAT you get a 700 on the Math and a 500 on the Reading for a total score of 1200. The second time you take the SAT you get a 600 on the Math and a 600 on the Reading for a total score of 1200. Colleges that superscore will take the 700 on the Math from your first test and the 600 on the Reading from your second test so you’ll end up with a superscore of 1300 as opposed to the previous total scores of 1200.

Using Superscoring to Your Advantage

When submitting your standardized test scores, the responsibility of superscoring falls on both the colleges you are applying to and yourself. Now, you aren’t directly involved in the process of superscoring – it’s not like there’s an honor code and you can just input your scores. You still have to submit your scores through the SAT website – but you yourself can superscore.

By this I mean if after the first time you take the SAT you are satisfied with your Reading score, then you could prep intensively for the math section for the next time you take the SAT. With this strategy, you are concentrating on building your highest “superscore” composite score rather than trying to achieve your highest composite score on a single test.

There are some cons to superscoring: you have to pay the SAT registration fee, currently $68 and you have to sit through the whole SAT (you can’t choose to only take the Reading or Math section). These cons are why I recommend trying your hardest to get as high of a composite score as possible the first time you take the SAT rather than prepping intensively for just one section each time you take the SAT.

Obviously, there’s the chance that you don’t perform well on either section, and you have to retake the SAT at least another 2 times to get a good superscore, but there’s also the chance that you crush the SAT and won’t have to take it again!

If you plan on superscoring, you should plan on taking the SAT early enough, maybe spring of your sophomore year, where you’ll have enough SAT test dates to take and build up your superscore. If you’re not getting satisfactory results, don’t worry about taking the SAT too many times, as long as you don’t exceed around six times.

However, be conscious of your actions. If you get a 500 on the Reading and a 700 on the Math the first time you take the SAT and get a 600 on the Reading and a 200 on the Math the second time you take the SAT because you didn’t bother answering any questions on the Math section, then colleges will probably think the 700 on the Math you got the first time was a fluke. You don’t necessarily have to prep intensively for the Math section if you are satisfied with your score, but it’d look a lot better to colleges if you got a 600 on the Math the second time rather than a 200.

Every College That Superscores the SAT

Before the list, one important caveat. Superscoring policies change constantly, and they moved a lot during the test-optional years. The list below is a useful starting point, but it is not a live feed, and some entries are years old. Always confirm on the college’s own admissions page before you build a testing plan around a school’s policy. While you are there, check whether the school is test-optional, test-required or test-blind, because that matters more than superscoring does.

One note on the digital SAT: superscoring works exactly the same way as it always has. Colleges still take your best Reading and Writing score and your best Math score across sittings. Nothing about the format change affects it.

Now that we know about how awesome superscoring is, it’s important to realize which colleges superscore. It’d be pretty awkward if you tried some of the strategies above, and you ended up applying to a college that didn’t superscore. Imagine you tried the scenario above. On the bright side, you got a superscore of 1300! On the down side, you applied to a school that didn’t superscore so you still have a composite score of 1200. Oof, back to square one.

Here’s a list of colleges that superscore. Since it is a long list, if you want to search for whether a specific college is on the list, press crtl + F for Windows or command + F for Mac and then type the specific school of interest.

Note: Colleges are constantly changing their admissions policy so if you don’t see a college you’re interested in on this list, then look at their admissions website or call them to ask about their policy. This list was created by Prepscholars.

Next Steps

Superscoring is an important and useful tool in aiding students during the college process, but ultimately, your standardized test scores will be determined by your preparation. Unless you have a perfect score in one section, you should give it your all in preparing for both sections everytime you take the SAT.

Even if you have a high score in one section and plan on superscoring, you never know whether you can beat that score or not. Maybe the questions on the next SAT suit your strengths, maybe you’re feeling it that day, or maybe you used Prepmedians to help you in your SAT prep and you feel much more empowered to crush the test even more.

When you are using superscoring to your advantage, you are placing more emphasis on one subject while preparing, but you should always aim to do well on both sections. Always strive to do better and never be complacent with your scores. The higher your scores are; the stronger of a candidate you look to colleges. And once you’re done the college process, you’ll be glad and relieved you got as high of an SAT score as possible to get into your dream school and set you up for some of the best 4 years of your life!